Graphic Arts

I’m not sure I have an identifiable design aesthetic. Some of what I do is inspired, some miscellaneous, some serve a client, a brand, or work as a user interface or user experience element. Most of my work is a playful combination of photography, graphic design and vector graphics. All of it is fun to create.

App UI Design

App design is challenging. Everytime a new smartphone or tablet screensize is introduced it affects how the app’s graphics and user interface is rendered. This is tricky, annoying, frustrating, but also rewarding when you get it right. Below is a small sample of my work, for more detail see the One Bad Ant web site.

Illumimaze

Description.

This was an entirely new thing for me. The apps, the websites, even the graphics I’ve developed (with the possible exception of my beer labels) have been in service of information delivery. Put another way – they are meant to communicate and manage information easily and efficiently. That doesn’t mean they don’t look good and aren’t also beautifully designed, but their primary function is to communicate.

The primary function of this app is to have fun! The basic concept is that you appear in a dark maze and you illuminate the maze and your way out by directing your avatar. I couldn’t be happier with how this app turned out. The graphics were fun to create, it’s fun to play, it’s whimsical.

The main avatar, the Bowtie Guy, was designed in Boxy SVG he has three different looks: happy, frustrated, and sad. In the game his eyes move to follow the direction you are leading him. Each maze is not only different, but has a completely different graphic design and backgound. The main maze path elements were designed as tiles in Photoshop but then assembled using Tiled.

I had to learn a lot of new design tricks, not to mention development tricks, to create this app. I still have a lot to learn, but this is a fun first game to create. You should give it a try and let me know what you think. The app and the first three mazes at each level are free!

 

Information.