Casual Gaming

CASE STUDY

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Summary

Casual Gaming is a gaming merchandise company that specializes in console skins and gaming cases

I was tasked with creating their logo and brand from the ground up for their upcoming Animal Crossing case launch and this project was a 1 month endeavor that wrapped up in December 2020

The Challenge

The client wanted a logo that looked friendly and approachable for their initial product launch for their line of Animal Crossing switch cases. The launch was to coincide with a social media campaign that was targeting Animal Crossing micro influencers

After our initial consult of business goals, brand values and aesthetics, I began the research process

The Process

I conducted an initial market and competition research into the console skin and gaming merchandise niche.

San serifs and futuristic fonts were common themes. The market design language was very similar to PC gaming aesthetics

Because the entire initial run of product was envisioned as an Animal Crossing accompaniment line, I wanted to do a market assessment for that area as well to key in on their audience

According to Iwata, 56% of Animal Crossing players are female with some versions such as Pocket Camp reaching as high as 80% female. The age demographic of the game is solidly in the 18-35 age bracket

Because of this difference from the general gaming populace, I wanted to cater to the demographic while still being fairly universal. I deep dove into the animal crossing communities and studied cottage core references

Logo Contexts

Solutions

I wanted to explore some serif fonts as it would make them stand out in the marketplace and the general market trend back in 2020 was leaning more into serifs especially for female led brands.

I developed 3 logomarks that hit upon their core values with the last being hyperfocused on Animal Crossing. The core business plan was still in flux whether they would develop beyond the niche, so I wanted to provide different options and flexibility if they decided to focus on the niche

Next, I wanted to do explorations on the gaming market at large. I wanted the logo to be reminiscent of the current logos out there but still distinct and friendly. 

The first option is an exploration into a brand that would be flexible enough to be on PC gaming accesories like logitech.

The second option is a play on the iconic button pad. I wanted to pick apart the iconography and play into the nostalgia while being immediately identifiable.

The client immedietely signed off on the button concept and after several round of iteration and finessing, we got our finished logo and brand guidelines

Results

NYC Office of Crime Victim Supports

CASE STUDY

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Summary

The Office of Crime Victim Supports (OCVS) is the first stand-alone municipal office of its kind in the country. Embedded in the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, OCVS takes a holistic approach to victim services, coordinating existing services to support New York City residents impacted by crime.

I was tasked with creating their logo and brand identity using the NYC design system but incorporating their own design language and core values

Brand Identity & Logo Design

The Challenge

The Office of Crime Victim Supports (OCVS) needed a logo that showed they were a combination of 3 offices & initiatives: The Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, The Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence and The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. It was decided early on in the process that they wanted to use the colors, purple, orange and blue to showcase that.

The Process

After conducting thorough consultations with OCVS, I commenced the research process. My main objectives were to understand the current landscape and design language. I gathered logos and marketing materials for organizations related to intimate partner violence and domestic violence. I wanted to make sure I was being thorough and to avoid any biases

Contextually, all NYC logos follow the design document set forth by NYC & Company– the official marketing & tourism organization for the City of New York. I wanted to understand the likely context that the logo would appear next to official government organizations

After research, I decided to iterate several versions to decide on color scheme and get approval. Crucially, I needed to make sure I provided enough options so that the logo and its colors could convey the tone that they envisioned their department to be.

Solutions

Phase 1

For phase 1, I iterated several options based on their chosen color palette. The first 4 had their palette but in different levels of energy and gradient configurations. The last 2 were different palette versions to be simpler or more inclusive.

Typically, I don’t like presenting so many options but this was helpful for 2 main reasons.

  1. I wanted this to be highly collaborative. It got them to think of possibilities and they needed to decide on the tone of their messaging
  2. I’m a cis male who has been lucky enough to not need these services. I wanted to defer to their expertise as much as possible and overcome my biases as much as possible

Phase 2

Initially, they signed off on the first option immediately. The color scheme matched what they were looking for and the jewel and earth tones conveyed the tone they wanted.

However, due to the newly launched Office of Neighborhood Safety, they were concerned the logo was too similar.

Phase 2 is mostly a rethink on how to still remain true to the color palette but distinct enough from the Office of Neighborhood Safety

I played around with different configurations but the concept I honed in the  most on was the first one.

My thought process was that gradients seemed too impersonal so I wanted to add a human touch to it by painting their palette in watercolors. The extra painted texture and the soft brush strokes gave it an extra layer of compassion that I believe is vital to support services. It would also further make their department stand out amongst the other offices and initiatives

Phase 3

They loved the painted version so for the final phase and final approval, I wanted to provide extra context to see it in action. The 3 versions are mostly slight adjustments to saturation to either make it more saturated, jewel-toned or earth-toned

Final Version

They loved and approved the last version. The final step was to vectorize textures, perpare different versions for print, web and socials and prepare brand guidelines

Stop Asian Hate Crime

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Due to the rise of Anti Asian Hate crime, I created a website as a compendium of resources that I found helpful as well as links to charities and foundations benefiting AAPI causes and communities

Tech Stack

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Deliverables

Central Park Dentists

CASE STUDY

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Summary

For over 30 years, Dr. Levingart and family have run their New York dental practice that stayed at the forefront of modern dental practices from laser dentistry to 3D printing implants. They needed a brand and website refresh to match their hundreds of 5 star reviews​

Tech Stack

Services Rendered

Deliverables

Key Results

0 %

Increase in Users

From 2,087 vs 1,374 users in 2020 to 2019

0 %

Pageview Increase

From 4,957 vs 2,195 page views in 2020 to 2019

0 %

Bounce Rate Decrease

From 57.94% vs 82.65% in 2020 to 2019

0 %

More Pages per Session

2.01 vs 1.27 pages per session in 2020 to 2019

0 %

Increase in Average Session Duration

00:01:14 vs 00:00:44 in 2020 to 2019

5/5
“Richard is a pleasure to work with! Incredibly helpful, honest and straightfoward about what needs to be done and how it can be achieved. Looking forward to continue working together!”

Original Website 2018

Redesign

Socials

Original Logo 2018

Logo Concepts

Further Exploration

Final Logo

Let’s work together

Schedule a consultation or reach out to discuss opportunities

Email

hiya@richarduy.com

Phone

646-470-7638

Gay-Nerds.com

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Created back in 2010, Gay-Nerds.com is a geek culture website for LGBTQIA+ nerds, dorks and everything in between. I created this pet project mainly because I didn't see a lot LGBTQIA+ voices represented in geek culture back then. It was a large endeavor that spanned from website development to content creation and marketing and we were featured in places like Kotaku and Queerty.

Tech Stack

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Deliverables

Over its lifetime, Gay-Nerds.com served 5.3M Pageviews & 900k users while maintaining a bounce rate of under 20%. We interviewed people from Margaret Cho, to X-Men Editor Daniel Ketchum, to Rupaul’s Drag Race queen Phi Phi O’ Hara to Fallout: New Vegas Producer, Tess Treadwell.

Not bad for a ragtag team of determined ‘mos

First Iteration circa 2010

Logo Evolution

Gay-Nerds.com circa 2014-2019

Gay-Nerds.com circa 2011-2014

Cartographer Games

CASE STUDY

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Summary

This was a videogame concept and website that was developed for the international UNESCO MGIEP 2015 gaming challenge and placed as one of the final 5 out of entries from 36 countries.

Every year, thousands of satellite images of disaster areas and unmapped areas need to be processed for aid or data collection. Cartographer would crowdsource the processing of these images through incentivized gaming.

Unfortunately, the game did not qualify for the final round of funding so it was not fully developed beyond the website and app interface