Osmo MindRacers
A competitive AR game that blends the mixed reality experience of Osmo and the brand recognition of Hotwheels. I was the Art Director for this project and worked alongside designers and engineers to get the project developed and shipped in 6 months. Given our small team, many contractors were used in the creation of 3D assets. My contributions included: packaging art, concept art, 3d layout, set design, and VFX.
A competitive AR game that blends the mixed reality experience of Osmo and the brand recognition of Hotwheels. I was the Art Director for this project and worked alongside designers and engineers to get the project developed and shipped in 6 months. Given our small team, many contractors were used in the creation of 3D assets. My contributions included: packaging art, concept art, 3d layout, set design, and VFX.
The Interaction
The game interaction relies on inputs from "coded tokens"and selected car. When a token is placed on the board the Osmo camera registers one of three actions: an attack, boost, or spin (defense). Each player will have a finite set of tokens to influence the race in their favor.
Below is the first pass of token designs - we started with graphically thematic designs but eventually moved towards simpler iconography.
The game interaction relies on inputs from "coded tokens"and selected car. When a token is placed on the board the Osmo camera registers one of three actions: an attack, boost, or spin (defense). Each player will have a finite set of tokens to influence the race in their favor.
Below is the first pass of token designs - we started with graphically thematic designs but eventually moved towards simpler iconography.
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Bringing the Cars to Life
The nine cars in the game were given to us from Mattel with minimal feedback on how they should translate into the game. This gave us a fun opportunity to give the cars added personality and a tricky challenge in making sure each car is unique in their own way. To tackle this problem, I used each car's exhaust, attacks, and defensive skills as a way to showcase their individual personalities.
The nine cars in the game were given to us from Mattel with minimal feedback on how they should translate into the game. This gave us a fun opportunity to give the cars added personality and a tricky challenge in making sure each car is unique in their own way. To tackle this problem, I used each car's exhaust, attacks, and defensive skills as a way to showcase their individual personalities.
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Building the World
With the individual car personalities established I started designing their respective tracks as an extension of those motifs. I did all the art and final layout - the 3D assets were created by external vendors under my supervision. I wanted to make sure that design metaphors were carried down to the lowly prop. For example, one of the cars is a blend of car and cat - to pay homage to that decision I wanted the plants to be a blend of car parts and nature. The whole world then became a visual amalgam of car, jungle, and cat.
With the individual car personalities established I started designing their respective tracks as an extension of those motifs. I did all the art and final layout - the 3D assets were created by external vendors under my supervision. I wanted to make sure that design metaphors were carried down to the lowly prop. For example, one of the cars is a blend of car and cat - to pay homage to that decision I wanted the plants to be a blend of car parts and nature. The whole world then became a visual amalgam of car, jungle, and cat.
Blending Osmo with Hotwheels
Marrying the two company brand pillars was a delicate balance - despite being branded by Hotwheels, Mindracers had to exist within the Osmo universe. A concerted effort was made to keep all designs delightful and approachable to stay consistent with the Osmo brand.
Marrying the two company brand pillars was a delicate balance - despite being branded by Hotwheels, Mindracers had to exist within the Osmo universe. A concerted effort was made to keep all designs delightful and approachable to stay consistent with the Osmo brand.
