During a Graphic Design Course, I designed a card game for a local coffee shop, in order to connect coffee lovers.
Below is the three processes that cultivated my final design: a concept map of the client (Soma Coffee House), the actual game, and a process book on my design.
1. The Concept Map.
Soma is a small local coffee in Bloomington, Indiana that is famed for being quirky, knick-knackey, and warm. It’s the kind of place that makes you want to pull out that book you’ve been meaning to read and strike up a conversation with someone. It also has bold colors, and subtle touches of contemporary design on the walls (amongst the knick-knacks of course).
My first task was to visit Soma multiple times and take field notes of the space. I was to then encompass my findings into a concept map that delivered a message about the space through copy and design. I created the following graphic as a way to highlight the bright colors of the space and explain the atmosphere that surrounded Soma. Click into the image for a full sized version!
2. The Card Game.
After having developed an identity for the space through my concept map, the next prompt was to create a board game with this brand persona in mind.
One of the key findings while being at Soma was that people sat in the space primarily to either study, or for a leisure get away (reading, sitting with friends, etc.). I loved the idea that this small space was a way for people to connect, and so I based my card game off of that.
The game itself is simple in its goal: to connect coffee lovers. It was designed to sit at the table and appear as a coffee cup, and to be used as a social game to bring people together. To begin, you pull out the deck of cards and put the cap back on the game. From there, you pick up a card and it will ask you a quirky or funny question that is intended to lead into a story. Once the person is finished answering the question, they place the card along the rim of the cup. After a while the cards will stack, and the person that causes them to fall over loses. There is one catch, and that’s that there are a few cards that make you go invite a random person in the coffee shop to answer a question and participate, allowing the players to meet new people and engage with the entire coffee shop.
3. The Process Book.
After the (coffee) dust settled and my board game was complete, the final step was to reflect on my design and compile a book of my thoughts on the process. Among many
things, I realized how much revision and reflection went into my design throughout my time making it.
I ended up drawing the parallel that my design process was like a relationship: there was many times where things didn’t work out, but I had to work on them in order to create a successful final product.
Luc LaGasse 