IMaginary Hamster Studios
Imaginary Hamster is an indie game studio based in Delaware started by Matt Koon, a previous professor at University of the Arts. Although the studio is no longer running, I am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate and work alongside new and familiar faces.
MY ROLE
Intern Artist – Illustrator
This was a summer internship in 2023 which I was allowed to work for 90 hours over the course of two and a half months. I was responsible for concepting, iterating, and designing user interfaces for Imaginary Hamster’s unreleased game “Lost and Foundry”. My main objective was for creating an art style for UI elements, wireframe menus, create low-fidelity prototypes, and produce high-fidelity mockups of screens. I worked closely with programmers, other artists on the team, and my supervisor to progress towards these deliverables.
INVENTORY SYSTEM
One of my first projects on the team was to iterate the inventory design my supervisor had in mind. Although he wanted me to expand on his design, he encouraged that I come up with my own as well. Below you will see both designs I illustrated.
ITERATION 1 : YEARBOOK
The yearbook is the design that was already implemented before joining the team. My job was to create wireframes and mockups for user interaction that will fit into the yearbook design seamlessly. To the left you will see my sketches and quick greyscale mockups of the design.
The design of a yearbook is already extremely optimal for displaying information. However, I wanted to customize it to feature items and iconography that align with the time periods (1940s and early 2000s) and characters of the game.
When creating iterations, I ensure to take into account usability, listing what might work and what is obviously flawed with the design I created. I like to time myself to deter myself from getting too married to a design or idea. From there I continue iterating until I am happy with the outcome and it is ready for feedback from my team.
ITERATION 2 : THE FAIT
The First Artificial Intelligence Tablet (FAIT), was the my personal design for menu systems of the game, wanting to break from the cliche of using a book for menus in games. The design is stemmed from the AI robot the player meets early on through the game named FAI.
In the following images you will see some iterations for the design of the tablet.
Similar to the yearbook, I used the same methods for creating paper wireframes for the FAIT. Since the FAIT is a tablet, the design worked surprisingly well when making wireframes that would be navigated from a controller.
While illustrating the mockup of the FAIT, I created a 3D model of it using Maya to test lighting scenarios.
SELECTION SCREENS
A short project I was tasked with was selection screens for levels and characters. Since the studio was at such an early stage in development for the title, I had the opportunity to design the user-flow of how players would interact with the world to get where they need to go. I made sure to utilize my prototyping skills in Figma to demonstrate the interactions I had in mind to make the game’s user experience memorable and fun.
MAP SELECTION
Similar to the inventory systems, I wanted to incorporate unique experience based of the game’s narrative and characters. In the notes of the following image, I describe Hadley, an athlete and leadership figure in the game, to illustrate how these menus can be used as a storytelling element.
A map of the environment was already made by the studio’s environment team which I was urged to use in my design. I found that this requirement for the screen offered a great design challenge that was welcome, since I tend to come up with more creative solutions when given a requirement or theme.
After some quick iterations in my mind, I found that the best solution was to think of the map in a physical space and have players interaction be seen through a pin that moves to different points. Visually, this was a hit with my team and usability-wise was a simple yet unique detail that I believe brings this screen to life.
CHARACTER SELECTION
The character selection screen proved to be bigger of a challenge than at first glance. With six characters to choose along with customizable perks and equipment, this system went through several iterations and protypes before finalizing a suitable layout.
Going off of the “Game Plan” design I had written to fit the narrative of the game for the map selection screen, the character selection screen proved to be a bit more challenging. I wanted it to have the same tactile feeling as the map selection screen with the pin, but after some sketches I knew I had to find another way for this effect. I had tried Monopoly pieces and school-IDs, but most of the feedback I received favored the simplistic designs that lacked that tactile element I had hoped for.
After getting feedback on my iterations, I moved onto prototyping the character selection screens. Since two of my iterations seemed to come to a tie, I decided to prototype both to show how interaction would go between the two. In the end the proven winner for interaction was the first prototype to which I later illustrated a mockup for.
First Prototype
Second Prototype
CONCLUSION
FINAL THOUGHTS
My internship at Imaginary Hamster was a great learning experience and a great introduction to the the role of a UI Designer in the context of a game studio. I fell in love with the process of iteration, coming up with new ways to let players interact with menu systems and the world around them, as well as the journey of collaboration with disciplines outside of the arts.