https://www.wizardpistol.com/contact daily 0.75 2021-01-11 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff8cc413fb0df529ad53e01/1610140753635/IMG_0006.jpg Contact https://www.wizardpistol.com/home daily 1.0 2021-01-07 https://www.wizardpistol.com/home/raisethebar monthly 0.5 2021-01-11 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5f62a543a362f94e0a95d917/1600302344325/title-raise-the-bar.jpg Home - Raise the Bar (a case study) - The Request A complete update and overhaul of the branding and retail environment products for an international furniture brand’s barstool gallery called Setting The Bar. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff7645f5d967e66142891bc/1610048631915/RTB-comparison-1.jpg Home - Raise the Bar (a case study) - The Problem The original barstool gallery, Setting The Bar, was not created as a formal internal brand but was built product-by-product as needs for barstool signage trickled in over time. This led to a bloated product gallery that lacked any cohesion in tone, visuals or messaging. If this gallery “set the bar” then that bar needed raised. Which is where my team and I started with for the reimagined gallery, Raise The Bar. We needed to bring the branding up a few notches by designing a new logo, creating a more refined color palette, finding contemporary lifestyle imagery and crafting new messaging for subtext and body copy. All of this had to be designed with the retail environment in mind. We needed products that connected to customers emotionally and yet also conveyed information about the furniture that is actually useful. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff7648546fc5073462d8e98/1610048669026/RTB-comparison-2.jpg Home - Raise the Bar (a case study) - The Solution & The Challenge of Lifestyle Imagery The original gallery was pieced together at a time when the target consumers were families with spacious homes and a budget to have large furniture like a bar or a kitchen island. The current data showed a shift in the main consumer to younger singles and couples in urban communities with smaller living areas. The new target consumers were using bar and counter furniture as a way to maximize space and not as luxury items. This was the central concept for the new Raise The Bar gallery. The original, colorful, family-oriented design was ditched for a muted palette and imagery of urban environments. The “diner” style logo evolved into a clean, modern, more cosmopolitan design. We replaced the happy family lifestyles with an independent younger demographic. Finding the right stock photography is a skill unto itself and the lifestyle imagery for this gallery was a particular challenge. The client wanted barstools in the photos but needed those barstools to be as generic as possible so it could pass as a product they might sell. Most of the images that check these boxes are shot in places like coffee shops and so they also had to be cropped in a way that disguised this fact at first glance. The final result is a clean, simple, yet sophisticated design that helped the client not only market better to their new customer base but also laid a strong, unified visual foundation for future marketing campaigns. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff3951be293bc1fe2b9cdbf/1600302385849/WIP-RTB-comparison-2-3.jpg Home - Raise the Bar (a case study) https://www.wizardpistol.com/home/howtosurviveboardgames monthly 0.5 2021-01-11 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5f62b5a5ef0cc164bf1f6aa9/1603928217616/cover-how-to-survive-2500.jpg Home - How to Survive - The inception What started off as sort of a mental exercise evolved into some work I’m particularly proud of. Basically, the challenge was to create a concept for a loot box subscription-based service that involved board games. There have been a couple out there I could find but they mostly dealt with failed and overstocked crowdfunded projects. Producing a board game can be very expensive. If you plan on providing subscribers with a new game every few months how do you keep the price at a point that doesn’t drive players away? How can you create an overarching theme that can support varying game mechanics, visual styles and unique experiences? https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5f62b5a5ef0cc164bf1f6aac/1609807519682/titles-how-to-survive-2500.jpg Home - How to Survive - The concept & Title Designs The solution I ended up with was the How to Survive Board Games series. A collection of games about surviving stereotypical or cliché scenarios, called “chapters”, each with unique narratives, visual styles and mechanics. Each chapter uses the same base set of components that would come with the initial box: dice, wooden cubes, meeple, etc. Every couple of months new chapters could be released. These new chapters would utilize the base components from the initial box to create new scenarios and mechanics with additional printed materials, such as boards and cards. These chapters could be expanded further by adding in a new physical piece, such as a spinner, that can then be used in additional chapters released down the road. From escaping a deserted island to navigating an episodic sci-fi show, the initial chapters vary in play time, mechanics and themes while increasing in complexity. I wanted each title to have its own unique feel that really captured what the chapter would entail, drawing on the stereotypical design aesthetics of a certain era and pop culture trope. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5f62b5a5ef0cc164bf1f6aaf/1609807543502/cards-how-to-survive-2500.jpg Home - How to Survive - The Player Mats, Event & Tool Cards To further explore this concept (and expand my portfolio) I decided to flesh out a few of the designs for Deserted Island which was heavily inspired by ‘60s Tiki culture and Gilligan’s Island. Since this was the introductory chapter, and therefore having the least complex ruleset, I wanted the design style to be simple as well. I kept the text as limited as possible, conveying information primarily through symbols and illustration. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5f62b5a5ef0cc164bf1f6ab2/1609807565398/board-how-to-survive-2500.jpg Home - How to Survive - The Play Space Like the cards and mats I wanted the game board to convey information mainly through visual design rather than text. I also wanted to include the necessary trackers and reminders to keep things centralized on the board itself thereby lowering the need for additional printed materials. https://www.wizardpistol.com/home/funandgames monthly 0.5 2021-01-11 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/614a197386ec7a25688bac81/1632246138852/LC4A.jpg Home - Fun & Games gallery Last Call for Alcohol by Knightmare Games logo design | card layouts | illustrative design | copywriting | marketing | promotional products https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/614a191169bc9a06a1a04257/1610074048438/WIP-Astro+Blast-1.jpg Home - Fun & Games gallery Astro Blast - self promotional logo design | component designs | illustrative designs | game design | copywriting https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff76a5d31eeef7a4ca6baab/1610074061540/Astro+Blast-3.jpg Home - Fun & Games gallery Astro Blast - self promotional -two player table sample- logo design | component designs | illustrative designs | game design | copywriting https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff76aa24b604654e6d22119/1610074072846/Antimatter+3.jpg Home - Fun & Games gallery Antimatter Matters 2.0 by Elbowfish -proposed design update- logo design | component designs | illustrative designs | copywriting https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff62835e8e10b6719b346e5/1610074085772/WIP-SC+Emblems-2.jpg Home - Fun & Games gallery Just some fun things I’ve done https://www.wizardpistol.com/home/marketingdesign monthly 0.5 2021-01-11 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff62b49b1a9a3188e51434d/1610074154787/campbell.jpg Home - Marketing Design gallery - Campbell Mattress Co. promotional retail products graphic design | copywriting https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff682bacc85ca2d29e67012/1610074163216/bargain+center.jpg Home - Marketing Design gallery - Bargain Center promotional retail products graphic design | copywriting https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff62beb2903921a50ba06ab/1610074185638/omc-v2.jpg Home - Marketing Design gallery - Oregon Mattress Company retail brand rollout brand development | graphic design | copywriting https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff62c547a1d670550cae6e3/1610074208218/moso+promo.jpg Home - Marketing Design gallery - MOSO Retail Environments promotional campaign conceptual design | graphic design | copywriting https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff62cae0ad0a76ea63b9e23/1610074221180/LRIAB.jpg Home - Marketing Design gallery - Living Room in a Box by Ashley Furniture retail service rollout conceptual design | graphic design | product design | copywriting | illustrative design https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e48589d84e6d079db44110b/t/5ff62e16f2fc6a5e3d71a563/1609969193798/logos.jpg Home - Marketing Design gallery