Sickdesigner

It’s time for another run down of a game of Contagion. This time I played with my good friend, Bill Chambers, hailing all the way from sunny California. We had loads of fun & ended up with a killer punk-rockin’ design so click to see it.

Bill and I share a passion for guitars and rock music so it was a no-brainer as to what the theme would be. We initially settled for an ’80s metal theme complete with all the Van Halen-ish, Twisted Sister-ish goodness but as the game progressed we found ourselves leaning more to a Duran Duran / Misfits inspired design. Goes to show you just can’t plan pure creativity.

So did you learn anything?

With every game I learn something new and this one was no exception. Perhaps unwillingly, Bill assumed the role of “Fine Tuner” while I, naturally, hit the design like a train through a brick wall. This sparked a realization: as designers we must assume both roles, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes alternatively, in order to ensure that the piece that we’re working on is high quality. This dichotomy would probably drive a non-creative insane faster than you can say “dual humbucker, coil-tapped, mahogany body, rosewood neck” but for designers it seems to be an intuitive position.

What does this mean? Beats me, but it’s good to know, I guess. Perhaps this will help better define these roles and, in the end, have us create better designs. Or maybe it’s just one of those useless, yet interesting, facts.

Anyway, let’s see what Bill and I came up with:

01

I started the game with a basic design of an electric guitar. Design in the 80s was anything but subtle so a basic “subject in the center” design felt just about right. Granted, I messed up the colors which have nothing to do with our theme.

02

But Bill fixed that in the second wave with a nice spectrum color correction that set the game back on it’s initial track.

03

What would an 80s design be without halftones, right? Also, I couldn’t stay away from the EVH style stripes. Or from Color Dodge, for that matter. Yes, you can call me a Color Dodge b**ch.

04

In an obvious Shark Week inspired move (sic!), Bill bootstrapped a wicked tiger/zebra pattern on the guitar that just took the guitar to a whole new level of 80s extravaganza, as well as some abstract Aerosmith-like wings.

05

A bit of color treatment and a simple text from me and this design was really getting there.

06

Rehashing the purple from the lower side of the canvas, Bill detailed the text for a more refined punk look.

07

And like a train through a brick wall, I dirtied up the whole design and defined the guitar a bit better.

08

And in the last wave, Bill focused more on small details and fine correction, as any final step should. The result speaks for itself. Nay, screams heavy metal for itself!

It was a great game, we had loads of fun and the result I can safely say is awesome x10. With every game it’s more and more apparent that Contagion is equally about collaborating for great designs as well as interacting with other designer, having a laugh and building friendships.

by Radu Chelariu