Ice King Game

Concept:
This project involved the creation of 12 unique playing cards that focused on one specific figure of our choosing. This figure did not have to be a real person, but it did have to be someone able to fit into an archetype that could be researched and thus thought about in new and thoughtful ways. I chose the villainous Ice King from the animated series Adventure Time, where Ice King is portrayed in the show as always up to no good, but my research offered a new perspective on him that emphasized humanity, love, loneliness, and hope. These cards had to work together as a set, involving cohesive typography, image strategies, color stories, and overall layout. Each card is based off an unusal analogy, such as, what vegetable would this person be and why?) This project’s final outcome revealed the interesting and insightful ways someone can be represented through comparison to the bizarre.

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I chose to portray Ice King in these cards as a cold individual, desiring connection, warmth and the hope that it is not impossible to find. Lots of cool tones were used in this, with the occasional pop of hot pink to reflect how Ice King is cold, but he also is a fiery spirit longing for the heat. I chose collage as a method of creation to display how there are different layers of Ice King that coexist together. The font I chose is Royale, to reference the elegant and softer side of being a king, as opposed to a malevolent king most assume upon him. I intentionally put all the type/image in the center of the card, yet none of the type/images are in the middle at all. This contradiction of having everything, yet nothing, in the middle is representative of how contradicting it is for Ice King to be known as a villian, yet he really is no villian at all.

Audience:n/a

Insights:Design with intent! A good system relies on intentional design solutions that work together. I learned how to design similar elements in each card, while letting each card stand out and stay unique.

Channel: Print, Systematic Design

Process