Playful Design
The journey of designing games over the past few months
Last winter in a tiny town in Mexico Patrick grabbed a clunky wooden cribbage board out of his bag. It took up an inordinate amount of space in his carryon for such a simple game, and I poked fun at the clunky design. We both joked, and then seriously talked about how Creates Cool should design a better cribbage board. I realized first I would have to learn how to play, and decide if I even liked the game. It is safe to say I fell in love with it. We spent the rest of the trip playing in spare moments, laughing at my beginner’s luck, and even brainstorming design ideas.
A year later our cribbage board looks different than I could have imagined back on that trip. But I am so happy with how it turned out, and even more excited we were able to launch in time for last minute holiday gifts. This was our journey.
Since founding Creates Cool I knew I wanted us to design more than buildings. We’ve done our fair share of interiors, and even some detail built in furniture and fixtures. But our excitement for design has gone beyond the built space. We decided to try our hand and trained approach to concepts, designs, drawings, and details into the world of products. It turned out those first products were games, and that’s how we ended up branching out of spacial design into the world of play.
This was nothing short of a unique new challenge for us. But that’s part of the beauty of having a team so familiar with the new and shifting world at a design studio startup. We divided and conquered, finding precedents, refining our concept, thinking through manufacturing, and details into design. We wanted to create something we weren’t able to find ourselves, and reinvent games that were so special to us.
We had learning curves every step along the way whiledesigning, testing, partnering with Antiform, a soft goods creator based out of Salt Lake. So much of what we designed in our digital programs needed to be refined and stitched differently than we had originally envisioned. Working with Taylor, the founder of Antiform we walked away with many lessons learned just as we often do when working with Contractors on new project types.
After we retired a few ideas (hopefully to be resurrected soon) we landed on three concepts and ideas we pushed forward with. We ended up with a travel cribbage, rollup backgammon and a playing deck of cards. These game sets are designed to be easy to pack and take with you on the go, whether you’re heading out on a road trip, camping in the great outdoors, or just enjoying a day at the beach. They’re also great for passing the time while waiting for a table at a restaurant, or for any other situation where you might want to have a quick and enjoyable activity on hand.
As we push forward with our regular load of diverse clients and projects it’s exciting for us to also continue to push ourselves in areas of design outside the built environment. We’ve discovered by designing and working on different types of projects that the skills and knowledge we gain in each tend to benefit and help better designs throughout our workload.
We’re excited to continue our product creation journey with playful designs that will no doubt continue to grow and shape into larger and more diverse offerings.
