Development

Scale

I chose to develop the game idea that featured a character at the bottom of the screen who you must control to avoid the cookie obstacles. There were two options I could take. One, shown on the top half of this layout page, is a small character at the bottom of the screen. The other, shown on the bottom half of the layout, is a larger life size character.  I couldn't have a full life size character on the screen as it would block most of the view down the street. So I cropped the person showing only the top half, so it is like a third person view.

After thinking about the logistics of someone playing this augmented game I had to change these ideas slightly. I realised that the player will have to be in reaching distance of the bus stop panel in order to play, meaning they will be stood very close. At this distance the character would be at the bottom of the screen by their feet meaning they would have to look down. However the cookies are flying at you from the top of the screen, making the game impossible to play as you cant look at the distance as well as the character unless you are stood further back. (See photos below showing the views)

 View looking at the top of the screen which would show the cookies approaching from the sky.

 View looking at the bottom of the screen which would show the character.

For this game to work the character would have to be higher up the screen so you can see the character and the cookies in the distance in front of it. I then decided to only have the middle section of the screen used for the game. This means when you are stood close to the screen you can still see the full view of the street and the area you have to look at directly in front of you on the screen is in the same field of view.

As the game was now only featured on the middle section of the screen the second option (a larger character) seemed more suitable. This meant the game is more realistic as the size of the character matches the size of a real person stood just in front of you. The fact that only the top half of the character can be seen makes it more realistic as this is what would be in your field of view looking forward.

Audience

I took into consideration the audiences that might play my game. Due to the location, the bus top attracts college students, families, and elderly shoppers. I had to design a game that is simple enough for all ages. There was a risk that a complex game might be great for students and young children with their parents, but too difficult for the elderly who are often less experienced with interactive technology. In order to not exclude anyone, I simplified my game. Originally I had planned 5 columns for the character to move horizontally across and actions like 'jump' and 'duck'. However too many controls and options would make it harder. I then simplified it to just three columns so the character can move to the left or right of its starting position. The basics of pressing the left arrow to move left and right arrow to move right can be accomplished by all ages. To make it easier for people that are different heights I made a strip down each side. This means that if you press anywhere along this strip it has the same effect as pressing the arrow itself. This means smaller children who might not be able to reach the arrows can still play. I gave these strips and the character a gradient from colour to transparent so they don't obstruct too much of the reality view. I also lowered the opacity so they can be seen but don't distract you from the reality view. 

Colour

I chose to use colours that are featured on Millie's Cookies branding. This strengthens the identity of the brand and makes it recognisable. The pink and blue can be seen on the stripy pattern that is used for their packaging, signage and interior design.

Words

I looked at fonts that relate to the imagery of cookies, inspired by my 'Words and Image in Advertising' post. I found some fonts that link to the shape and texture of cookies for example chunky fonts with bite marks and crumbly texture. I also looked at hand written sketchy fonts that relate to the home made theme of the brand. Overall, I didn't like a lot of the cookie related fonts as they were too bold, a bit over the top, or made people think of other treats like doughnuts etc. I wanted to include onomatopoeia in my game, inspired by my Roy Lichtenstein research. For example 'BANG!' when a cookie smashes and 'WHOOSH!' when one flies past. This meant the font I used had to be bold enough to stand out but not too chunky and wide that it takes up loads of room. The first font would be too wide whereas the hand written fonts were a bit more condensed.

After looking at more hand written 3D fonts that were still condensed I found Barlow by Thunderpanda ver 02. It is all uppercase, very legible, and bold yet condensed.