Zynga (Freelance) – Environmental Graphic Design, Wall Murals, Specialized Fabrication Design, In-Person Game Development
You know the job is going to be fun when your client is a game developer and they want you to migrate their online games to the walls in their new offices.
The Introductory Experience
The entry experience at Zynga needed to incorporate an assortment of concepts in the most direct and simple way possible. The logo, the brand colors as they were associated with the floors of the building, and the larger-than-life scope the client wanted to communicate.
Between the elevator lobby graphics on each of the floors, we incorporated a new element based on an old play on optics, an infinity mirror.
The concept is ancient, but the execution using state-of-the-art LED illumination is what makes this piece stand out.
Still being fabricated and installed, this fixture utilizes the rim illumination on the interior of the frame to bounce light off the reflective surface on the back of the picture box, and the glare of the reflective film applied to the 2nd surface of the closest pane of glass. The effect gives a stunning view of the repeating pattern in a tunnel of infinite diminishment. I can’t wait for this to get hung so I can take some video of the effect from the off-axis perspective to a traditional front view.
Making a Playable Wall
From a board game to a video game to a wall in the offices of the company that programmed the game. The client wanted the office to be fun and to tie into the products they build and support.
My task was to take the sketches the client provided and transform them into a playable surface for the employees.
Using injections molds for the game tiles, I designed the board and the method of fabrication for a playable surface that bends arouns a corner.
The remaining walls around the elevator core required decorations to fill in the space so I also developed some wall graphics.
Some Games Translate Differently
While the Words With Friends game works on a wall, the Harry Potter Game with vanishing gemstones doesn’t.
Instead of an actual reproduction of the online hit I created a puzzle where the players slide the pieces along tracks in the wall. Opposing players would be required to move thier colored pieces around to randomly determined locations on walls surrounding the elevator core.
