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THE NEW YORK TIMES / 2022
NYT GAMES MARKETING BRAND OPTIMIZATION
As the marketing demands for NYT Games grew, the team recognized the need for an updated brand identity specifically designed for marketing. The existing marketing artwork, while visually appealing, didn’t capture the essence of what truly entices players – gameplay.
ILLUSTRATION BRANDING MARKETING ANIMATION
PROBLEM
Through research, our team identified that marketing content showcasing actual gameplay or showing game boards on some way consistently outperformed other types. While the current marketing artwork was beautiful, it was overly abstract, making it challenging for new users to grasp its connection to the game or understand its what it was about.
SOLUTION
Our goal was to make versions of what the gameplay looked like specifically designed for marketing materials while preserving the beautiful aesthetic we had before. We created varying levels of fidelity for the gameboards, adapting them based on their intended usage. Throughout this process, we consistently refined every element, ensuring that the primary emphasis remained on showcasing the game. Additionally, we took advantage of the opportunity to infuse a playful touch by using our vibrant color palette.
My role: Designer
My responsibility was to conceptualize strategies to tailor the existing Games brand specifically for marketing initiatives. This included gathering existing product assets, creating new ones, and consolidating them along with their guidelines into a comprehensive, marketing specific asset repository.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
Art Director
Designer
RESULTS
Incorporated all these assets into a team library, ensuring everything is readily available and editable. This streamlined production processes, reducing the time required for future projects.
Significant increase in users who typically engage in a single game, now exploring other games within our portfolio
Significant increase in new subscribers
FOR STARTERS...
Below are what The New York Times Games portfolio looks like in the wild. You can play them either on the Games website or through the Games app.
1. BRAND
Brand artworks are the primary, defining visuals for The New York Times Games identity. They appear both static and animated.
OLD GAMES MARKETING BRAND
Below is an overview of the three categories of marketing artwork we had. Although beautiful, most are overly abstract, lacking clarity in showing the type of games we offer, especially for those who have never heard of Games before. However, there are some aspects that are effective, and we wanted to carry them over into the new brand.
2. TONAL
The tonal animations are secondary and are used within an already established Games environments, such as the subscription page.
FOLLOW MASTER IDENTITY VOICE GUIDELINES
Our first step was to establish our guiding principles by going back to the Games master identity voice guidelines. By prioritizing these key words in the new artwork, we remained aligned with the brand's overarching vision.
MAINTAIN A SUBTLE NOD TO PREVIOUS BRAND
We wanted to preserve elements of the previous brand that still held value, strategically identifying aspects that could be repurposed. Incoming: Gems! These are small bits and pieces of games that can help inject playfulness in the right context.
USE INDIVIDUAL GAMES ICONS
To initiate the process of familiarizing our audience with our games and their visual style, we opted to integrate game icons into our artwork. Given their nature as logos, we made sure to limit their usage, ensuring they were used sparingly and did not feel decorative.
BRING BACK THE COLOR!
To further familiarize audiences with Games, we thoughtfully incorporated our color palette. Each game features a curated palette consisting of four colors: primary, dark, light, and neon plus the universal black and white colors.
MORE GAMEPLAY!
Interface animations proved to be the most successful among the previous marketing artwork, primarily because they showcased gameplay; however, they still deviated significantly from what the games actually looked like. We took this idea and simplified the real gameboards. We removed unnecessary UI details and strokes, resulting in a modern and streamlined aesthetic that better reflect their actual appearance. We also extracted the congratulatory UI elements and used them as design elements, such as "Nice!" pills and +1 points.
INTRODUCE A MODULE SYSTEM
To better introduce color integration, we implemented a modular system to accommodate simplified game boards. These modules, particularly beneficial in emails, offer flexibility to incorporate additional elements such as tips, stats, or screenshots.
MAKE 'EM MOVE
To make artwork more inviting, we began prioritizing animation where relevant. By animating the gameboards, we not only gave users a glimpse of gameplay but also infused a sense of playfulness without resorting to excessive decoration.
NEW GAMES MARKETING BRAND
1. STRATEGY
The aim of the rebrand is to educate users about our Games while maintaining a high design aesthetic, all while infusing a sense of fun and whimsy to reflect the inherent enjoyment of gaming.
LOW FIDELITY
GAMES ICONS
GAMES ICONS
Games icons are strategically integrated into artwork to enhance brand familiarity. These can be used in a similar way gems with added attention, as they are technically logos. We avoid having multiples of a single one in a composition, changing colors, tilting, etc.
GEMS
Gems serve as delightful fragments of the games, intended to infuse a playful essence to the brand. Color can be changed and they can be overlaid on text when referencing the Games brand or integrated into artwork from that particular game.
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARDS
Simplified gameboards live up to their name by being just that: simplified versions of the highly detailed real gameboards. They can be used with or without the module background, making sure there is enough contrast between the background and the gameboard.
XS SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARDS
XS Simplified Gameboards are the icon-like counterparts of Simplified Gameboards. They exclude small game elements such as text and numbers, making them ideal for smaller compositions where legibility would be compromised with a standard gameboard. Typically used when talking about the Games brand as a whole, they are often paired with other XS gameboards to provide additional context.
TRUE TO UI GAMEBOARDS
True to UI gameboards are the closest in appearance to what the real deal looks like. Unlike screenshots, they are designed to be fully editable, simplifying the process of tailoring content for individual projects while eliminating redundant UI elements. These gameboards are only shown within phone or computer screens, providing contextual placement. The main purpose of these is for educational content, such as walkthroughs for finding new features.
HIGH FIDELITY
2. ARTWORK CATEGORIES
To ensure a more strategic and meaningful usage of the artwork, we established primary artwork categories to provide guidance on how to effectively use these elements.
3. THE GAMES BRAND
The games brand artwork is segmented into two categories: the overarching games brand and the individual games. Although the rebrand primarily targeted individual games, we reframed the goal of the Games brand. Our objective was to highlight the breadth of games, emphasizing that there is something for everyone. Main elements such as fonts and logos extend to the subcategory of individual games.
GEMS
GAMES ICONS
GEMS
TRUE TO UI GAMEPLAY
3. INTERFACE
The interface animations are abbreviations of the individual gameplay experiences. These literal representations are used with an instructional manner.
SUDOKU
SPELLING BEE
THE MINI
TILES
THE CROSSWORD
LETTER BOXED
2. INDIVIDUAL GAMES BRANDS
The individual games brands is where the new optimizations really shine, as we bring more focus to gameplay and all the elements that make each game unique.
LOOPS FOR BEEATRICE
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / MODULE
SECONDARY ART
BEEATRICE
TRUE TO UI GAMEBOARD
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / ON WHITE
XS SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / MODULE
SECONDARY ART
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / MODULE
TRUE TO UI GAMEBOARD
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / ON WHITE
XS SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / MODULE
SECONDARY ART
TRUE TO UI GAMEBOARD
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / ON WHITE
XS SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD
WIN PILLS
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / MODULE
SECONDARY ART
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / MODULE
TRUE TO UI GAMEBOARD
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / ON WHITE
XS SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD
WORDLEBOT
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / MODULE
SECONDARY ART
TRUE TO UI GAMEBOARD
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / ON WHITE
XS SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / MODULE
SECONDARY ART
TRUE TO UI GAMEBOARD
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / ON WHITE
XS SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / MODULE
SECONDARY ART
TRUE TO UI GAMEBOARD
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / ON WHITE
XS SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD
OTHER GAMEBOARD PATTERNS
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / MODULE
ADDITIONAL PUZZLES
SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD / ON WHITE
TRUE TO UI GAMEBOARD
SECONDARY ART
XS SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD
XS SIMPLIFIED GAMEBOARD
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