Stu1 ASM2 RMIT Mental Growth Icon Design — Change of Initial Intention and Coloring Practice Note

Prompt: GROWTH

I have decided to change a bit, less function and focus only on the appropriate criteria based on the rubric.

1. The Concept: Mental Growth for All Ages The concept is still about Mental Growth for Education, but not only for children anymore, which is for all ages. For me, all adults have experienced their kid and teenager time before, so I do not want to limit the target audience. Everyone who has a smartphone or a computer can play this. The primary audience is people who have problems with emotional regulation (controlling their emotions). Especially for people who have watched Inside Out 1 and 2. From my point of view, gamification is the most practical, hands-on experience and more interesting than a traditional advisor app. As a result, when going through barriers in this game (inspired by Riley’s experience in the original film), players will gain more ideas and more perspectives on each situation coming to their life in different ways.

2. Access and Interaction I have changed the access slightly to avoid over-complicating it and to differentiate it from the reference game ‘Cookie Run’. I will follow a universal access approach so that players can interact with any kind of smart device having internet access around them.

I also removed the color-mixing function and emotional intensity levels (from 10 to 100). Instead, I focused only on designing two distinct phases for my 9 icons: Inactive and Active states (for unclicked and clicked). When being clicked, these active icons will produce sound effects, providing clear Audiovisual Feedback, which is a key requirement in the brief.

3. Feedback and Iteration I have 2 versions for these 9 icons: one is after peer feedback, and one is after Cy’s feedback.

• Ash’s feedback suggested that I should not rely too much on the square button (like the 45 sketches icons I did in the previous blog).
• Cy’s feedback highlighted the need to reduce the level of detail and simplify the designs.

These feedback were really helpful. I need to be more creative but also place myself in the shoes of a first-time player to ensure the design is intuitive.

Before (the 2nd version)

After (the 3rd version)

4. Design Strategy and Technical Specs

As a result, I try to apply the Black Square activity (Shape Language) on this new update, playing with geometric shapes but still evoking intriguing emotions for players. I also follow the Flat Design style that the rubric requires for a 2D aesthetic.

I am ensuring the 9 icons are unified — no icon stands out more than others — by using the same stroke weight, consistent design language, geometric abstraction, and identical bounding boxes to ensure they are Responsive (SVG) in the future. Additionally, I strictly follow the “No Text” rule on my webpage and icons.

5. Coloring Practice Note

I skipped this practice because I want to follow their original color design, but I still follow the monochromatic style (for me, this style is safe for flat design and not to overwhelm the others, to balance the unity among all icons). I found this color palette on Pinterest. Honestly, I am quite like them, not too many color combinations and enough for flat design.