Ask the right question to uncover the mystery

EMPLOYER
Playmatics

CLIENT
PBS - History Detectives Lab

ROLE
Visual Designer/Art Director

PLATFORMS
Web, Flash ActionScript 3

Overview

History Detectives Laboratory (HD Lab) is an online educational game inspired by the PBS television show History Detectives.

It has two main components: Game Modules and Open Investigation.
In the Game Modules the student plays the role of a ‘Detective,’ and investigates a mystery surrounding an object. The Modules also help prepare students for their own more free-form ’Open Investigation’ of an object they are curious about, and which may have a connection to U.S. history. The Open Investigation can also be used independently of the Modules. The HD Lab website’s educational resources support the Modules and the Open Investigation. Many of the lesson plans and resources can also be used independently of the Modules and Open Investigation.

The two modules to play are: The Case of the Curious Clock, and The Case of the Hooked Hawaiian Knife. They are aligned with Historical Thinking and Common Core State Standards and support curriculum in two historical eras: The New Immigrants (1880 – 1920) and the Emergence of Modern America (1890 – 1930s).

Challenge

I started at Playmatics in the Summer between my first and second year of grad school at Parsons School of Design. Initially I worked with an Art Director who led the project. After proving my skill and sensibility for this project I was handed off the lead role and tasked with completing it and bringing it to launch for the client.

Doing countless hours of visual research, something I still enjoy doing, refining moodboards and comps for each screen, as well as generating conceptual ideas for the game’s user interface, I was able to pick up when my lead left off. While working semi-remotely with a technical designer/engineer, a flash developer and the client script we finished the development of Module 1 and started and completed the second and final Module: The Hooked Hawaiian Knife.