Fairway Blast

Fairway Solitaire Blast is wilder, faster sister game of Big Fish’s most popular solitaire-golf game, Fairway.

Art direction & design for worldwide launch, 2014

I directed the graphics for the worldwide launch of Fairway Solitaire Blast, one of the first games released for Big Fish’s internal games studio. I worked with a team of game producers and execs to determine the basic criteria: the game should look colorful, wild, and fun. I created thumbnails for the icon and background art which were then handed off to Blast’s character & background artists. With the completed art, I made small tweaks and designed an assortment of assets for use in the App Store, on Big Fish Game’s website, and in mobile digital ads. Being one of the first studio games released, I used this opportunity to establish the marketing design pipeline and created templates for commonly used assets (including an icon template which exports 60+ sizes for use across a variety of media).

Icons, social media, and in-game notifications, 2014-2016

After Blast’s launch, I created campaign designs for in-game events, pop-up notifications, and game icons. In the App Store, icons are mobile gaming’s equivalent of book covers, so I ensured that the graphics were not only “fun above all else”, but also indicated that Blast was a card or strategy game. Additionally, I used a distinctively warm palette, ensuring players would be able to quickly find their game after game updates. The exploding golf-ball icon tested well with players and later became the game’s primary icon.