Designing the Future of Gaming with Stardust
The Client: Stardust approached me to create graphics for a brand activation at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Shortly after this event, they brought me on board as the founding designer. Stardust is a software company in the Video Gaming Industry. Their brand combines retro and futuristic gaming aesthetics.
Projects: When I started at Stardust, the brand consisted of a logo and one brand color. Over the year I worked there, I expanded the brand color palette, selected an additional typeface, created illustrations and additional graphics. I also oversaw the art direction of several events including a pop-up gallery and speakeasy.
Collaborators: Benish Shah, VP of Marketing; Jared Hatch, event production; Bridget Hearst, content.
The Brand
Stardust creates a software that assists game developers in coding elements of their game more efficiently. They wanted their brand to have a futuristic vibe, while also drawing on retro gaming aesthetics.
I pulled Capitana, a bold geometric font for headings, and a set of cyberpunk inspired pastel colors. I utilized these colors to create illustrations for our blog.
Additionally, for some of Stardust Graphics such as the cover for their podcast Game On, I created 3D elements to mimic the feel of a platform-based video game.
Stickers designed for a brand activation
Events/Activations
During my time at Stardust I designed graphics for The Stardust Gallery, a pop-up where we created a gallery of our clients artwork and hosted a series of events in the space. The activation also included an ice cream stand which I used as a visual motif for the event.
Stardust Bar
A second event I made graphics for was a Speakeasy pop-up at Gamescom in Germany. For this event I made a set of illustrated trading cards representing different elements of the Stardust brand. This printed asset encouraged guests to talk to each other and learn more about Stardust.
