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2022 / THE NEW YORK TIMES
NYT GAMES BRAND REFRESH
As the marketing demands for NYT Games grew, the team recognized the need for an updated brand identity specifically designed for marketing. The existing artwork, while visually appealing, didn’t capture the essence of what truly entices players – gameplay. This brand optimization separated brand assets from marketing assets and established new guidelines in order to support these marketing goals.
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
1x ART DIRECTOR
1x DESIGNER
PROBLEM
OUR TEAM IDENTIFIED THAT MARKETING CONTENT SHOWCASING ACTUAL GAMEPLAY OR GAMEBOARDS CONSISTENTLY OUTPERFORMED OTHER TYPES. WHILE CURRENT MARKETING ARTWORK WAS BEAUTIFUL, IT WAS OVERLY ABSTRACT, MAKING IT HARD FOR NEW USER TO GRASP ITS CONNECTION TO THE BRAND OR UNDERSTAND WHAT IT WAS ABOUT.
SOLUTION
OUR GOAL WAS TO MAKE REFINED VERSIONS OF THE NYT GAMES GAMEPLAY SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR MARKETING MATERIALS WHILE PRESERVING A WELL CRAFTED AND DELIGHTFUL LOOK AND FEEL.
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
1 x ART DIRECTOR
1 x DESIGNER
WHAT IS NYT GAMES?
The New York Times Games is a collection of word and logic online games published by The New York Times. You can play them on the Games website, or either the NYT or Games app.
OLD GAMES MARKETING BRAND
The old Games marketing brand had three categories of artwork. 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.
Brand Artwork
Brand artworks are the primary, defining visuals for The New York Times Games identity. They appear both static and animated.
Tonal Artwork
The tonal animations are secondary and are used within an already established Games environments, such as the subscription page.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
LOW FIDELITY
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 Simplifed 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
GEMS
GAMES ICONS
GEMS
TRUE TO UI GAMEPLAY
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
WANT TO SEE THE NEW BRAND IN ACTION?
Click on the projects below.
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