Digital Food Brand
Category:
Web and Mobile App | Prototyper
Duration:
11 months
In 2022, I joined ShiftPixy Labs, where the team was developing a digital food brand. One of the main projects I worked on was Cluckin Lucky, a game featuring a chicken wearing a yellow raincoat, designed as the brand’s mascot. As the game developer and user experience designer, I collaborated with the team to build the Cluckin Lucky endless runner game.
Core Game Design
The game is embedded within the food ordering app, designed to entertain users while they wait for their order to be delivered. Players can collect points during the game, which can be redeemed for discounts on future orders. Our goal was to create a fun and immersive experience that would enhance customer engagement with the restaurant brand, connecting entertainment with dining. The challenge was integrating the brand’s identity into a game that was not only entertaining but also provided practical rewards in the form of food discounts, encouraging repeat visits.
Design Approach
Obstacle Generation
One of my key contributions was refining the system for generating obstacles in the endless runner. Initially, the game used a random placement for obstacles, but during internal testing, I found that this led to either overly sparse or clustered placements. This affected gameplay pacing and balance, making it unpredictable and frustrating for players.
To solve this, I introduced a dynamic difficulty adjustment system based on the player's speed and progress. This system created a more structured difficulty curve that scaled smoothly as players advanced, ensuring a more engaging experience.
Initial Random System
In the original system, obstacles were placed entirely at random. Players often encountered obstacles that were either too close together or too far apart.
Redesigned Grid-based System
To address this issues of randomness, I redesigned the system by implementing a grid-based layout. This allowed me to organize obstacle placement by size and type, ensuring that the distribution was more proportional and balanced.
Final Optimized System
I also used waypoints to guide the player's path, planning safe zones to avoid overwhelming the player with obstacles. This final design created a more fun and rewarding experience for players as they progressed through the game.
Visual Design
The visual design was crafted to reflect the playful and approachable nature of the brand. I collaborated closely with the art team to ensure that the chicken character and the overall environment aligned with the brand’s identity. Using Blender and Maya, we developed a vibrant, cartoon-like world featuring playful elements such as oversized food items and rain-themed visuals that matched the character's yellow raincoat. The colorful design was intended to quickly capture the user's attention, reinforcing the brand’s fun and family-friendly image.
In the game, I was responsible for designing the visual effects when the main character consumed special bonus items and gained invincibility. I created a fiery effect around the character using shader graphics and the particle system, which generated a trailing aura to represent the character’s newfound power. By carefully adjusting the particle flow and shader parameters, I was able to strike a balance, making the power-up both visually exciting and consistent with the playful, vibrant style of the game.
Motion Tracking Video
Advertising Digital Food Ordering
Besides game development, I was also involved in creating a series of motion-based animations that brought the ShiftPixy brand to life by seamlessly integrating animated characters into real-world environments. My focus was on enhancing brand storytelling through engaging and interactive visual content that captivated the audience. I created 2D animation for the wall texture projection.
I collaborated closely with the creative lab and shooting team, using Blender to animate character movements and employing 3D motion tracking to align digital assets accurately within the physical setting. Additionally, I utilized After Effects for post-production to remove the trackers, ensuring a polished final look. This combination of 2D animation, 3D motion tracking, and refined visual adjustments helped create an immersive and cohesive brand experience, bridging digital storytelling with physical spaces in a unique way.
One challenge we faced was ensuring the characters' facial expressions were expressive enough. To speed up the workflow, we introduced face tracking, which I tested during the production of the Cluckin Lucky game. This added a humorous element to the video, which we showcased in a demonstration clip.
This project allowed me to work closely with 3D artists, deepening my understanding of the core value of motion design and how to create expressive animations. I also experimented with creative techniques like 3D scanning to recreate details of food items, such as this burger. Additionally, I modeled and animated objects like a broken waffle, refining my 3D modeling skills.
Some other creative work
Character-Based AR Branding
I used Spark AR Studio to transform everyday workspaces into immersive AR environments. By using target tracking, I brought company mascots and characters to life, allowing them to interact with users whenever the camera detected specific images.
AR Menus
I created AR menus where users could interact with 3D-scanned food items.
