Students worked with an industry client, Chess at Three, that, through the use of an imaginative storytelling curriculum, aims to teach the game of chess to very young children. Chess at Three was looking to use their stories as inspiration for a product that could bring their curriculum to the retail market.
Approach
The students used the visually rich stories of the curriculum for inspiration. Wherever possible, opportunities for additional imaginative play were incorporated. For example, each piece has a card that details how the piece moves and why. On the back of that card is an illustration of a scene that can be placed into the overall package, when opened, to double as a backdrop for a puppet theater. The storybook has a dust jacket that opens to reveal a map of the fictional world in which the characters reside. Graphic design communication students collaborated with industrial designers where molded components were essential.
Results
The resulting system of components includes a full set of characters, a game board, a storybook, instructional cards with play scenes on the back, character pieces, a package to hold all the components, a travel bag, badges, stickers and bookmarks.
