Design Review Details
Meeting with ABC Australia team
Often I am called in to review a design or a concept from a client, in person or at a distance. The picture at the left is from Xmedialab in Singapore, Dec 2006, a special workshop organized by Brendan Harkin where experts meet with several project teams. Typically however the sequence is that I am contacted by a potential client, we discuss the basic idea (I will sign standard Non-Disclosure Agreements first), and I review their printed information and drawings. Then I write a report detailing my impressions and listing the challenges their design is likely to face, and we discuss it. Rates vary depending on the depth of the materials and the report, but this is typically a quick, inexpensive "test the waters" way to collaborate.
There are may variations of this basic experience. For example:
- A client may just have an idea to relate verbally, leaving it to me to write up the initial concept document
- Sometimes a project is farther along, with a prototype of hardware or a licensed character or other IP, but with limited gameplay ideas. I can suggest appropriate game genres and gameplay conventions.
- Sometimes I am brought in to provide experienced mentorship for a less experienced designer, or for a project manager or producer with limited design expertise
- Occasionally a project is partially finished and has hit a snag, or is under redesign for financial or business reasons. I can work within parameters established by the client to redraft or improve the design