Creation of Sign Pals (Branding)
Design Before Development
Before the actual development of my sign language learning game, I invested significant time in designing the visual identity and user interface. This upfront design process proved invaluable as it helped me clarify my vision, establish a cohesive aesthetic, and create a user experience that would be both engaging and accessible.
Today, I'm sharing my design journey for Sign Pals, including the iterative process that led to the final branding and UI elements.
What I'm Going For
The first step in my design process was to define the core purpose and audience for Sign Pals. As a game designed primarily for hearing family members and friends who want to learn sign language to communicate with deaf loved ones, I needed a visual language that would be:
- Friendly and approachable: To reduce anxiety about learning something new
- Playful but not childish: Appealing to both younger and older family members
- Clear and intuitive: Supporting the educational goals of the game
- Distinctive: Creating a memorable brand identity
With these principles in mind, I began sketching visual wireframes in Procreate.
Character Design Evolution
Nintendo Inspired
Brain Academy: A Direct Inspiration
Several aspects of Brain Academy directly influenced my design approach:
- Friendly, approachable UI: Brain Academy's clean, uncluttered interface makes learning feel approachable rather than intimidating—a quality I wanted to capture for sign language learning.
- Quick, focused activities: The game's structure of short, focused exercises that build skills incrementally provided an excellent model for how to pace sign language learning.
- Progress tracking: Brain Academy's simple yet motivating progress visualization helped me design how Sign Pals would show users their improvement over time.
- Playful feedback: The encouraging, light-hearted feedback style that never makes users feel inadequate was something I deliberately incorporated into Sign Pals.
- Balancing education and fun: Most importantly, Brain Academy demonstrated how an educational tool can feel like a game while still delivering real learning value—the core goal of Sign Pals.
My personal connection to Nintendo games gave me a rich visual library to draw from. I've always admired how Nintendo creates characters with distinctive silhouettes and personalities that communicate clearly even at small sizes or from a distance. Their use of bold colors, simple shapes, and expressive features has shaped my own design sensibilities over years of gameplay.
For Sign Pals, I wanted to capture that same Nintendo magic—creating characters that feel friendly and inviting while having enough personality to form connections with players. Nintendo's approach to character design—simple, distinctive silhouettes with personality—provided an excellent model for creating mascots that would be both engaging and functional within an educational game.
Shapes, Colors and Universal Design
My character design philosophy centered around two key elements:
- Universal shape language: Rather than relying solely on color differentiation, I based each character on distinct geometric foundations—circles, squares, rounded triangles—ensuring they would be recognizable even for users with color vision deficiencies. This shape-based approach embodies the principle of equality, making the game accessible to everyone regardless of perceptual differences.
- Complementary color palette: While shapes provide the primary differentiation, I also used a vibrant color system (pink, blue, green, purple, orange, and yellow) to enhance visual appeal and create a cheerful atmosphere.
The Science of Shape Theory
In character design, three basic shapes form the foundation of virtually every character:
- Circles convey friendliness, innocence, harmony, and approachability
- Squares represent stability, reliability, honesty, and strength
- Triangles suggest dynamism, energy, mischief, and sometimes conflict
Universal Appeal Through Shape
One of the most powerful aspects of shape theory is that it transcends language and cultural barriers. This was particularly important for Sign Pals, which is fundamentally about communication across different modes of language.
By creating characters and interfaces based on universal shape psychology, the game becomes intuitively approachable regardless of the user's background. The round, friendly characters immediately signal "this is a safe space to learn" without requiring any text explanation.
Character Color Psychology
Each character's color was selected based on its psychological effects in learning environments:
- Yellow characters: Create optimism and happiness as "the brain releases more serotonin when surrounded by this cheery color." I used yellow to "grab attention, build emotional energy, and encourage communication"
- Orange characters: Help to "uplift, rejuvenate, and boost confidence"
- Blue characters: Support "increased productivity, enhanced cognitive abilities, and open communication." Blue's ability to "help regulate heartbeat and breathing" makes it perfect for creating a calm learning state.
- Green characters: Promote focus and creativity while "reducing fatigue and relieving stress"
- Purple characters: Aid in "calming the mind, boosting mood, and encouraging reflection"
- Pink characters: Combine the energy of red with the calmness of white to create a balanced emotional state that's both engaging and non-threatening.
Personalization Through Characters
I wanted players to form a connection with the game through character choice, similar to how players bond with their chosen characters in Nintendo games. The character selection screen allows users to personalize their profile by choosing their favorite mascot, creating a sense of ownership and identity within the game.
This personalization serves multiple purposes:
- Creates emotional investment in the learning process
- Helps family members identify each other's profiles when sharing the game
- Makes the educational experience feel more like a game and less like a study tool
- Supports tracking individual progress across different users
Logo Development
Initial Concept
My first logo concept was a simple hand-drawn style sketch on a grid background, using blue as the primary color. This early version included a hand symbol integrated with the text—a direct reference to sign language. I wanted to immediately communicate the game's purpose while keeping the design approachable.
The sketch version had a charming, informal quality that matched the educational nature of the project. However, it lacked the polish and versatility needed for various applications within the game.
Final Polished Design
The final logo transformed into a much more refined design with:
- Rounded, bubble-like typography with a warm yellow-to-orange gradient
- A rich brown outline providing depth and warmth
- More balanced proportions and spacing
- Professional finish while maintaining the friendly, approachable feel
This progression from sketch to polished design represents the overall maturation of the project from concept to completed game.
The Meaning Behind "Sign Pals"
The name "Sign Pals" was carefully chosen to embody the core philosophy of the game:
- "Sign" directly references sign language, making the purpose immediately clear
- "Pals" emphasizes the social, friendly aspect of learning—highlighting that this is about connecting with others through language
Together, the name communicates that this isn't just a tool for learning sign language in isolation, but rather a way to learn alongside friends and family—"with pals." This social dimension is reinforced by the character mascots who serve as your "pals" throughout the learning journey.
The friendly, rounded typography of the logo visually reinforces this concept of accessibility and companionship. Just as the characters in the game are designed to be welcoming guides, the logo serves as an inviting entry point to the experience.
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