The brief

The client had created a concept for a family board game based on the theme of lockdown – to highlight the positives and offer a fun way to spend time with each other.  Family members would complete several engaging and funny challenges, to be the first player to ‘make it out of lockdown’. 

The makers were looking for several assets to be created: the game board itself including 42 icon illustrations, the 20 challenge cards, the game box and lid design, and a logo.  They shared rough sketches with initial ideas, and I used these as inspiration to build the gaming world of Lockdown…

Design development

My first priority was to develop the logo, using the styling and colours agreed for this as a basis to create the other assets. The game board itself was structured around a bird’s eye view of a family home and garden, with players working their way around the path outside the house plot to make their way out of lockdown. 

I worked digitally using an iPad Pro for this project, to create everything up to the final artwork stage. The iPad has completely transformed the way I work with my clients; I can bring ideas to life in real time during meetings (or video calls!), and create artwork-ready files on the go.

Creating the illustrated character icons was great fun.  Twenty unique challenge cards with tasks including ‘make up a lockdown song or rap that lasts for 20 seconds’, and ‘name three ingredients in banana bread’ provided great inspiration for some fun drawings.

The game box and lid design were based on the logo, with the challenge cards also tying into this, having the black and yellow striped ‘tape’ framing them around the edges. I was really proud to see the full suite of assets come together as a fun family game.