This is a hobby project. I was responsible within this project for: Branding, UX Design and Visual Design.

Session: Skate Sim is a skateboarding game on pc and consoles. I’ve been playing it quite a lot, especially the physics of the game really got me hooked. creā-ture Studios did a great job of capturing a realistic skateboarding feel. The game is well built in its core, but it lacks some ‘finishing’. This is noticeable in the campaign mode and the customization options but is for me most prominent in the user interface of the game. It doesn’t feel very ‘designed’ and it can also use some UX improvements. So as a hobby project, I decided to redesign some screens. It was a fun challenge to design for a console (PS4), which I never did before.

Before I looked into the UX and interface elements, I created a new style. The current style really misses any character in my opinion. And even more importantly, it doesn’t fit with any aesthetic that is connected to skateboarding (culture). When exploring characteristics of skateboarding culture — such as ‘raw’, ‘alternative’ or ‘rebellious’ — I quickly stumbled upon the use of stickers. This for me captures a lot of those characteristics so I decided to take this as a starting point for the new style. Together with some bold colors and an unconventional font I quickly come to a vibe that fits skateboarding a lot better in my opinion. And it would also give the game some much needed character to be able to stand out.

To improve the UX, I decided to change some menu items. I added for example the ‘Tricktionary’ screen in the main menu to easily have an overview of all the tricks in the game. I also made this screen much more visual by including footage from the game to show what the trick looks like. Next to this I changed the ‘Map’ screen to a ‘Spots’ screen since in the game it doesn’t really work like a map but it’s just a collection of spots that you can choose from. And lastly I added the ‘Skater’ item in the main menu to have all the customization options available anytime. This can currently only be accessed by going back to an apartment via the Map menu.

I’m glad I started this hobby project because it actually had a lot of elements I enjoy working on like the development of a new style and figuring out UX improvements based on user needs (in this case me playing the game for dozens of hours).