2021 // branding
Good Gamer, a graduation project against sexism.
About the brand
For my graduation project, I had to choose a subject that hit close to home and felt personal. I chose
the subject 'sexism in the gaming community'. As a female gamer it is not easy to unwind online, at
least not as easy as it is for males. When a woman enters an online game and has the 'audacity' to use
her mic, she can expect some slander. You become the main subject for thirsty teens or adult men that
feel that their masculinity is being threatened, simply because you exist.
Good Gamer strives to become an ethical label within the gaming community. Today there is not enough
focus on inclusiveness and minorities are excluded. The focus of this project started with targeting
sexism and through this project I hope to involve more men in welcoming women and reducing the toxicity
in gaming. You can't just single out one type of discrimination without involving the others, so the
brand also seeks to resolve those issues within the community.
Logo
The logo is made up of different components. I have played with the game term “GG” or “Good Game”. From
there I made it 'Good Gamer' because how good a game is is mostly up to you. Based on that approach, I
have hidden various references in the logo.
The arrow in the letter 'G' refers to the enter key that you often press to start something, it is the
start to
a better future for the gaming community. A controller's buttons are hidden in the 'OO' and the 'D' is
deleted, (because "don't be a D"), though that's more of a hidden message for myself.
I work with a combination of round caps and butt caps; round shapes usually refer to women and sharp
shapes
are often linked to men. I then framed the design with a border with a radius, this is a direct link
to the keys of a keyboard. A square is also seperated from the line (snake, is that you?).
Game pass
The game pass serves to identify gamers during events and fairs. It can also be used by esports teams
during tournaments to show what rank each member is. This can then be used as a tool to weigh up
members with each other, this way teams are better screened.
You can compare it to a business card but for gamers; brands/events can easily decide if they want to be
represented by a certain gamer just by looking at their rank. It also shows streaming platforms what
kind of creators are using their services. For streamers,
influencers or job seekers it can also be useful as a networking tool within the game industry.
Hoodies
When I think of gamers, I automatically think of energy drinks and hoodies or sweaters. Comfort is
key in gaming.
When you're raising your KDA in game, it's important that nothing distracts you. That's why gamers often
wear
comfortable clothes. And who doesn't love a comfy hoodie?
From the start I thought it would be fun to work with sweaters. I wear a lot of hoodies myself and all
my gamer friends wear these too.
I designed sweaters for each rank and additional sweaters that people can buy to support the
project. These only exist in the main colours and not in the other colours that represent the ranks.
Social media
I didn't want to focus too much on traditional social media. The main goal is to spread awareness and
this is done through posts by Good Gamer itself and through social media filters or frames.
Members of Good Gamer use these frames on their Facebook/Twitter/Instagram profile picture and on their
game distribution platform profiles. When people open your game profile during a match, they see the
rank filter and become intrigued. It also communicates your rank and thus your gaming behaviour to
others.
Streaming package
To motivate more gamers to participate, I also want to appeal to streaming gamers. They are in direct
contact with other gamers. If gamers see their favourite streamers participating in the Good Gamer
project, they will
also want to participate. Especially if that means that gamers end up on Discord with their favourite
streamers.
It can also be a fun challenge during streams to up your rank on the Good Gamer scale while your
audience is watching. That's why I decided to design a Twitch streaming package. Some parts are also
useful for YouTube. I
deliberately didn't design everything because I think it's important that the streamer in question can
add some personality, for example through their own emotes. The designs are there for every rank, which
you have to unlock.
Book
The first thing I did was desk research on sexism. First, I defined the concept and delved deeper into
how sexism manifests itself in everyday life. Afterwards I started looking at the gaming industry, how
it came about and I also tried to find out why there is sexism in games and in the community.
Anita Sarkeesian is my heroine throughout this investigation. She has taken the reins into her own hands
to address and highlight the pain points of the industry. Her YouTube series on tropes and game stories
also helped me with my project. Her perspective and knowledge on the industry, combined with her experiences
as a woman, served as the impetus for my research. What she has to say is very fascinating so I wanted
to describe it all in my book. I have truly enjoyed all my research and the knowledge I have gained from it.
You can find all my research in the book 'How to be a Good Gamer' which can be read on the project's website. The book has been printed digitally. The inside is maco silk paper in white (170 g/m²). The book has a laminated hard cover. I chose to laminate it for protection and added shine, as embelishment I wanted to use holographic foil which also represents the legendary rank.
