The making of the Patterns on Ice lottery interface

Looking at the tickets.

Reading the rules, coming up with ideas. The lottery is called Patterns on Ice, which means we’ll need to create the patterns. The ticket has four fields to scratch off, we need to show all of them in the game. Sketching the figure skating concept.

Presenting. The client likes the general idea but not the characters. Offering two figure skaters, a penguin and a hockey referee.

Client: OK.

Starting to work on the background. Deciding to replace the stadium with a cozy evening courtyard. After all, we’ve got amateurs competing, not professional figure skaters. Making the first drafts.

Client: OK.

Getting inspired by beautiful houses.

Drawing the wireframe houses in curves.

Exporting to Photoshop and adding details.

It gets darker.

And even darker. Adding volume and detail.

Meanwhile, another designer draws the characters.

The penguin is OK, but the other characters will need to be recreated. Replacing the designer.

Art director: The characters can look cartoony, like in all other games. Right now the style is too pretentious and helpless.

Art director: More like it, but now they look fat.

That’s better. Adding the referee.

Art director: He’s got a bulbous nose, poor shading under the belly and messy trousers. Let’s draw beautiful modern people, not losers please. A young and cheerful referee, that’s who we need. Your dude looks like a janitor.

Art director: Now he looks like a happy guy from North Korean posters. Try to find someone else please, this one is too fake, I don’t believe him.

Art director: Too Belorussian, try again.

Art director: It’s all the same over and over. Can you draw a different guy for once? Change his height, put on a different helmet. He looks horrible right now, down to every single pixel.

Again from scratch.

Art director: Now he looks stiff and broken. You can’t seem to nail it. Maybe screw him then? Let’s draw someone else?

Ultimately choosing one of the options.

Another idea we have is to use a skating robot. Making the sketches.

Drawing.

Throughout the work, we keep in mind the overall picture. The paper ticket has four scratch-off fields. Numbers in the “Short program” and “Free program” fields are added together and compared to the number in the “Record” field. If the sum exceeds the record, the player wins the prize hidden in the “Prize” field. We need to show all that in the game. Turning it into a competition between amateur and professional skaters. We’ll be playing for amateurs, of course.

Showing the prize on the panel.

Placing the skaters on ice, adding sounds picked by the client. The game is ready to be launched.