Nerf Ultimate Championship

NERF ULTIMATE CHAMPIONSHIP

NERF Ultimate Championship is a competitive multiplayer game that brings NERF battles into an electrifying competition only possible in virtual reality. Gear up with a wide range of new and classic blasters as you leap around fantastic arenas in intense 4v4 team matches. Soak in the sound of roaring fans and master your skills as you begin your journey to become the Ultimate NERF Champion.

see the trailer

My responsibilities primarily included leading the design team for Nerf Ultimate Championship in order to cover all of the game’s design and branding needs. This spanned Logo creation, identity systems, motion graphics, website design, and full templates and brand packages for social media. It also included directing the in-game UI design team, ensuring all aspects of the experience aligned with the broader brand language.

Logo Design & Development

The main logo design went through a long process of iteration, evolution and reiteration, borrowing elements from the Nerf evergreen branding while trying to forge a new identity marked by traditional PvP competition. Through multiple rounds of stakeholder feedback and input, a number of ideas were explored, combined, abandoned and evolved into the final logo package. It included the full wordmark and a submark/favicon which incorporated the Nerf branded ‘N’ and the U and C of the ‘Ultimate Championship’ naming.

The primary motion design was meant to be fast paced and energetic, evoking the feel and speed of the evergreen brand, as well as the gameplay. It was also meant to serve a secondary function as a broadcast transition asset, and was therefore designed and animated accordingly.

EARLY STUDIES

Branding

The project required a full branding package, with a mind for even further branding needs – such as livestream broadcast – once the project launched. The brand borrowed elements from the evergreen brand while maintaining the look and feel established by the internal project stakeholders. As the project has been sunsetted, the full brand bible is shown below.

Social Media

With strict guidelines around messaging, language and visuals from the evergreen Nerf team, and a clear idea for the identity and visuals for the project from the internal stakeholders, the social media designs and visuals for Nerf Ultimate Championship were an interesting challenge to reconcile. Especially with the promise for further public facing design needs around the livestream e-sports broadcasting potential of the game. As such the strategy was phased, starting off with simple templates for announcements and content. The game was sunsetted due to circumstances beyond the control of the internal team, and as such, many of the early ideation and plans regarding the social media art were left unfulfilled.

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