Video Games — Marketing and Representation

Philip Tellenmark – https://www.instagram.com/colorsfromthenorth//

The video game industry has for many years been accused of poor representation of women, both inside and outside the games. This is something I want to try to challenge in my design project where I explore the possibilities in a type of marketing that is more gender neutral. Through a detailed research of different industries, I came to the conclusion that some form of personal marketing can help solve the problem. Gamification is a big part of my design which can be explained as creating some kind of game as part of the solution. The app is inspired by a well-known example of gamification: Pokémon GO. The user creates their own character and also chooses the gender. It's the user's own character that is visible in the material they access. The game systems are taken from the game Death Stranding itself. The user delivers packages to different areas and unlocks rewards in form of illustrations, information about the game or a discount if a pre-order of the game Death Stranding is made. Regarding the graphical profile of the app, I try to capture elements from the game to create a profile with a strong connection to the game itself. A game with dark themes and a big focus on death. In order to strengthen the personal part of the app, the player themselves has to choose a lighter color which will be a strong contrast to the darker theme and also clearly indicates the player's own choices and data.