Funix project
Funix
There are no educational games that teach phonics according to the Science of Reading methodology. Phonics, despite being a proven method for teaching literacy, has been neglected in public schools in favor of the widely discredited "Whole Language" model. As a result, literacy rates in the US are among the lowest of any first-world country.
Funix is a flash-card learning game that uses phonics to teach children how to recognize letters, combine sounds, and create words. Funix uses a simple layout, dyslexic-friendly design, and warm, friendly colors to make phonics and reading fun.
Final product mockup
The Funix Quick Start Guide is linked via QR code on the side of the packaging, giving parents and kids a fun introduction to the game
Funix
Process
I am indebted to the Seattle kid's game store Snapdoodle for letting me do my research there. With the help of their generous employees, I gathered images of other popular learning games. I learned that simplicity in game-play was a key driver of sales, and that learning games that included a tactile element also did well.
Pictures from my Snapdoodle research expedition
Typography
The primary typeface used on the Funix game cards is Trebuchet MS, which is a dyslexic-friendly font that uses subtle variations in its terminating strokes to differentiate between easily confused letters, lower-case d's and b's, for example. The Funix branding uses Alfarn for the display type, and Avenir Next for body copy. I know that using two sans-serif typefaces on one project is a little eccentric, but Trebuchet really only appears on the letter cards, and Avenir appears on the packaging and game cards, so they're kept somewhat seperate.
Colors
The most common response from my classmates about this project was a universal endorsement of the colors. Which is funny because I spent very little time in choosing them. Through my research, I knew that I needed to avoid dark colors and earth-tones. Bright and bold colors with plenty of white space would stick out on the shelf. The game cards themselves use colors from the Pantone uncoated book, their general harmony a fortuitous accident.
Testing different card sizes
Hand-made prototype to test gameplay
Example of letter card
Example of game card
Showing how the cards are used to spell words
User testing with one of my classmates
Packaging design and dielines