TwitchCon 2018 Party at Avaya Stadium
This map details the available concessions and activities at TwitchCon’s 2018 party at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California.\
Color
One of the most prominent features of this map is it’s strong use of a monochromatic palette. To match branding, most colors are tints, tones, or shades of Twitch’s iconic purple, and it uses contrasting yellows and reds to separate structures from nature. Color is also used to pop structures out, adding white to buildings and giving them a 3-dimensional effect with the use of flat design. This design style is employed liberally in this map, adding the slightest amount of dimensionality by giving each object a shadow from a global lightsource. These shadows are created by using shades of their parent color – an extremely simple effect. This is primarily for legibility and ease-of-use of the map, with white callouts clearly marking the function or name of each location.
Find out more about this principle here.
Biophilia
The addition of trees and textures to show grass and shrubs is an indicator of biophilia, which drastically alters the mood of the image. Although repetitive and not true-to-form, the trees lighten the tone of the information-heavy map, and give the viewer a more holistic scene (although slightly exaggerated) of the location. In this instance, these markers might truly refer to a field or patch of grass, and can actually be more of a subtle tool in that regard, but the trees in particular seem to be placed playfully and with more of a design-driven intent than functional. This skews the viewer’s understanding of the location to be more lush and natural, drastically changing its reception.
Find out more about this principle here.
Contour Bias
Contour Bias, or an inherent preference to rounded objects rather than ones with sharp edges, is seen throughout this map. Even the smallest details, like the tips of the flag, or the point in the top of the tent, all contain rounded edges. This is partially due to the flat-design aesthetic of the map, but also lends itself to ease-of-use principles. The softer edges are easier to glance over and don’t pull one’s focus easily.
Find out more about this principle here.
Hi Graham: Thanks so much for sharing the TwitchCon map. Did you attend in person? I hope it’s a great experience. The color scheme as well as the icon/map design both remind me of the Twitch branding. The text and path also remind me of graphic design elements in traditional video games. I suspect the designer is very likely also a gamer, as the visual aesthetics are very attractive, yet the texture and shades are not adding additional complexity or cognitive load.
Hi Graham! I’m always drawn to very single-color heavy illustrations so I really enjoyed your selection here. I think it was a really interesting choice to make the trees the most contrasting part of the whole map. Everything else is still in varying shades of Twitch’s iconic purple.