Role: Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Layout Designer, Prop Designer

Date: May - July 2020

Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Procreate, Slack, Zoom, iPad Pro

Background

Escape New Haven is an escape room based (clearly) in New Haven, CT.

I was brought on to the team as a “Visual Storyteller”, a temporary 4-week position to help the game designers bring their new adventure to life by designing props, advertisements, and helping with story development.

The central challenge of my time with ENH was a 22-page “100 year old” journal– the primary prop and guidebook for The Lost Totem. I had to illustrate, lay out, and remotely devise the physical construction for this journal. It needed to be weather-proof, authentic-looking, easy to understand, and easy to navigate, all while balancing considerations of time, budget, and reproducibility.

In addition to the journal, I helped develop everything from way-finding signs and instructional safety posters to custom fonts and “ancient Amazonian shields”. I was repeatedly praised for my expert task prioritization under tight deadlines, and the team enjoyed working with me so much that they extended my contract by 50%, during which time I helped them create a 21-post social media series and refresh the designs and text of their booking emails.

The Lost Totem opened late summer 2020 at Fields of Fire.