Smart Puppies

If you want to stand out in a highly competitive market like mobile "merge" games, it's essential to think differently in order to establish a meaningful and lasting connection with users.

Illustrations by Alfrey Davilla, Julie Benhaïm, and Ilona van Oudenaarden.

Starting point

Christian had a new game in the development phase for which he had nothing defined at the brand level other than a name. Being aware of the competition and market saturation in this type of application, he wanted an image that would stand out from other similar games and, at the same time, captivate users. We were commissioned to create the brand identity, as well as to lead all the artistic direction of the game, including visual design and UI.

The first thing we suggested was to change the naming. The original name was "Merge Puppies" since it's a merge game. But if we wanted to differentiate ourselves from the competition, the first thing we needed to do was having a different name because most of these type of games are called the same: "Merge Mansions", "Merge Food", and so on.

SMART PUPPIES was the chosen name. It elevated the game and conveyed all its essential values. It also makes an important and differentiating mechanics of the game shine which is the progress of your puppy. Unlike other merge games, here you would have the possibility to train your puppy on different areas looking after his mind and body.

​​​​​​​Then we started creating the entire visual identity and the actual game's Visual and UI design. One of the most significant yet enjoyable challenges of this project was coordinating three different illustrators who were responsible for designing the mascots and icons, ensuring that the art direction remained consistent throughout the project.

The result

A game transformed into an iconic brand capable of captivating its users, thereby establishing an emotional connection with the game's pets as if they were their new virtual best friends.