Project Roles
Professor Shadrick Addy | Director
Liann Trahey | Visual Communication Design | UX, Sound
Alex Cieslinski | Visual Communication Design | UX, Sound
Dawson Estep | Visual Communication Design | Interactivity Design & Development
Bryce Patterson | Visual Communication Design | Development & Environment Design
Game Overview
The Jacob Lawrence Interactive Museum is a first-person virtual reality game designed for those who are interested in the life and works of Jacob Lawrence. The game set is placed in a typical Harlem brownstone, envisioned as the two-story home of Jacob Lawrence. This experience allows players to explore a variety of his paintings on the walls of the first floor in addition to three exploratory spaces on the second floor. We took three panels from Lawrence’s “The Migration Series” that we felt best encompass the entire series and through faithful recreations, we brought them to life in a 3D space.
Game items & sounds
When designing the elements of the game, we chose to bring in objects that would be in a typical Harlem home. We incorporated vintage frames, furniture, and room textures to make the environment appear as accurate as possible. In terms of the sound of this experience, we decided that soft jazz from the 1920s would create a good background ambiance while the user explores the home. In addition to the music, certain areas have narration that guides you through Lawrence’s life story and career as well as explaining the panel scenes.
Immersive Design
We prioritized user immersion in the creation of this educational experience because we felt that to best integrate users into the panels of ‘The Migration Series’ and understand the magnitude of their impact on the art world, it needed to be a life-sized space that they could enter. The rest of the environment was important as well in conveying the lifestyle that Jacob Lawrence lived during the beginning and into the prime of his career.
Environment Design
The environmental layout is based on the home styles of the Harlem Renaissance as well as the color palette that Jacob Lawerence primarily used in his paintings: pinks, greens, blues, yellows, and tans. The area at which you are welcomed gives you a view of a New York City street in the style that Lawrence paints his buildings and the interface elements are designed to fit seamlessly within that look. The design of this brownstone home is meant to replicate the space that the artist once occupied and highlight some of his most well-known works displayed throughout the home including assets like furniture and painting description plaques to bring the home to life.