DropMix

A tabletop mixing game from Harmonix and Hasbro, combining physical cards, an LED board and real-time audio.

Role

Art Director

Studio

Harmonix

Partner

Hasbro

Year

2017

Platforms

iOS and Android, with the DropMix board and cards

Card art

150 illustrations by 76 independent artists and studios

DropMix started with a core team of four at Harmonix, sharing look, feel, play and software, and working day to day with Hasbro's design, hardware, printing and marketing groups.

It began as a fully digital game and grew during development into a hybrid of physical and digital play. Cards with embedded NFC chips go down on a connected board paired with a phone or tablet, and each card plays a song loop. Players recombine those loops into new mixes, across modes that run from freestyle to party game.

I owned art direction across the product, from brand, UI, UX and animation to the card art. For the cards that meant briefing, commissioning and delivering 150 illustrations from 76 independent illustrators and studios, each under its own contract. Every song card carries original art, so the deck reads as a collection of distinct voices while still working as one game on the board.

With Hasbro, I drove the look and feel of the physical board and the card printing, and worked with their internal product testing teams. We used testing to compare song lists and first-time flows, replaced a long tutorial video with short steps players could control and revisit, and kept revising on feedback from players inside and outside the studio. The result blended illustration, new technology and music in a way nothing before it had.

DropMix © Hasbro and Harmonix.

Card Art