Round-up Rally

Round-up Rally is a playful exhibit created in order to inform children and their parents about speech therapy methodologies for English speakers struggling with the /r/ sound. It combines iconic elements of play (comics and handheld video games) in order to educate without the educational flavor. The comic story ties seamlessly with the racing game, which requires players to emulate the sound of a motor and practice their /r/ sound in order to accelerate their racecar.

The whole team together with the completed exhibit. Everyone participated in exhibit concept & research and UX design. From left: project manager and game designer Sehwan Park; graphic and content designer Kelly Rio Saxton, game developer Chanwook Min, comics artist Caitlin Quintero Weaver (me), and booth designer Brady Bei

Comic

The comic's plot takes advantage of the power of narrative and humor to sneak in an explanation for how biofeedback can help those struggling to produce the /r/ sound. Through enthusiastic team-work and biofeedback techniques, they all help each other to the finish line.

Gameplay

The Round-up Rally Race is a timed game "driven" by sound input via a microphone and steered via a traditional game controller. Using widely recognized visual and physical conventions of racing video games, a player can intuitively jump into the role of driver after minimal prompting.

The character selection process

Players simultaneously emulate a motor sound and practice their /r/ sound in order to accelerate their racecar.

Thanks to Sehwan Park for the video documentation

The Comic Process

Crafting the comic involved imagining up a whole world and cast of characters to support the goals of the exhibit and to populate the game. Once I'd finished the character designs, I composed the story and general layout of the comic in a rough storyboard. Then I created pencil line drawings, which I then scanned and digitally inked and colored for printing onto the wall panels.