MUSTACHE PARADE. Board Game Design

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A R A N Y J Á N O S B I C E N T E N Á R I U M A

János Arany's Bicentenary, Board Game Design

János Arany (1817 – 1882) is one of Hungary’s most appreciated poets and the master of ballads. He was born 200 years ago and this branding and board game is inspired by one of his poems to celebrate his bicentenary.

A bajusz (may be translated as The Mustache) is a humorous, slightly sarcastic poem about a Hungarian farmer who seems to be unable to grow a mustache which is a little bit of a disaster as a proper Hungarian man in the 19th century has to have a mustache. Farmer György Szűcs (George Furrier) is a man who has this big problem to be solved and tries everything including gypsy magic to finally grow a mustache.

B R A N D I N G

Setting up a whole brand around this poem I was caught by the lovely feeling of living in the countryside. I chose rich ornaments and bright colors to bring nostalgia, vigor and happiness together while playing this game.

Brand identity includes a bicentennial logo with János Arany's surname Arany (meaning gold as an appellative) and his birth date. Another variation of the logo has been designed, completed with the memorial 200 years instead of his birth date.

Golden yellow, bronze gold and white are the three main colors that specify the identity. I designed a unique, hand-drawn logotype to fit perfectly with my imagination of illustrated characters, ornaments and richly decorated elements.

Two sets of numeric characters has also been designed for this project. A solid one to appear in the logo, and a decorative one to be used on dice cubes.

A little book also comes with this pack of goods. It contains a full copy of A bajusz (The Mustache) to read and make you understand our main characters better while playing Bajuszparádé (Mustache Parade).

A bajusz also got a unique logotype on the front cover.

...T H E B I G G E S T M U S T A C H E O F T H E M A L L!

Bajuszparádé (or Mustache Parade) is a cross and circle type of board game where you compete against other players.

This board game can be played by 2 to 4 players and each player has 4 figures. Basic rules tell you have to reach a safe zone with your figures at the end of a circle on the board, but beware! If someone crosses your lines the player who stepped on your field beats you and your figure has to start circling over again.

Mustache Parade stays loyal to classic rules while it offers you a chance to compete with a lot more fun.

You can choose from four different characters to play with and all of them is an important person in The Mustache poem. The bonus of the new game rules is that you may have a special power that comes with a certain character. Special powers can be activated with a number 6 roll of a die and they affect all other players except you.

Special powers are connected to the storytelling of Arany's poem and help you experience poetry through playing.

The poem inspired me to create a big variety of icons. A set of 12 icons were created to illustrate in the booklet (mirror, comb, mustache oil, handkerchief, necktie, cylinder, mustache, gloves, ink and quill, certificate, notebook, cup of coffee) and later six more icons were created to help me separate the four main characters from each other (oracle sphere, scissors, fried chicken leg, ring, broken mug, kitchen spoons).

These icons played an important part in creating new patterns for textile and paper products.

Below you can see a detail of a printed tote bag.

The typographic characters designed for the Mustache Parade logo are influenced by the brands main Arany 200 logo.

I gave a hint of small starlets and bolder curls to the logotype. With this idea I wanted to allude to classic Hungarian folk tales (such as the shepard who had star-shaped eyes or the youngest prince who wants to be a man) as they have some common features with a farmer who can't grow his own mustache but has a very big nose.

You can play with the following four figures who are (from left to right): Szűcs György gazda (Farmer George Furrier), his wife (Szűcsné), the gypsy voivode and a gypsy woman.

Below you can a see an alternate version of Farmer Szűcs. As this kind of picture frame required a lot of space on the board I simplified it and used the classic rectangle forms for the finals (above).