team hamster!

Team Hamster! is a digital-first PBS Kids games and video property developed and produced by the GBH Children’s Media team. Geared towards 4-6 year olds, it tells the story of three hamsters that live in an elementary school and solve problems through engineering.

My role was to art direct both the videos and games, and to design all the UI elements and one of the three games.

visual development research

Team Hamster! is a spin-off of The Ruff Ruffman Show, and takes place in the same universe. We wanted to create a world for the Hamsters that was similar, but it visually distinct enough that it felt fresh and new.

digital brand development

While the animation studio began work on character and location design, I started defining what our digital brand could look and feel like by putting together palettes, UI elements, and potential assets and props.

sketches for days

While exploring the brand and helping to art direct the animation studio’s visuals, I also dug into sketches and wireframes for the game I was working on, Power Painters.

game flow

visual design

My favorite part of any project — when the visual design starts coming to life.

launch

I worked in collaboration with a developer using Adobe Animate and Github to implement visual design and animations directly into the game build. After testing a prototype, alpha, and beta build of the game with kids in schools, the property was launched on the PBS Kids website and games app.