GDC 2025 Session Viewer
Educators Summit: Sketchbooking and Visual Analysis in the Game Design Classroom
Christopher Totten (Associate Professor, Founder, Kent State University/Pie for Breakfast Studios)
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Summits Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Educators
Format: Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
In fields such as the visual arts, architecture, or graphic design, sketchbooks are an indispensable tool for designers to record ideas, analyze previous works used to inspire current projects ("precedent"), and even test early iterations of projects. This talk by a designer and educator with 15+ years of experience describes how to bring the practice of sketchbooking into classrooms practicing both game design and games analysis.
Backed by the results of a multi-year study on how these books impacted student design learning, the talk presents coursework, learning outcomes, assignment structures, and assessment methods for building students' ability to think about game design through multiple perspectives, including visual, textual, and spatial ways.
Takeaway
Integrate sketchbooking practices into courses on game design and analysis, with example assignments that have successfully built these practices in real courses. Build students' skills with analytical methods based in the arts and design. Add sketchbooking and visual arts practices to instructor's and students' game analytical and design toolbox.
Intended Audience
This talk is for game design and game studies instructors in various types of programs, covering practices for use in both practical and analytical contexts. No prior experience with design or drawing is necessary, as the presented coursework is structured to be welcoming to even those without visual arts experience.