What is a Visual Vocabulary?

Seems to be a pretty odd combination of words, but it makes perfect sense in the context of UI Design. I define a Visual Vocabulary as the set of UI components that a program use to provide a foundation of consistency for player actions.

UI Design is a discipline in and of itself and on large projects there is often a group solely focused on the user interface. I am a Lone Wolf game developer and thus it falls to me to lead the UI Design Team of me, myself and I.

5 tips for implementing an awesome Visual Vocabulary

• Be consistent Well yeah of course you already know that, but I mean really, really, really consistent. For example, the icon to get Help is always the same across scenes in regards to position, color, size and basic functionality in other works, consistent.
• Do not reinvent the wheel My game “I Think I Can” uses a left right swipe motion to move a carousel of text. The UI is exactly the same as swiping through images on a Smartphone. Not reinventing the wheel here means that my players will be instantly familiar with how a major UI element of my game operates.
• Color is important Color can be a great helper for focusing the player’s attention to what is important. For example, when you want to focus player’s attention on the center of the screen use dark outer edges fading to light inner areas. This will help lead the player’s eyes.
• Be A Minimalist Less stuff means less clutter, less confusion and hopefully more game play time.
• Make a UI Bible I highly recommend you create a UI Bible even if you are a Lone Wolf game developer like myself.