Every year, teams of any size between 2 and 100 people gather to solve a large collection of esoteric yet highly-varied puzzles which lead to finding a coin on campus. The team that finds the coin first is given the right to develop the hunt for the following year. The theme we developed was based on books and literary genres, and for that, we designed a world that comprised of smaller genre-based "cities". Each one had its own look and feel, and as the Art Director, I commissioned and guided several artists and designers to contribute to the Hunt.
This project was massive. To see the entire website, start here: puzzles.mit.edu/2022/prologue
About half of the areas of the Hunt were completely designed and illustrated by me (as opposed to the other half which were partially made with the help of other artists).
For a very comprehensive breakdown of my roles and responsibilities in this project and to read more about the design process and choices made for each of the areas of the Hunt and its narrative, please visit bit.ly/JLMIT2022.
To add to the immersion, I developed a few animations to help further and illustrate the key plot points of the Hunt's narrative.
The winning team of this Hunt took home a 2.5" gold-tinted coin that references the overall theme and the key plot points of the narrative. Those who made it past a certain point midway through the Hunt were also offered a 1.25" enamel pin as a reward. This pin, "The Newberry", is based on the award for children's books, the Newbury Award.
