Brief 4 - Communicate: Rating System

I wanted to have a simple rating system so that certain information was obvious. The information I decided I wanted to be shown was:

• How many people can play
• How easy the game is
• How long the game takes
• What category the game is - Drinking - Traditional - Gambling.

Originally I had the idea of a staring system but this didn't seem to fit in with the questions. You cannot star how long the game takes or how easy it is because people will misread the stars for how good the game is. If it is easy to play and quick then it will be mistaken for a bad game. 

I researched into other rating systems. On games the age appropriate number is in a square. It is bold so it is easy to see and stands out. Other game symbols show what the game includes like a warning such as gambling, violence and bad language. I like the high contrast colours because they work as a set, they are informative and you immediately know what the game involves rather than having to read around for it. 

Whilst cooking I noticed that the cookbook had a good rating system which was in a column on the right top corner. This style really fitted in with the book as it uses a strong colour theme and you can quickly find the information you need - how many people, how easy it is, costing etc...

In the front of the book they had a useful key to highlight what each section meant. This is something that I would definitely look into and want to implement. 

The research informed my decision to have something visual that didn't take up much spacing. The idea of four circles which shows all of the above information. Below shows the concept I created. Each card will have 4 circles on depending on the card and they will also have a coloured edge which will relate to the type of card that it is.