I started by mapping ideas and functions inspired by other companion apps like the steam companion app or the warframe companion app.
I also mapped the inspiration for the game, the main inspiration for this game series is Animal Well as well as Iron Lung.
Animal Well was a huge inspiration for the puzzles as it well known for having interesting and mind-blowing puzzles. The game uses a similar style of puzzles where clues are hidden throughout the game and the only way to solve them is to cross reference them.
The main part of Iron lung i took as inspiration is the Rusty submarine aesthetic as well as the feeling of claustrophobia.
one of the inspiration was the Warframe companion, the icon design as well as button layout are well structured and don't need much text to explain their function.
The steam companion app has a great colour pallet and layout, however the UX design is subpar due to the functionality being too similar to how the Computer app is designed, making the UX a overcrowded experience.
The game uses a bubble style for all the boxes inspired by the fortnite companion app.
for the logo i went through 3 different designs
the first logo was focused on themes of water and mystery with bubble surrounding a question mark with a bite taken out of it. The second design had a simple hammer design with blue in order to focus on crafting, the 3rd design followed the theme of the 1st design but tried to expand on it by having glasses to emphasis the kind of puzzles present in the game.
However in the end i decided the 1st design captured the themes of the game the best as it presents a mystery theme without revealing too much about the game itself.
References
Animal Well
Developed By Billy Basso and published by Bigmode, Released on 9th of May 2024, Accessed On 12th February 2025 Available on : https://store.steampowered.com/app/813230/ANIMAL_WELL/
Iron Lung
Developed By David Szymanski and Published by David Szymanski Released on 10th of March 2022, Accessed on 12th February 2025 Available on : https://store.steampowered.com/app/1846170/Iron_Lung/
Steam Companion app
Developed By Steam and Published by Steam Released on 26th of January 2012, Accessed on 10th of February 2025, Available on: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.valvesoftware.android.steam.community&hl=en_GB
Warframe Companion App
Developed and Published by Digital Extreme, Released on 30th April 2013, Accessed on 10th of February 2025, Available on: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digitalextremes.warframenexus&hl=en_GB
Fortnite Companion App
Developed And Published by GD Games & Apps, Released on 4th of August 2017, Accessed on 10th of February 2025, Available on: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.companion.fortnite&hl=en_GB