Imagin8v Park
Imagin8v Park is an interactive click-and-play game that highlights how education, participation, and shared spaces shape stronger, more stable communities amid an ongoing housing crisis.
Timeline:
Sept. 2025 - Present
Partners:
Adam’s Garden Park
Adam Carr
Role:
Illustration and UI Design
Team:
Irhah Arshad, Alexandra Rudnitsky, Kyle Vang, and Erin Grisar
The Problem
The stories behind community-led housing and civic action are often invisible to the public, and the complexities of the housing crisis can feel overwhelming or inaccessible to younger generations. Through conversations with our stakeholders at Adams Garden Park, we realized there is a significant gap in how we educate and engage high school students in the process of community revitalization. Without a way to visualize the impact of civic engagement, it is difficult for students to move from understanding a problem to feeling empowered to solve it.
The Solution
Imagin8V Park is an interactive "empathy engine" designed to transform housing education through game-based learning. By shifting from a dystopian present to a thriving future, the game allows players to digitally visualize the tangible impact of community action. It bridges the gap between empathy and communication, providing a safe space for students to explore the "what ifs" of urban design and neighborhood advocacy. The project centers on the idea that if we have the time to imagine and the audacity to dream, we can build more stable and vibrant communities.
About Our Partners
Opened in 2020, Adams Garden Park reflects Sharon and Larry Adams’ commitment to revitalizing their neighborhood.
They transform blighted and abandoned properties into vibrant community spaces. By prioritizing resident engagement and long-term partnerships, their work strengthens both the physical landscape and the future of the neighborhood.
User Needs
How might we create an interactive platform that empowers high schoolers to engage in community transformation and advancement?
Moodboard
For the visual style, we drew inspiration from mixed-media 2D animation and a hand-drawn, 'sketchy' aesthetic. We felt the paper-layered look of Paper Mario was the perfect fit for our animation style, allowing us to combine a tactile, craft-like feel with a digital experience.
Our Storyline
The player starts in a Dystopian present of our neighborhood, where they are trying to figure out what went wrong to cause the neighborhood to lack community and vibrancy.
The player is then sent back in time, where we meet Cherry and Barry- our guides, both of whom have a passion for helping others and a vision for a lively community. The player, with the help of Cherry and Barry, works through tasks that involve community engagement and improvement to the neighborhood. By completing these tasks and filling a progress bar, the player is able to travel back to the present, where, because of the descisions made in the past, the community is now thriving.
Our Guides
Works with People
Empathetic
Optimistic
Genuine
Spirited
Works in Construction
Hardworking
Ambitious
Realist
Secretly a Softie
Illustrations
I served as the illustration lead for this project, where I used Procreate to design and draw all the backgrounds, buildings, and environmental objects. My goal was to translate our initial concepts into a cohesive, mixed-media world. By focusing on layered textures and a hand-drawn aesthetic, I helped create an immersive environment that feels like a living sketchbook.
Introduction
The intro animation follows Terry, the player’s dog, through a neighborhood that has lost its spark. By chasing Terry through a broken archway, the player is transported to the past where the journey of community transformation begins.
Prototype
Next Steps
Finish Prototype of Chapter 1 User Interactions and Game Flow
Testing
First: Classmates, Friends, etc.
After Feedback Integration: High Schooler Focus Groups
Incorporate Insights from Testing
Prepare Prototype for Handoff to Partners
