Client Vs Designers Board Game

Client Vs Designers Board Game

Client Vs Designers Board Game is an award-winning strategic tabletop game designed to explore and illuminate the often stereotypical adversarial dynamics that exist between creative professionals and their clients through an engaging ludic experience that transforms workplace tensions into playful competition. Conceived by creative director Benny Leung in collaboration with illustrator Step Cheung and developed under the auspices of BLCH Ltd. in Hong Kong between October and December 2023, this two-player board game draws its mechanical foundation from the traditional Chinese game Animal Chess, adapting its hierarchical combat system to represent the power dynamics and professional relationships within the design industry. The game employs transparent acrylic chess pieces featuring screen-printed character illustrations that represent various job positions from both the client and designer sides, each assigned different rankings that determine their ability to capture or overpower opposing pieces during gameplay. The board itself utilizes specialized paper that mimics the aesthetic qualities of traditional Animal Chess boards while incorporating contemporary graphic design elements printed with Pantone metallic colors, creating a visual bridge between classical game design and modern professional culture. Measuring 145 millimeters in width, 135 millimeters in length, and 10 millimeters in height, the compact package contains multiple character illustrations for each position, allowing players to select and customize their representatives before commencing play, thereby adding a personalization layer that enhances player investment and identification with their chosen roles. The game's conceptual framework positions common sources of frustration between clients and designers as strategic traps within the gameplay mechanics, transforming potentially negative professional experiences into opportunities for mutual understanding and relationship building. This design approach reflects a sophisticated understanding of conflict resolution theory and the role of play in fostering empathy, as the game encourages participants to inhabit both perspectives and recognize the legitimate concerns and pressures faced by each side of the professional relationship. The illustrative style and character design choices demonstrate careful consideration of representation and relatability, ensuring that players from diverse backgrounds within the creative industries can see themselves reflected in the game pieces. The production methodology combines traditional screen-printing techniques with contemporary materials, resulting in game components that possess both tactile appeal and visual clarity, essential qualities for maintaining player engagement during extended gameplay sessions. As a piece of communication design, Client Vs Designers Board Game functions simultaneously as entertainment, educational tool, and social commentary, using the accessible medium of board gaming to address serious professional dynamics while maintaining a lighthearted tone that encourages open dialogue about workplace relationships. The design received the Silver A' Design Award in the Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design category in 2025, recognizing its innovative approach to visualizing professional relationships, its technical execution combining traditional and contemporary production methods, and its contribution to design discourse through the medium of interactive entertainment. The award designation acknowledges the work's effectiveness in communicating complex interpersonal dynamics through visual and mechanical design elements, its original adaptation of traditional game mechanics to contemporary professional contexts, and its potential to foster improved understanding between creative professionals and their clients. The game represents a significant contribution to the emerging field of design-focused tabletop games, demonstrating how traditional game formats can be reimagined to address contemporary professional challenges while maintaining engaging gameplay that appeals to both industry insiders and general audiences interested in creative culture. The decision to create multiple character options for each position, while adding complexity to the pre-game setup process, ultimately enhances the design's inclusivity and replayability, allowing players to explore different aspects of professional identity across multiple gaming sessions. The project exemplifies how designers can leverage their professional experiences and frustrations as source material for creative work that transcends mere catharsis to offer genuine insights into workplace dynamics and relationship building. By framing the client-designer relationship as a game with clear rules, defined roles, and achievable victory conditions, the design provides a safe space for exploring professional tensions without the real-world consequences that typically accompany workplace conflicts. The use of metallic Pantone colors in the board design creates visual sophistication that elevates the game beyond novelty status, positioning it as a serious design object worthy of display and repeated engagement. The transparent acrylic pieces with screen-printed illustrations demonstrate material choices that balance durability with aesthetic appeal, ensuring the game components can withstand regular use while maintaining their visual impact. As an internal design project for BLCH Ltd., Client Vs Designers Board Game reflects the organization's commitment to quality, originality, and compelling storytelling, values that permeate every aspect of the game's conception, production, and presentation. The work stands as evidence of how design thinking can be applied reflexively to examine and improve the design profession itself, using creative problem-solving skills to address the interpersonal challenges that frequently arise in collaborative creative work.

board game design, client-designer relationships, professional dynamics visualization, strategic tabletop gaming, workplace communication tools, interactive design education

— Adam Dawson