WGP: Built by hand, driven with heart

Collaborators

Creative Director:

Tony Currie

UX Design Lead:

David Phelan

Project Manager:

Lewis Jones

UX Designer:

Ryan Williams

3D Design Lead

Luigi Russo

Responsibilities

Brand Identity, Motion Design, Art Direction, Ui Design

Software Used

Figma, After effects, Illustrator, Photoshop, Blender

Overview

Every year, Philipstown ignites with the “Draadkar” (Wire Car) Grand Prix. This is a thrilling 2km race where young locals showcase their creativity and speed with handmade wire cars. With limited resources but abundant spirit, the community celebration of ingenuity, collaboration, and local pride. We wanted to find a way to champion the young creatives, and raise money to support the development of the town.

Response

We transformed the Draadkar Grand Prix into a mobile racing game that mirrors the children’s handmade creativity through crafted visuals and playful mechanics. By embedding donations into progression, the game raises funds while celebrating Philipstown’s culture, competition, and young makers.

Response

Wire to word

I created a bespoke typeface inspired by Philipstown’s wirecraft tradition, building it from real wire before digitising it for the brand. Its handcrafted imperfections became a distinctive visual asset, used as a display font and graphic texture to strengthen storytelling, reinforce local identity, and add character across the experience.

Crafted icon system

Balancing legibility with hand-crafted expression, I designed a bespoke icon set rooted in Philipstown’s wirecraft heritage. The system translates the bends, joins, and cut ends of physical wire into a scalable digital language, maintaining clarity at small sizes while extending the brand’s handcrafted identity across touchpoints.

Hand-Drawn Guidance

I digitised and refined hand-drawn symbols created by children from Philipstown, applying a painted finish inspired by race-day banners. I developed them into a cohesive visual system that framed key in-app moments and guided users through races and next steps.

Tickers and stickers

Drawing from race-day banner language, I developed a dynamic in-game ticker system that establishes a motion-led communication layer for gameplay updates, sponsors, and WGP mode moments. The visual identity was further extended into a collectible sticker system inspired by local people, artwork, and race-day details, enabling player customisation while embedding the town’s character throughout gameplay.

Race interface

Introduced a HUD system that balances handcrafted visual language with clarity and usability, bringing brush-stroke textures and wireframe iconography into the interface to reinforce a crafted feel. Structured a modular layout system across race modes, and defined motion-led interaction patterns that I used to communicate state changes, guide player actions, and deliver clear feedback seamlessly during gameplay.

Finish Line

The game helped sell real wire cars, raising funds for Philipstown, and launched alongside an Amazon Prime documentary. Together, they celebrated local creativity, championed the children, and amplified the spirit of the Draadkar Grand Prix to a global audience.