Hey Puzzle Bomb fam,
It's time for the story behind Bumfuzzled #25: Inscrutable Scrawl, one of my personal all-time favorites of the puzzles I've designed!
My Fascination with Urban Art
I've always been drawn to urban art. Something about the bold, bright colors and bold stylization just draws me in.
In a past life, before kiddos, I used to wander around in freight yards to photograph freight train graffiti. To me, it was better than an art museum, with the thrill of discovering an eye-popping piece always luring me back, even with the threat of run-ins with the railyard bull (security enforcement) that doesn't appreciate folks strolling around their railyards.
I still have the folder on my computer, and dug up these photos from 2009. I have hundreds of photos like this from my time in this hobby.
Translating to Puzzle Form
Translating these forms into puzzle form would both be a really fun challenge for me, and make for really interesting visual forms that make for a satisfying, unique puzzle. So, off to work I went!
Unfortunately for this blog, I must have drawn this all in one take rather than making a bunch of progress scans along the way, so I can't share a lot of process on this one. However, given the amount of eraser marks visible in this scan, I'll let the eraser marks tell the story of the puzzle development, as well as highlight a few fun details!
Making Space for Connections
One story the eraser marks tell is that I had my work cut out for me in ensuring such a busy design had room for connections! Editing for connectivity is always a step in my creation process. This puzzle was a treat in that it doesn't really need to look like anything, and graffiti can be so freeform, making these edits easier than usual, but no less tedious!
For example, in the spot highlighted in red, I extended the puzzle edge a bit to ensure I could create a solid connector. This is especially important around the perimeter of the puzzle!
And, in this spot, I see I reduced the size of one of the graffiti "letters" to make space for connection in the non-lettered portion. Given the faint erased linework, the "letter" used to extend more to the right.
Modifying the "Lettering" to Connect Well
I also had to cut into the letters so that the purple non-lettered area connected well to the letters themselves. Here's a prime example of ensuring this lower-case G-shaped piece was edited for connectivity.
As I added more and more of these, it accomplished two things:
1) It added to the "graffiti-ness" of the puzzle, introducing more wild shapes consistent with this art style.
2) It added a ton of interesting connectors, This puzzle is on the difficult end, and these more unique shapes help to tame that down.
More Fun Details!
My favorite graffiti also contains fun little illustrative details in addition to the lettering, so of course I inserted some whimsical bits and bobs here.
The first are a smattering of little blob shapes, that are both a fun visual, and serve to connect multiple neighboring pieces.
The "g" shape reminded me of the "g" at the end of the word "king" (Jesus, the King of kings is always on my mind!), so a little crown on the "g" seemed fitting.
No graffiti-inspired art would be complete without some drippy-drips. Plus, everyone liked that back in Bumfuzzled #13 (back in stock as a Legendary, by the way), as they're a fun puzzle element.
Of course, there are more, but I'll let you discover them as you puzzle!
Bringing it to Life!
Adding color is always a super fun step, as it brings the whole design to life! Working in pencil, it can be hard to really even see what the design looks like until color is added, so it's really the first time I really get to see how the piece came out.
I went wild on this one, as the punchy colors are core to fun graffiti art. I was thrilled with the result on this one!
The Puzzling Experience
As a side note, receiving the sample is also super fun for me, as it's my first time really experiencing the puzzle. I usually have some goals in mind, as I really want each puzzle to not just be a new work of art, but a unique puzzling experience as well.
The multi-colored letters here make their assembly far from routine, and the large purple background field almost comes together like a twisting labyrinth, which was a fun surprise to discover. Design-wise, the purple area was simply a necessity for connectivity, and also a dark background for the letters to pop against. But, it also provides for a engaging and interesting puzzling element that felt different from other puzzles I've designed.
Have Fun!
I hope y'all have so much fun with this puzzle, and until next time, happy puzzling!
Love and blessings,
Chad aka the Puzzle Bomb Designer Guy
1 comment
This puzzle has so much eye appeal. It will be fun, though challenging, to assemble it.