Smokestacks

Client: Game Changer Chicago

Smokestacks is a board game that lets players act as a tobacco company and market their products to consumers. As a company, individual consumers’ health does not matter; you continue to make money even as your customers die from tobacco-related illnesses. The company with the most money at the end of the game wins, leaving many dead and letting players glimpse the ruthless tobacco company agenda.

The art for Smokestacks is based heavily on mid-century cigarette advertising. The character cards (each representing a targeted marketing campaign) each represent a different decade at the height of tobacco advertisements in America. Cigarette packaging is a common motif, and the fictional cigarette companies combine classic tobacco brands with the modern vape brands that are causing a resurgence of tobacco-related health problems.

Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop