OTHERMADE / AN INDEPENDENT CREATIVE PRACTICE

Ideas worth
making.

Original games, useful apps, and visual identities.
Different forms. The same curiosity.

Come have a look
Othermade's connected mark on blue stationery and a black notebook
01 / THE OTHERMADE IDENTITYIdeas, given form.
DESIGN WITH SOMETHING BEHIND IT.Independent work by Elias Norman · Southern California

01 / SELECTED PROJECTS

Made to play.
Made to matter.

Open a project. Follow the thought.

Original work, from released apps
to projects still taking shape.

JUST BLOCKS / A COZY PUZZLE GAMEiPhone · Product screens
Just Blocks home screen in an illustrated sunlit room
A warm welcome.
Just Blocks Zen mode with blue pieces and simple play controls
Room for one more game.

GAME DESIGN · ART DIRECTION · DEVELOPMENT

Just Blocks On the App Store

01 / 05

A falling-block puzzle with a softer landing. Cozy illustrated worlds, a no-pressure Zen mode, and ways to play together.

Find it on the App Store
Inside the project
THE QUESTION

How can a familiar puzzle feel like a small break in your day?

THE DIRECTION

Keep the play readable and responsive. Give it a world that feels welcoming enough to return to.

THE CRAFT

Illustrated rooms, tactile blocks, clear controls, and a choice between a challenge and playing at your own pace.

The screens above show the product’s visual direction. Explore the current release on the App Store.

RANKBOARD / FOR INDEPENDENT APP MAKERSiPhone · Product screens
Rankboard Today screen showing tracked search visibility and a daily brief for Just Blocks
Start with where you stand.
Rankboard Searches screen with App Store positions for tracked search phrases
Find a useful next step.

PRODUCT DESIGN · iOS DEVELOPMENT

Rankboard In development

02 / 05

A clearer view of life after launch. Track how an app appears in search, look at its rivals, and turn store information into a practical next step.

Inside the project
THE QUESTION

Once an app is made, how do you understand whether people can find it?

THE DIRECTION

Bring search visibility, a daily brief, and growth planning into one readable workspace.

THE CRAFT

Plain-language explanations, tracked search positions, and context around what the numbers mean.

Shown using Just Blocks, another Othermade project. The images are product screenshots, not live statistics.

BINA / READING EXPERIENCEInteractive concept
Old Testament23 / 150

Psalm 23

A PSALM OF DAVID.

KJV · Sample passage

Select a verse. See the context.

SCRIPTURE & UNDERSTANDING

BINA Bible In development

03 / 05

Scripture and understanding, side by side. A Bible app for the first question and the deeper study.

About the project

BINA brings the Bible and its context together, with a vision for approachable explanations, original-language study, and depth you can choose.

THE QUESTION

Can a reader follow a question without losing their place in the passage?

THE DIRECTION

Keep Scripture in view. Let context open alongside it, one verse at a time.

TRY THE CONCEPT

Select a verse above. The reading stays put while the context changes.

This is a concept preview, not the released app. The app is still being developed.

PIPS / AN ORIGINAL GAME WORLDCurrent development build
Current PIPS landscape gameplay: a blue table, illustrated basement, and a hand holding the player's paddle
At the table / Landscape gameplay
Current PIPS room screen with the illustrated basement, Play Match, tournament progress, and gear controls
The Basement / Room screen

GAME DESIGN · WORLD BUILDING · DEVELOPMENT

PIPS In development

04 / 05

Table tennis with a world around it. Meet the regulars, learn their habits, and carry a paddle from the basement toward the next table.

Inside the project
THE QUESTION

What if the person across the table mattered as much as the point?

THE DIRECTION

Build a game around recognizable rivals, different paddles, and places with their own character.

THE CRAFT

Illustrated rooms, expressive rivals, a blue tabletop, and a hand-held paddle give the game a sense of place and physical contact.

These screenshots were captured from the current phone-build project. PIPS is still being built.

OTHERMADE / IDENTITYSelected direction
Othermade identity applied to cobalt and white stationery, cards, notebook, and printed materials
A familiar mark.
Wherever an idea goes.

DESIGN & EXPRESSION

The Othermade identity Taking shape

05 / 05

A connected mark for an open-ended world. Built to belong across everything Othermade makes.

About the identity

The rounded wordmark, connected OM symbol, and cobalt blue give each project a shared starting point. The palette can change with the idea; the character stays familiar.

THE QUESTION

How can one identity hold ideas that look nothing alike?

THE DIRECTION

A connected mark, a rounded wordmark, and a clear blue thread across the work.

THE APPLICATION

From an app corner to a notebook cover, the same familiar character.

Shown here through brand application concepts.

02 / FROM THE WORKBENCH

The thought
behind the thing.

A few design questions running through the work. Open a note to look a little closer.

01 / JUST BLOCKSMake room
for a little play.
The world around a puzzle changes how it feels.Read the note

A familiar puzzle can feel entirely different in a welcoming room. Just Blocks pairs clear play with illustrated spaces, small discoveries, and a Zen mode that leaves the clock behind.

The design question runs from the home screen to the board: can a game feel inviting before the first piece falls?

Look inside Just Blocks
02 / RANKBOARDA number needs
a next step.
Make app-store information useful to the person making the app.Read the note

A search position alone does not tell an app maker what to do. Rankboard brings those positions together with explanations and a daily brief, so the information has a place in the working day.

The aim is a readable starting point: what can be seen, what it means, and what is worth looking at next.

Explore Rankboard
03 / PIPSGive the rival
a face.
A game world built around the person across the table.Read the note

In PIPS, the match lives inside a place. The illustrated basement, its warm lights, and the rival across a blue table set the scene before the rally begins.

The portraits and environments give the competition a cast of characters. Moving to another table should feel like entering another part of the world.

Step into PIPS
OTHERMADECuriosity, given form.Meet the maker
The original connected Othermade OM mark in white on cobalt blue

03 / THE STUDIO · ELIAS NORMAN

One home.
Many directions.

I’m Elias. Othermade is the home for what I make—and a place to follow a good idea somewhere new.

Sometimes that’s a game. Sometimes it’s a Bible app, a program, a website, or something visual. The starting point is the same: curiosity about what could be better, and the desire to make it real.

01 Start with a real question.

02 Make something you can try.

03 Stay with the details.

Have something in mind?

04 / THE NEXT IDEA

Something
on your mind?

A website, a visual identity, a useful tool,
or an idea that does not have a name yet.

eliasn@othermade.org Tell me what you're thinking. We can start there.