Creative Bloq

Artist Tabbie Lawson explains how the 2000s-set narrative game The Quiet Things by Silver Script Games turns Y2K objects into haunting drama. It's an autobiographical game based on studio founder Alyx Jones' childhood. Lawson explains how some objects are being created: "Every object in the game has an oil paint ‘wash’ multiplied over the materials to give every object a painterly look once you get a little closer," Lawson tells me. "However, the meshes under their materials are quite accurate to the original references. We wouldn't want to lose the accuracy of the objects we're basing story beats on, and we've had a great response from players of the demo saying that certain objects bring back nostalgic memories of the 90s and early 00s." Read more on Creative Bloq: https://lnkd.in/enceXsS3

It seems to be harder and harder for junior designers to get roles these days, so how do you get good? Vanessa Porter has some suggestions. https://lnkd.in/dFY6tRTk

The Quaker Oats Man, one of the first brand mascots, turns 150 next year. From Wendy’s and Duolingo’s owl to Jake from State Farm and Slackbot, mascots are seeing a renewed resurgence in how brands show up.   In a new piece for Creative Bloq, FutureBrand Creative Director Phill Rees explores how mascots have evolved from static identifiers into active expressions of brand behaviour.   Today, mascots do more than drive recognition, they make brands known through behaviour. They translate strategy into something people can feel, turning positioning into personality and creating connection over time.   “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭; 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘵𝘩, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵.”   Read Phill's full article here: https://lnkd.in/exPq8_D9

Our writer Alan Wen spoke to Thunder Lotus art director Jo Gauthier about how the upcoming indie game At Fate’s End uses 3D camera tricks to make its 2D hand-drawn art feel like a pop-up picture book. "In interiors, it allows us to have more depth and more control over that," Gauthier explains. "The idea was to just have a 3D plane so that you can put all of your objects like a pop-up book - a bed, a table and everything - you have all of this in the background. It feels a little more real in terms of how the movement of the floor acts versus just having something flat." Read the full interview on Creative Bloq: https://lnkd.in/eRgGR6xY

Our latest webinar is all about how to build a career in branding. It's perfect for anyone trying to get into, or get ahead in the industry. Featuring Georgia Coggan, Jessica Bong-Woon and James Greenfield.

One of the most popular typefaces in the world, Gotham, has been upgraded by Monotype. Say hello to Gotham Variable, a major evolution of the iconic typeface, which introduces continuous control across weight and width in a single, performance-optimised file. Gotham, designed by Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones and published by Hoefler & Co., has been involved in various elements of global communication since it launched publicly on the January 2001 cover of GQ. It has been used by brands the world over, including Netflix and Coca-Cola, the United States Postal Service and Saturday Night Live. Twenty five years later, it enters a new era that enables a new level of creative control and adaptability. We spoke to Sara Soskolne, ECD at Monotype and lead designer for Gotham Variable to find out more.

Solo dev Peter Soerensen quit his job and learned Unreal Engine to make anime football-platform-adventure Kick, partly inspired by CD PROJEKT RED's Cyberpunk 2077 and anime Captain Tsubasa. He explains to our writer, Alan Wen, how the blend of 2D hand-drawn animation and 3D came about: "I didn't know how to make and animate 3D models, but I knew how to draw a little bit, so I drew a 2D character and locked the camera to a side-scrolling view in that 3D environment," he explains. "That’s how that came about. But I kept the background 3D because it felt better for immersion into the world." Read the full interview on Creative Bloq: https://lnkd.in/eUCCXr6M

We talked to the incredible visual artist, Paloma Rincón at OFFF Barcelona. Read all about her approach to handcrafted art vs tech, the future of creativity and more. https://lnkd.in/dfN7MEmd

Kepler Interactive has launched a new games magazine aimed at celebrating gaming culture in all its forms, from games art to fashion, music, film and design. Ian Dean spoke to Reset magazine's creative director, Simon Sweeney, about the launch: "We believe that architects, musicians, artists, fashion designers all reference games and have referenced games for years,” Sweeney says. “And that conversation has always been maybe a little bit one way.” So instead of trying to prove anything, the magazine opens that up, looking at how influence flows both ways. Issue one features: artist Mélanie Courtinat, Guillaume Broche (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33), fashion designer Yakubu Stapleton, Yoko Taro (NieR: Automata), Thomas Grip (Frictional Games), Gregorios Kythreotis (Sable), and Ville Kallio (Cruelty Squad). Read the full interview on Creative Bloq: https://lnkd.in/enWvUAxK

Art director Kate Rado from LA indie game studio Timberline Studios shares how the team is using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5 Animation Blueprints to bring its paper-puppet theatre concept to life in the new game Beastro. "Our concept artist, Nidhi Naroth, is an illustrator and has this really charming visual style that's got a lot of whimsy and visual flourish. We really wanted to lean heavy into that for the puppet theatre and make this feel like a very physical space in 3D so that you've got these 2D puppet elements, but they're catching on fire and crumpling when they get hit." Read the full interview on Creative Bloq: https://lnkd.in/eXycj4MS