Client: Triniti Interactive
Project: Modern War Live UI
Project specifics:- Game Branding
- Game UI Design
Client location: China
Link: http://bit.ly/thMz46
Modern War Live
The brief:
The brief for this project was fairly straight forward in truth, it was to create a gritty, war-torn look that echoed the wars of the past decade. So it had to feel hi-tec as well as battle worn...awesome!
The solution:
As this is a genre I’ve wanted to work with for ages, it was great to get my teeth sunk into this MMO. I wanted people to pick up the app and immediately feel as though they’d just picked up a new piece of mobile kit on the battlefield itself. It had to feel 100% military. Once the basic feel was created I then started to make it look battle worn by adding in cracks, grit and texture to really make this fit the theme. I really, really enjoyed designing this MMO and the icing on the cake was creating the loading screen. I’d been given a small collection of random 3D model renders from the Triniti team, but none of them were tied together. I decided to create a huge montage of the tanks, helicopter and solders and make a ‘movie poster’ like loading screen. I particularly LOVED this bit :) If you like MMO’s, go grab a copy, its free!
Client: Interwave Studios
Project: Nuclear Dawn UI
Project specifics:- UI Concept Design
- HUD Concept Design
Client location: Netherlands
Nuclear Dawn – UI
The brief:
The brief was to create an original UI that looked futuristic but wasn't too cliched or similar to anything else done before. There was going to be a lot involved in this UI too, as Nuclear Dawn isn't just an FPS, its also an RTS too! This was going to be fun!
The solution:
My role was as a concept artist to create the overall look and feel for the UI. I was drafted in to do this work quite early in the games development phase, so all my designs had to be flexible enough to change quite dramatically later down the line. In the true essence of concept design, my creations were to become the ground work and basis for all the games UI elements. Quite a lot of my original concepts made it into the final game, while some that you'll see above didn't. It was all way too much fun though! This project was quite simply a dream come true, which I know I say a lot in my project descriptions but in this case it was just amazing! I'd love to do some more work along these lines in the future!
Client: Thunder Game Works & Crescent Moon Games
Project: Evertales
Project specifics:- Branding
- UI
- HUD
Client location: USA
Link: http://bit.ly/sBv6O3
Evertales
The brief:
This was yet another fab iPhone project from Thunder Game Works! This time I was tasked with conceptualising the brand, UI and icon design for the all new 3D hack’n’slash epic, Evertales! The brief was to create a UI that tied in seamlessly with the game, and as this was set in my favourite genre, I was going to enjoy this thoroughly!
The solution:
The solution was fairly obvious, it had to be texture rich, a mixture of old wood/forged metal, and treated in warm brown’s and oranges, to really set that mythical/medieval feel. The logo was the first part of the project and that was a joy to work on. I wanted this to really grasp at the pre-Christian, Pagan feel, with a large powerful tree, deep routes and a generally ethereal look. I love stuff like this so I really got my teeth into the brand! With the scene set I got to work on the UI elements, continuing the same feel and introducing yet more texture. Awesome project! What also helps is that the game is bloomin marvellous too, so go grab a copy!
Client: Cascadia Games
Project: Cascadia Games Website
Project specifics:- Branding
- Illustration
- Homepage Design
Client location: USA
Link: http://cascadiagames.com
Cascadia Games
The brief:
Cascadia Games are the guys behind the INSANELY awesome iPhone game, Cavorite (I highly advise downloading it, its a personal fave of mine) so I was really happy when Chris, the owner got in touch regarding this project. They needed the new brand and site to truly encapsulate all that they stood for. The story and thinking behind the company brand is quite deep, so it was going to be a really fun challenge to visualise it!
The solution:
There is a faux secession movement where Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia secede and
form a new nation called Cascadia. This is where the name of the company derives and thus the new brand and site had to capture the ideas of rebellion and power. This was such a great background to work against and quite surprisingly, we finalised the brand/character quite quickly and soon moved onto expanding this creation into the homepage design. I absolutely loved creating this brand and site, why not pop over and take a look!
Client: Klei Entertainment
Project: Shank 2 Microsite
Project specifics:- Website Design
Client location: USA
Link: http://shankgame.com
Shank 2
The brief:
After creating the original Shank blog, I was tasked with creating a new design for the epically awesome looking Shank 2! The art direction has taken a twist and the overall feel is much darker, so the new design had to reflect just that!
The solution:
As I mentioned with the Klei redesign, this was bound to be a joy as I was getting to work with Jeff Agala’s amazing illustration once again! You just cant got wrong when you’re given artwork of this calibre. Needless to say the site came together pretty smoothly and was up online just in time for the press announcement. Make sure you grab this when it releases as its going to be suuuuuuuuperb!
Client: Luma Arcade
Project: Bladeslinger
Project specifics:- Microsite Design
Client location: South Africa
Bladeslinger
The brief:
I was introduced to Luma Arcade by the guys at Unity, and when I saw Bladeslinger, my jaw well and truly dropped! I was chomping at the bit to work on the mircrosite! The brief was pretty simple in truth, to create a 1 page microsite to show off the most visually impressive iOS game in existence!
The solution:
My old rule for any site design is that content is king, so the better the assets, the better the final outcome will be. In this case, it was like Christmas come early! The assets were breathtaking, just like the game! With the envrionment and character renders in hand, it was time to do my usual trick and start building up a huge action scene for the main feature of the site. After about a days worth of work, the scene was complete and the atmosphere well and truly set. I then moved onto the content layout and brought all the elements together into the final design you see here. Amazingly fulfilling project!! Keep your eyes on Luma, they're making BIG waves!
Client: Klei Entertainment
Project: Klei Entertainment Redesign
Project specifics:- Website Design
Client location: USA
Klei Entertainment 2011
The brief:
It was a HUGE honour to be asked to redesign Klei’s new site for 2011, after creating the original design around 4 years ago! I’ve worked on and off with Klei over this time and each project has been a joy. To work alongside a games company as it grows is very rewarding, and after the massive hit that Shank turned out to be, the company site redesign was going to be great fun! The new design had to show their change in direction, and reflect everything that people had come to love about them.
The solution:
This, as quite often the case, was a very simple task in its essence, to take everything that makes Klei Entertainment the kick ass awesomeforce that it is, and reflect it in the new site. The intention was take a edgier approach and go slightly darker in the overall feel. This was going to be fun! Using Jeff Agala’s AMAZING artwork and designing a site around it is, as always, a marvellous task, and one that never grows boring. The new site really hit the mark with the guys at Klei and should serve them well for years to come. Here’s to the future!!
Client: Gaming Dead
Project: Gaming Dead Website
Project specifics:- Character Branding
- Homepage Design
Client location: USA
Link: http://gamingdead.com
Gaming Dead
The brief:
The brief for this site was rather fun! Rather than the usual video game news site, Gaming Dead is geared toward the darker side of the games industry, the horror genre! The site needed a new, grim character based brand and a creepy menacing site design too. With all that said though, it still had to retain an element of fun and playfulness, what a great combo!
The solution:
We obviously started out with the brand first off and settled on the idea of a scalped, brain exposed zombie office worker! What an ugly fella this guy turned out to be! With the character branding sorted, we moved onto creating his home and playground, the website! This was so much fun to work on as it’s been ages since I created a zombie character. So if you like the darker side of the gaming world take a wander over and have a read. Great little project!
Client: 3D Total
Project: 3D Total Redesign
Project specifics:- Website Redesign
Client location: UK
Link: http://3dtotal.com
3D Total
The brief:
I’ve been visiting 3D Total daily now for about a decade...that’s quite some time...so when I heard that the guys were looking to redesign, I dropped them a line. As the site has been my core source of inspiration for the past 10 years, I thought it was time to give something back and offer them my services for free. The brief was pretty complex on this job as the site is so monumentally huge, and there are so many elements to take into account. But in short, we needed to keep what worked, improve what didn’t and make it look a whole lot fresher.
The solution:
This project held a huge amount of personal pride for me, as I wanted Tom and the many other 3D Total staff to get a site that kicked as much ass as the content they’d inspired me with over the years. No easy task on such a content heavy site. The biggest advantage I had here was that I was one of their core users. With that in mind I set to work. Surprisingly we struck gold on the first design and with a few minor tweaks we got it just right. I continued to help out on a small selection of the subpages and then left the guys to take it from there. What made this so rewarding wasn’t just that the 3D Total team loved it, but the fact that after the launch, the feedback from the users was overwhelmingly positive! Out of 100 survey results, only 1 wasn’t 100% glowing. Fantastic. Oh, and the crew at 3D Total were kind enough to surprise me with a wonderful thank you in the way of a library’s worth of beeeeautiful art books...and I do mean a library’s worth! Thanks 3D Total, keep doing what you do so well!
Client: Microsoft Games Studios
Project: Big Park Website
Project specifics:- Website Design
Client location: Canada
Link: http://bigpark.com
Big Park
The brief:
This was project number 3 for the guys over at Microsoft Games Studios, and boy was this one fun! The brief this time was to create a very individual site experience for Big Park, the team behind the Xbox 360 Kinect hit, Joyride! The site had to show off their ethos and way of thinking, and move away from the traditional games developer site. Great brief!
The solution:
As Big Park are working on games that break the traditional gaming mould, we wanted to do the same with the site. To work at Big Park is to want to make things differently, to step outside of the norm and make something original. So, the new site wanted to reflect this and as much of their ethos as possible. The final design we settled on put the user directly in the game designers seat, overlooking their desk and creative environment. As this is a pretty fun place in real life, this made for a great look! I massively enjoyed this project!!
Client: Channelfuse
Project: Gamers Talk
Project specifics:- Branding
- Forum Design
Client location: India
Link: http://gamerstalk.com
Gamers Talk
The brief:
Fantastic project! The goal here was create a forum & brand that had some serious visual punch and broke away from the typical stale gaming forum environment! The main goal was to create a design that would immediately appeal to its hardcore gaming members. This could not be dry, clean and typical, it had to be gritty, action packed and intense!
The solution:
As the site had to appeal to the more hardcore gamer, the site had to plunge the user into a very gamer oriented atmosphere. It had to make them feel at home, evoking feelings and experiences that they are used to within their current games. This was a blast to work on and it was great to have so much creative freedom on something that is traditionally quite stylistically restrictive.
Client: Acony
Project: Hedone
Project specifics:- Website Design
Client location: Germany
Link: http://hedone.tv/
Hedone
The brief:
I was asked to put together the teaser site for Acony's amazing new free to play FPS, Hedone, something that I found somewhat exciting...as this game looks insane! The brief was to engulf the user in the Hedone world, a place that is stylistically quite individual!
The solution:
There was quite a large amount of branding and style guides in place for Hedone, so the site had to stick to quite a strict look, something that was very fun, as it was a mixture of pop art and cyberpunk! This isn't a style I normally work in, so it was great to work with something totally different. Great fun all round!
Client: Games Faction
Project: Games Faction Website
Project specifics:- Cartoon Branding
- Homepage Design
Client location: UK
Link: http://gamesfaction.com
Games Faction
The brief:
The guys over at Games Faction needed a total overhaul, a new brand and a new site. This new design however had to be a total break away from where they were, they wanted something light hearted, fun and very playful...just my cup of tea!
The solution:
The solution we settled on came about quite quickly, as the guys had given me a good idea of what they were looking for and we soon settled on their new cartoon brand. This brand immediately set the style and tone for the whole package and everything else just slotted together really smoothly. I really enjoyed this one!!
Client: WOW Reach
Project: World of Warcraft - Reach Website
Project specifics:- Homepage Design
Client location: France
Link: http://wowreach.com
World or Warcraft – Reach
The brief:
The brief was to create an intensely atmospheric site that truly grasped the feel of World of Warcraft. Something dark, engaging and texture rich. The site is for a French WOW gaming server and they have lots of competition, so it was imperative that this could stand out from the crowd! Just my cup of tea!!!
The solution:
The solution came together very smoothly, as working with such a great backdrop made my imagination explode with ideas. I just love working on projects of this ilk. The new design was loved by the team and after a few extra additions the site was ready to be built. Great stuff!
Client: Cave
Project: Cave Co Website
Project specifics:- Website design
Client location: Japan
Cave
The brief:
When I was approached by Cave, I had to literally double, triple and quadrouple check that it was actually THE Cave, the bullet hell shmup masters behind some of my all time favourite games, DoDonPachi, Espgaluda and ProGear. I literally had to pinch myself at the same time that I was screaming YES, YES, YES I want this project!!!!
The solution:
After a number of calls with Cave we covered the many points that needed to be covered in this large project. We knew it had to have a broad enough creative approach that would appeal to both the Japanese fans and the western ones. This is something that can often quite a challenge with gaming sites. So, with a handful of their downright amazing artwork, I set to work on the design. And after only a couple of minor amends, we were onto a winner! The best bit about this project was not only that I was working with my idols, but also for the fact that we worked out a deal where I got my hands on a brand new copy of DoDonPachi Black Label for my arcade cab!!!! And to make it even more epic, it was signed by Mr.Ikeda himself!!! This was a geeks dream! Check out my blog for some piccies!
FI-Faves...
Slick Entertainment
Slick Entertainment, the guys behind the Xbox 360 version of the classic N+ and the new, and rather awesome looking Scrap Metal, knocked on my virtual door and asked if I’d be interested in working with them on their new site...silly question really.
Find A Vine
This was a really nice brief, something quite different from my usual stuff. This time it was for a new online service dedicated to finding the perfect wine. My task was to create a brand that was both sophisticated and playful, quite a challenge!
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