Art Direction - Exercises

06.04.2023 - 27.04.2023 ( Week 1 - Week 4 ) 

Michelle Angeline Gunawan / 0349760 / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Art Direction
Exercises

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INSTRUCTIONS

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LECTURES

Week 2 - Playful Experiences

• It is great for us to understand art direction
• Certain negative emotion is needed in the game
• Reflect from 2 POV (user and designer)
• Game motives: recall what the game is about

Week 3 - Art Direction

• Genre - A category of production
  Example: Video games
• Style - A distinctive appearance of the artwork
• Theme - An idea that recurs in the work

Style vs Theme

Style is art direction and the design principle you want to apply while theme is context and the narratives

Art Style (Aesthetics)

• Proportions
• Colours
• Details
• Materials
• Outlines
• Rendering 

Theme

• Settings and location
• Time periods
• Costume
• Technology level
• Universe
• Artistic genres (Sci-fi, fantasy, etc)
• Subculture (Urban, kawaii, etc)

To style or not to style?

• Unique art style make the game stand out within its Genre
• Help to create easily readable character archetypes  in the game design
• Create immersion for players to sink into
• Accommodate the screen size and power i.e: PC games tend to be more detailed than consoles or handheld devices
• Making abstract concepts like flying, use of magic more believable
• Determine age range appeal like kids prefer simpler vibrant styles compared to adults

Stylization in games

To create instantly recognizable archetypes in characters so the player can recognize each type quickly

Example of archetypes from Valorant

Each character is designed to represent their narrative and profession in the game

Understanding Theme

Is - Is not statements

These are opposing statements that are used to build a picture of the type of product themes the art style will address

Positioning map

Use positioning map based on existing games to locate untested areas of art style that you can use for your game.

Artistic target

You can narrow down from there to create a spectrum of targeted artistic style that the team can explore and work on.

Stylization range finders

Style range finders can help to isolate and identify the range of styles that the artists can work on.

Exploring stylization

Explore different art style to see which fits the art direction/aim of the game genre and theme

Proportionate style or High Stylized

Stylization scale

Setting up realistic to stylized sketches will help to find the right ‘range’ of style for the artwork

Think of setting the balance of the design to fit the tone of the narrative.

Week 4 - Visual analysis skills (An in-depth study)

• Visual analysis will help you to create a direction of design that you need to work on.
• Using your observation findings and the strengths and weaknesses of the games chosen provide a solid reason why you decide on these problematic areas and suggest ways to make them better without altering the original game’s narrative and mechanics.
• Break down your analysis according to:
• Must have - Priority!
• Good to have - Adapted from other games
• Nice to have - Not so important, but nice touch to the game
• You can play a few sessions again if you need to re-confirm your findings.

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EXERCISES

Exercise 1 - Observation and Findings

For exercise 1, we need to play Among Us and Goose Goose Duck then we need to observe and compile our findings in the form of a presentation. We observed what are the pros and cons of both games from the designer's POV and the player's POV. We also observed the UI interface, gameplay comparison, and even the reviews from players. Lastly, we did a further exploration of a similar game called Identity V.

Exercise 2 - Visual Analysis
In this exercise, we are to develop the best stylization for our game. we need to compile the factors for the stylization range in the form of a presentation. We did a brainstorming and discussion. We started off by deciding the genre and theme of the game. Then we also discussed the stylization range and finally, we analysed the Good and Bad Art Direction for both games Among Us and Goose Goose Duck.

Exercise 3 - First Ideation/ Sketches

For this exercise, we compiled exercise 2 and our first ideation of the game. Firstly, we divided the parts for the project, and here is how we divide it.

• Character Design: Luisa and Michelle
• Environment Design: Cecilia and Devina
• UI/UX Design: Abigail