Art Direction Research

I've been looking in to the different influences and inspiration for games in order to appreciate how outside influences may inform the art style of my own game idea.

Transistor (Super Giant Games, 2014)

The upcoming game Transistor has a distinct art nouveau feel to it whilst still maintaining a sci-fi genre.  The game's creative director Greg Kasavin stated on the topic of what influenced the art direction for the game:
"...we take sort of a melting-pot approach on our team, drawing from many different sources and media across all different aspects of the game...  we ended up with this romanticized, anachronistic-feeling city with some vintage qualities and some futuristic qualities as well. Jen Zee our art director took influence from the Art Nouveau movement of the early 20th century for aspects of the visual style, and we also looked to aspects of the late ’60s and ’70s when thinking about the game’s world."

A comparison of screenshots for the upcoming game Transistor (left) and the art nouveau style of Henri Privet-Livemont's posters (top right) and Gaudi's architecture (bottom left.)  

  

Interestingly the artists of 'The Skillful Huntsmen' (Design Studio Press, 2012) also encourage this approach of combining contrasting elements as  "by successfully mixing various genres, a designer can come up with a fresh and new aesthetic that nevertheless feels familiar and accessible." (Robertson, S. 2005)

DMC: Devil May Cry (Capcom, 2013)

A comparison between Taini's Devil May Cry flashback painting (left) and Caravaggio's "David with the Head of Goliath." (right)

Although a 3D game, DMC: Devil May Cry contained cut scenes depicting 2D painterly flashbacks of the main character Dante's childhood.  For these scenes 15 conceptual paintings were created by the game's art director Alessandro Taini, then animated by post production company The Mill.  Taini states "Most of the Painting are inspired by Caravaggio paintings but even William-Adolphe Bouguereau."  The Caravaggio influence is very much evident in the theatrical lighting and dramatic scenery and furthermore is undeniable in the imagery of Dante holding a slain demon's head, a clear homage to Caravaggio's "David with the Head of Goliath" (see above.)


A compilation of the sequences can be seen here:




Jazzpunk (Adult Swim Games, 2014)

The recently released Jazzpunk, developed by Necrophone Games and published by Adult Swim Games, is described as "James Bond meets Dada art."  Dada, an art movement that began as reaction to the horrors of World War 1 rejects reason and logic and prides itself on ridiculousness.  This concept fits hand in hand with the erratic, zany, comedy adventure gameplay of "Jazzpunk."

A comparison of the comedic ridiculous gameplay of Jazzpunk (left) and the surreal composition/use of primary colours in Francis Picabia's Amorous Parade.  (right)

Title Sequence for Jazzpunk (skip to 0:04:14)

Saul Bass' Title Sequence for Hitchcock's Psycho

Another interesting aspect of the art direction is the game's title sequence.  A colourful, minimal animated sequence that makes use of lively blocky shapes which can be likened to the work of Saul Bass.  

A comparison of Saul Bass' Vertigo poster to Jazzpunk, particularly its title sequence.

Finally, and perhaps most noticeably, is the game's art style itself.  Character models, for example, are simple blocky shapes similar to the symbols found on the doors of public toilets or boardgame pieces.  The game as a whole makes use of bright, blocky colours and thick comic-like black outlines - A simple but effective love letter to pop art style. 

A comparison of the character style in Jazzpunk to the work of Roy Lichtenstein.

Cuphead (StudioMDHR, unreleased)

Set to release in late 2014, the upcoming indie run and gun game Cuphead has been inspired by 1930s cartoon animation, particularly the work of Fleischer Studios (Betty Boop, Pop Eye.)  All aspects of gameplay emanate this vintage style, from the traditionally painted environments to the prim and proper typography.  The developers have even recreated a film grain effect and appear to have offset the RGB values of the images to create the effect of an old television screen.  The irony of using (breaking?) modern technology to create the outdated and damaged effects of older technology is definitely intriguing.

An image of Max Fleischer alongside a cut out of his creation Betty Boop.

References:

Transistor http://www.egmnow.com/sitepos/featured/egm-developer-chat-transistor-creative-director-greg-kasavin/

DMC http://alessandrotaini.blogspot.co.uk/

Jazzpunk http://www.polygon.com/2014/2/6/5384318/jazzpunk-review

Cuphead http://www.joystiq.com/2014/01/04/1930s-cartoon-inspired-cuphead-targeting-late-2014-launch-on-pc/