Art direction is very important to game design. When defying art direction, its always good to research visuals that are pleasing to the eye. In this case we looked at Sci Fi art and graphics from the 70's and 80's. We googled a few images that would match our look and style and this is what we came up with.
Today we are making progress on the art direction for Synth Ball. Here you see us using specific simple shapes and colors to create a composition. This is inspired from 70s and 90s Sci Fi art. The way the artist played with depth and scale gives us a sense of wonder and fear. I decided to incorporate that into synth ball, for example this level see here.
Notice how the artist used a simple triangle composition. You have the pyramid being the area of focus. Then you have the converging lines leading up to the area of focus. You also notice the sphere that completes the composition with out over shadowing the rest of the shapes.
The colors are very stark and bold. The contrast between the red and white colors makes the large shapes stand out. Sometimes too many colors can be busy or muddy. As you can see in our art direction we stuck with mostly with monochromatic colors and two tone colors for simplicity. The contrast really adds the depth you need to give you that sense of scale.
Another inspiration was the way they designed VHS packaging from the 80s and 90s. Do you guys remember Fuji film, Memorex and Maxell. The graphic designers stuck with simple shapes with high contrast color and lighting with bold compositions. Some are kept simplistic as far as design with just a few shapes and lines. What you are seeing is inspiration from modern art from the 60s and 70s.
You can practice this technique if you are having trouble finding a look and feel for your game. The world has a lot of inspiration for Unity Game Development. You can even see it in architecture, movies and even mother nature.
