Character Designs
Concept Art
It is detrimental that the designs captured the appropriate feel and tone of the game. However, my main dilemma with developing concept art is the amount of time allocated to each concept. How much details are required to convey the intended look? What style is most appropriate? I had already established that the gameplay mode would have a boxy and stylized look compared to the comic book style cutscenes. It was difficult, however, to determine which style of concept art would best translate into both modes of the game. For example, Transistor incorporates beautiful 2D illustrations for its cutscenes, while the main gameplay uses minimalistic isometric sprites. In the end, I settled on a much more detailed, semi-realistic style inspired by GTA V that could easily be translated into both modes of play.
It is important to mention that concept art differs greatly from promotional art. Concepts aim to capture the intended look and feel of the game while promotional art aims to “sell” you the product. Publishers will often showcase the final, polished promotional art under the pretense of “concept art.” With this in mind, I must remind myself that concepts should be quick, loose and iterative rather than detailed and polished. Concepts are more important to the game developers rather than our intended audience. In the future, I will try and spend less time on making beautiful art, and more time creating quick designs that I know might be scrapped or reiterated upon. Having dozens of quick designs to choose from is more useful than one polished character that might not make it into the game. In this respect, I can spend more time iterating on colours, shapes, styles and ideas.
Left to right: Trudy, Reggie, Kenny, Chad
Thugs
During our preproduction phase, I tasked myself with creating high level concepts for the main playable characters, as well as the enemy types for the tutorial level. This level would feature a group of thugs that challenge the player into battle. My goal was to incorporate inherently unique enemies that looked different from one another, and appeared menacing, competent and agile. Initially, I began with silhouette drawings of mercenaries that would be popular in today’s day and age. However, the designs deviated from the intended 70s-80s time period. Thus, I refocused my attention to researching gangs and greasers from the 1970s-80s. 80s films such as Black Dynamite and Savage Streets were an effective source of inspiration when designing their outfits. Denim jackets, vests, converse and high-waist pants were popular trends during this decade. The end result was a much more appropriate design that reflected the theme and setting of Disco is Dead.
Main Characters
From the beginning of Disco is Dead, the team knew that we wanted to include diverse characters within a unique setting. I took this as a challenge to create fun, lovable characters that were likable the moment you saw them. The overall design of the characters plays a key role in capturing their personality, interests and values. The narrative team developed character guides that helped to lay out the groundwork for the main characters.
Trudy
Reggie
Kenny
For Kenny and Reggie, I chose bright, bold colours that were cohesive with the setting, and matched their flamboyant personality. Judy, on the other hand is stoic, hardheaded and stern. It was important that her appearance and demeanor reflected this, so she is seen neatly dressed, well-groomed and confident. I did plenty of research into 70s fashion and decided to include platform shoes, high waist pants, bell-bottoms, and black belts. Their hairstyles were also designed to reflect their time period, while the expression sheets were designed to convey their personality. A character’s personality is comprised of numerous aspects but most of it stems from the character’s features and physical traits since those are the first things you notice. Exaggerating certain features helps me identify who this character is. For example, Reggie’s narrow head combined with sharp, hard angles gives him a harsher look. Having my characters do something – move, dance, have a certain facial expression or a certain posture – adds to their personality. In the above example, one can easily tell that Trudy is a stern and very confident woman from her stance. Exaggerating features also adds expressiveness to the characters. Chad, for example, has skinny legs and large feet to create more interesting designs from the extreme visual contrasts.
Poster
The poster was a side project to help promote Disco is Dead on social media. I wanted to create a colourful, flashy illustration inspired by GTA art that conveyed the playful attitude of the game. The backgrounds and colour palettes were reflective of the 70s time period. The illustration was met with varying reactions. The majority of the viewers responded positively to the style, colour choices and overall look of the piece. Others believed that the poster was too serious and did not properly reflect the light tone of Disco is Dead.
Colour Palettes
Colour is essential in communicating a character’s personality. Generally, dark colours such as black, greys and purples depict “bad guys” with malevolent intentions. Light colours such as white, blues, pinks and yellows express innocence, good and purity. Therefore, I created multiple colour tests using bright colors for Kenny and Reggie. Initially, Kenny was intended to wear a white shirt and red pants. After much deliberation, the team decided that the bright orange and purple combination better suited his personality.
