Killer Pandas for Computer Arts Projects

There's a new issue of Computer Arts Projects out and about, on the subject of videogames, which as you may well know, is a subject quite close to my heart. And thumbs.

So it was proper nice 'n' that when they asked if I'd like to contribute to the 'designer challenge' section, where three folks in each issue are given the same brief, and a few hours to produce a piece for it. There's no time limit as such, and they didn't lock us in a dark room with an invigilator or anything, but the idea was to basically have a bit of fun.

They came up with a name for a fictional videogame, 'Bob V Killer Pandas', and supplied the official PS3 'stripe' for the left hand side of the box art, along with the game logo. My piece is a bit of a Space Harrier tribute, if anyone remembers that one, in terms of the character positioning and attitude. But I also really hate the way that in general, videogame covers these days are so generic in terms of style and composition. Taking a leaf out of Indiana Jones' journal, I thought it would be nice to have the main character facing away from us for once. Especially now that in-game graphics are so realistic, wouldn't it be nice if covers were able to exist as interesting pieces in their own right? That's a rhetorical question of course, but surely games would be more likely to leap off the shelves at us if their designs were at least a little more bespoke and considered. A sweeping generalisation I know, but still...

Anyway I'm rambling again - here's the piece - hope you like it!

No Heroics DVD

It's not every day that you get your artwork featured on a DVD, so I'm unashamed to say that I was pretty excited to get my hands on the No Heroics DVD this week. They've used some of my sticker designs on the 'Special Features' menu, and the 'Art Gallery' is set aside for the work I did on the show. Pics here:



If you're interested, this tour of 'The Fortress' set by creator Drew Pearce reveals a lot of the references to comic book history that made it into the background art, from the pieces I did, to the alcohol labels and even some of the typography choices. It was all this 'geek detail' that made it such a cool project to be involved with. Huge thanks to Drew for managing to get a whole section of the DVD devoted to my work. And if you want a copy for yourself, here's an Amazon link. Don't worry, it's not like I get any royalties or anything!

Interview at Taxi Design Network

Hi again folks - wow it's February already! I know there haven't been any portfolio updates for a while, but there's certainly plenty going on behind the scenes, and I'll definitely be in touch just as soon as there's new material to show.

In the meantime, you may be interested to know that the nice guys at Design Taxi have posted their interview with me.