The search for the best visual style is fun and, at the same time, scary. Everything we consume ends up, directly or indirectly, influencing our work. We are always receiving numerous visual and auditory stimuli from our surroundings.
This can become a problem as we, when responsible for the visual direction of a game, end up looking to the same sources of inspiration to create our games. It’s impossible not to think about Resident Evil when it comes to zombies, or Fortnite when it comes to cartoonish battle royales. And that can make the search for style a complicated journey. In the middle of so much information, how do we organize ourselves to define it as the best choice for the look?
Read all our Art Direction Posts
We’ve already seen that the first step is to decide on the style of the game. What does the game want to go through? What is your message? What kind of experience proposal do you seek to convey?
With these characteristics in mind, it’s time to start separating ideas. Put everything you think about for the game on paper or in a digital file. Details such as which worlds it will have, what time it will be, which characters and enemies inhabit these worlds, in short, everything you would like it to have.
Having defined some of these primary characteristics, it’s time to look for references. And that’s where things get fun! I’ll show you where to look for ideas and how to organize yourself so you don’t get lost in their world.
Organization Tools
It is important for the team to have a tool that helps in the game development process, where everyone can check what is being done. For those who work with the visual part, having this control over what needs to be created, what is approved and/or that is being reworked is essential.
Trello
I have Trello as my main work tool. I use it for both daily/weekly sprints and client tasks and for more flexible jobs, where each of my personal projects is broken down into cards so I have full control over the tasks (eg I’m creating an apartment, so the card has everything what I need to do in this environment: search for references of each object, 3D development and engine tests, for example).
HackNPlan
It is a gamified and much more complete version of Trello. Excellent for organizing teams, it has several ways to include details of your game (think of a GDD with dynamic structure) as well as ways to allocate each person to different tasks and measure the amount of service/hours that each one worked on them. It’s a wonderful deal, and it’s free for small teams.
Habitica
In the task gamification area, Habitica can satisfy your desire to combine work with fun, transforming your daily life into an RPG. Completing tasks earns you EXP, gives you rewards and you can defeat bosses with your friends. You can use it online and mobile.
Pureref
Mini desktop application that serves as a digital board. You use it to place all the images you have at your disposal (whether they are copying from the internet or dragging from the desktop) and organize them as needed. Great for those who want to disconnect from the internet and focus on the references they’ve already found.
Miro
Collaborative whiteboard platform and with many visual options for organization, it is free and has integration with Slack, Trello, Gmail, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, among other tools. Available online and for download on desktop and mobile!
Referral websites
Golden tip: often looking for other visual references won’t work. You can search and look everywhere and inspiration won’t come your way and this can generate anxiety, leaving you adrift. In this case, do the opposite: look in places that offer resources such as texts and audio (such as books, podcasts, short stories, stories, folklore) and work with that openness. Reading (and listening), words activate your mind and you force yourself to create and develop, because they won’t show you: they will let you imagine. When you have a mental block and visual references don’t help you, look for texts and podcasts : )
Artstation / Behance / Pinterest / Dribbble / Designspiration
Multidisciplinary websites (which not only show game references) where you can register and create projects/boards with your inspirations.
It’s important to always be aware of what other artists and developers are doing. Keeping up with new trends and reading about what other people are up to will give you great insights into what to do (and what to avoid if the idea isn’t to be so mainstream).
Bônus: freebies for you to open and waste a little time getting lost
If you have tools or places where you can find references, let’s exchange ideas 🙂
See you later!
