Background Illustration

One of the most important elements to a visual novel is the background illustrations. Their purpose is to support the narrative and dialogue, but most importantly to set the scenes. My backgrounds are based on my own photos all around Wisconsin. From small towns, to the highway, to the eerie woods.

Illustrations

Visual novels by nature are assets stacked on top of each other, but for important discoveries and story beats we are treated to a beautiful piece of artwork to accompany our thoughts and emotions.

These three key moments depict Micah finding their partner Aleksandra grown into a tree, Micah and the Fox resting after their encounters in the woods, and Micah discovering Aleksandra’s diary tape player.

Demo Reel

Part of the process of this pitch was to design not only characters but UI and icons as well. The trickiest part was of course making character sprites, backgrounds, and UI all work together in harmony. This process included simultaneously working on all parts and constantly constructing mock-ups and fixing issues

Character Design and Demo Assets

Creating my main three characters was one of my favorite parts of this project. All assets were drawn and/or painted in Adobe Photoshop then assembled in Adobe After Effects and edited in Adobe Premiere.

Game Case

The last piece for my thesis was to design a game case for Ochre for the Nintendo Switch. The cover went through multiple ideations, but eventually this design of milkweed flowers growing out of an ochre skull felt right. Milkweed symbolizes letting someone go, which is ultimately what Micah and the player must do in this game.

Ochre is not affiliated with Nintendo, the switch was just chosen for presentation purposes.