Role: 1-Woman Orchestra for a Personal Game Project
UI Art & Prototyping
Figma Prototype for a Character Select Screen
Figma & Video Games
Figma has its limit when it comes to prototyping and testing for video games. A lot of ground could be covered in this paragraph, but interactivity and animation potential are the parts I feel are lacking.
I tested Figma’s true limits on a small, personal VR game project that allowed me to flex my Visual Design muscles a bit more often than the projects I was on at the time.
UX/UI, Art Direction
Figma, Spine, Rive
Finding the Tone
When the sky’s the limit, oftentimes it’s hard to land somewhere you want to land with look & feel.
I set myself up with keywords for: ‘mysterious’, ‘magical’, and ‘dark’ and worked my way through those.
Art Direction
Figma
Vectary 3D VR Prototype
I adore testing new tools. Vectary looked like an intriguing middle man between Figma and direct in-engine experiments.
It’s fast and you gets you where you want to be UI-wise in a 3D environment way clearer than Figma ever could. You don’t have to be a material and scene setup expert to express yourself in a more nuanced way.
Prototyping in 3D
Vectary
Character Design
Character Design & Lineup
My game needed some main characters. This is where I got to test my newly updated digital painting skills.
I knew my cast would have an overarching theme, but had to stay differentiated silhouette-wise and personality-wise.
Adding authenticity by exploring period-appropriate clothing was one of the most fun parts of this.
Character Design, Art Direction, Digital Painting
Clip Studio Paint
Character Sheets & Working With 3D Artists
I created a character sheet – as seen above – for one of my main characters to test my communication skills with other Artists.
I then hired a 3D Artist to help me visualize my ideas as VR-specced 20k-poly 3D models. Once we finalize the design, the real in-engine fun can begin.
What you see here is the first WIP sculpt of the character as prepared by the 3D Artist I’m working with.
Character Design, Art Direction, Digital Painting
Clip Studio Paint
Components & Libraries
Working With Figma Variables
Leveraging Figma’s variables was the driving force behind some of the style explorations. Changing styles suddenly became more systematic and fun at the same time.
While I wouldn’t advise this approach for everything, it’s very handy when making the last tweaks such as font comparisons or switching out the color palette.
I love a good design system. Figma’s component and variant setups are amazing for a systematic approach towards your design.
UI Components
Figma
Animated Components
A well designed system pairs well with Figma’s Smart Animate inside of components with multiple variants.
UI Components + Animation
Figma
2D Character Animation in Spine and Rive
While Figma is great with simple interactions and some animation, getting characters to move is a task I moved into Rive and Spine.
Both software tools have their merits. I am very intrigued by Rive right now because of their state machine and Unreal integration. It could become Figma’s competitor in the video game market.
