19. Art Direction

This is the summary of Emilio Padulo's Level Design Master Class.

· The Style

· Creating your own style

· Lighting

· Colors

· Color Palettes

· Color Schemes

· Deciding on a Color

1. The Style

· When we talke about style, this is the unique appearance of the level / environment.

· This can be a number of things that make it unique:

· The choice of arcgutecture

· Textures

· Lighting

· Color Palette

· When there is no clear art direction set in stone, this makes our level feel bland and not original.

· In order to stick out and creat your own identity among multiple other designers, your style has to be uinque.

· Some things to keep note when deciding what your art style will be.

· Is it realistic?

· Is it cartoonish (what era)?

· Abstract?

· What color palette am I using?

2. Creating your own art style

· If there is no concept artist and your not comfortable creating your own concept art, then its time to tit the internet again!

· Collecting reference images to help define the exact art direction you want to go in is crucial when it comes time to recreate it in game.

· You should now be looking at:

· Video game images

· Other concept art

· Paintings

· Film

· This will help you identify what your core style will be.

· But not only that, you must also look similar style as well such as:

· Colors

· Lighting

· Architecture

· Tone / Feel

3. Lighting

· Lighting along with color are the pillars that drive the art direction of you level / environment.

· Lighting is not only used as a toolkit to guide the player but also creates the mood and atmosphere of a level as well.

· Defining the opacity or the darkness vs brightness of a level will change how the player will react to it.

· When deciding how Dark or Light a level wiil be, keep in mind a few key things.

· It is not necessary to always have large contrasts of dark and light areas in a level.

· Light must set the atmosphere as we said but also give the player a clear indication of what the theme is for your level.

· There are 2 lighting contrast that preform very specific roles when used.

· High-Key Lighting: this is when we reduce lighting ratio in a level to give off a more uplifting and higher tempo mood.

· Low-Key Lighting: here we have an increased contrast to lighting which plays off as being more dramatic and intense mood.

4. Colors

· When we look at colors, we talk about an infinite amout of possibilities.

· Color really bring on the emotional and psychological aspect to a game.

· When a player interacts with any scene color are the first thing they see.

· Color psychology and theory is a very interesting tihing to both understand and apply in your level / environment.

· When we loot at colors, they invoke certain emotions.

· Lets take a look at some to get a better understanding of it.

Red

Positive: Negative:

· Love · Anger

· Energy · Defiance

· Strength · Aggression

· Physical Courage · Danger

· Excitement

Blue

Positive: Negative:

· Intelligence · Coldness

· Communication · Aloofness

· Trust · Emotionless

· Serenity · Unfriendliness

· Coolness

Green

Positive: Negative:

· Harmony · Boredom

· Restoration · Stagnation

· Growth · Toxicity

· Nature · Decay

Yellow

Positive: Negative:

· Optimistic · Impulsive

· Cheerfulness · Fearful

· Enthusiasm · Empathetic

· Fun · Cowardice

· Wisdom · Impatient

· Analytical

· Creative

Purple

Positive: Negative:

· Psychic · Corrupt

· Magical · Immaturity

· Mystery · Impractical

· Fantasy · Pompous

· Futuristic · Social Climber

Orange

Positive: Negative:

· Extroverted · Superficial

· Adventurous · Over-bearing

· Risk-taker · Pessimistic

· Informal · Overly proud

· Agreeable

5. Color Palettes

Warm Colors

· This would be exclusively Red, Yellow, and Orange.

· They encompass warmth when they are mixed.

· They remind us of fall or even a sunset.

· When using warm colors in video games, they can signal a few things to the player.

· Warm palettes can evoke a warm and comfprting area.

· They can also inspire aggression and intense situations.

Cool Colors

· These colors would be Blue, Green and Purple.

· When mixing this palette together, it brings a more cool and relaxing feeling.

· They remind us of water, grass, or nature in general.

· Cool colors are often used to signify technology such as holograms.

· In video games, this isn’t any different. Most sci-fi games use cool color palettes.

· This is used to represent a healthier purified society.

· When mixing few tones of warm colors, it can set the tone.

6.Color Schemes

Dystopian

· Generally, the use of Brown, Gray, and Black represents a more “Empty” palette.

· This reminds of a ghost town often depicted in the film.

· This Dark hue color palette creates an opportunity for the use of brighter colors.

· When deciding what colors you wish to use as key highlight markers, keep in mind the psychology of color.

· When any color is used in this dark palette, it stand out right away and induces the emotion attached to it.

Cyberpunk

· This color palette is a mix of neon Purple, Pink, Teal, Blue and Dark Blue.

· The use of these colors creates a dark world full of excitement around every corner.

· It’s all about the use of high contrast in deep shadows, and creating bright highlights.

· This color palette relies on applying the right texture and color of light.

· This allows the designer to highlight key identifiers for the player.

Acrhomatic

· Any color that any chromatic content would be considered achromatic.

· Near neutrals are any hue or lightness of:

· Brown

· Tan

· Pastel

· Dark colors

· Pure achromatic colors are:

· Black

· White

· All Grays

Monochromatic

· Monochromatic is (shade, tone, tint) of a single hue of a color.

· To attain a tint, add white to the hue of a color.

· To attain a shade or a tone, adding black, grey or darker colors.

Analogous

· Groups of 3 colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.

· One color being the dominant (Primary / Secondary) and the other 2 on each side complimenting it.

· This type of scheme creates a rich, monochromatic look.

Complementary

· A pair of colors that are opposite to each other on the color wheel.

· They also cancel each other’s hue by creating a (white, black, or gray) mixture.

· When they are paired together, they create a sharp contrast and stick out.

Triadic

· The use of 3 colors equally spaced out on the color wheel.

· They form a perfect triangle between each color.

Polychromatic

· It refers to a scheme that has several colors in it.

· The term often refers to the styles of architecture, pottery or sculptures.

7. Deciding on Color

· The main thing to remember is that when using colors, you must always keep a balance.

· There must always be 1 color that dominants the scene and others help to compliment it.

· The dominant color is more often a Primary Color and Secondary colors helping support it.

· Never share a scene with colors equally!

· Colors and Lighing work in tandom.

· Use darkness and light to highlight an area you want to player to see.

· Players tend to go towards areas that are brighter for obvious reasons, so don’t add OCRs in dark spots that the player willnever find.