THE ART OF RANDOM

In our last blog, we delved deep into what makes a fairytale sound just right. A well-crafted score, the perfectly tuned sound effects, a quirky narrator, and more all go into it, but just as much can be said for finding the right look.

When we think of our favourite classic tales, there’s always a mix of wonder and terror. After all, every good fairytale has a bit of darkness in it, and that’s something that was integral for the team at Zoink to capture in Lost in Random.

(Lost in Random illustration by Alfredo Cáceres)

From gothic towers to strange and decrepit creatures, Lost in Random has a bit of everything in it. Early in the game’s development, the team experimented with different themes they wanted to explore in the story and style. Much of the concept art has a near-monochromatic, 2D style that captures the grim world of a dark fairytale, much like what you might expect from classics in the genre or while reading a picture book. In fact, many of the original pieces of concept art were done with paper and ink to really hone in on that style.

(Two Town concept art by Victor Becker)

Victor: Well hello there! Let me tell you the story of our visual creative process—and why don’t we start from the very beginning:

Years ago, Klaus Lyngeled (Head of Development at Zoink) introduced a tiny team of developers to the art of Shaun Tan, a painter who perfectly captures the twisted look of a fairytale. It inspired us, to say the least, but most importantly his work made us think beyond classic fantasy, so we went to explore different mediums and materials such as clay sculptures, paints, and pencil drawing. Variation of tangible rather than digital mediums brings out the best of any artist! 

(Even’s home and house props concept art by Victor Becker)

Victor, cont.: For the polished claymation feel, we studied the materials of Laika Studios’s work and sculpted with clay ourselves. Eventually, we stumbled upon 3D character artist Borislav Kechashki who we found had perfected a hand-crafted look. His characters looked like miniatures sculpted out of wood or made of textiles and it was a perfect fit!

By this time, Klaus had basically forced me to avoid digital painting to mostly draw with pen and paper since he felt that that’s where my style really started to come alive. From then on, the art style started to settle into an analog look, with lines alive like in a painting’s and little thumbprints left on buildings after the giant sculptor who made them.

(Odd, Troubadour, and Ooma sculpted concepts by Victor Becker)

Victor, cont.: We wanted the fairytale of Lost in Random to feel tangible, dark, and strange. Therefore, we decided to give the whole world a painterly, colourful, and flowing look, working with a few select sets of materials: clay, metal, and wood! If something was supposed to look like another material, it would have to be as if a giant artist had come and tried to mimic that material in one of these materials.

(Concept art for Two Town by Leo Brynielsson)

Once the overall tone was established, the team began to focus on each character and location to make them more unique. Concept art is a wonderful way to iterate on different moods and styles a game can take. The above piece showcases Two Town in an impressionist style. While it may lack the minute details that you’d expect to see in the game world, those aren’t as important early on. Instead, it focuses on capturing the overall mood of the location with different balances between colour, light, and shapes.

(Even and Dicey exploring Two Town)

When exploring Two Town in-game, you can see how the concept art evolved into what the game ended up being. Though the shadows have deepened, there are many similarities, such as the warm glow of the lights, the street lamps, and the eerie way the buildings seem to press in towards you.

Victor: As my dad always says, “start loose and finish it razor sharp!” At the beginning of a project, there is only imagination; no objects, no light, no nothing. A blank page is scary, but it’s also complete freedom. So what did we do with that freedom? Well, we sculpted a simple clay block representing a bare house. Next, we drew details on top of a screenshot, adding wonky windows, cute doors, and pipes twisted around the structure which we would then continue on to sculpt. At this stage, we made a row of houses and took a step back and asked ourselves if this was too much or too little detail and made adjustments accordingly. And on and on it goes!   

(Fourburg thumbnails concept art by Victor Becker)

Victor, cont.: Just start filling the blank canvas with random shapes and lines that keep spurring your imagination. The beautiful thing is that you can apply this approach to any kind of object or environment, no matter its scale. Lost in Random’s levels usually started out with a few thumbnail paintings (i.e. tiny drawings) that suggest space and shapes with some key colours. We’d then proceed to build a simple block-out of the level, keeping those thumbnail paintings in mind.

When this was done, I would take screenshots of the key spaces inside that level and fill in colours, lighting, add crazier shapes, and fun little details that enriched the mood and history of the space. What followed was for our environment artists to go in and make that level quite pretty—and so the process of iteration continues until it would be very pretty while still fitting the narrative of that actual world! Alas, here is an important quote by my mom, “Trust the process, follow your guts!”

But locations aren’t the only things that developers experiment with! Characters are another prime example of where concept art can be very impactful.

(Even concept art by Victor Becker)

How characters emote, their unique styles, and their personalities can all be explored in concept art. Even without motion or sound, you can almost hear and feel how Even feels in her early concept art (above) or how one sister has a distinctly different personality from the other (below).

(Queen Sisters concept art by Victor Becker)

Victor: Expression is the crown of character concepts. When I start drawing a character, I fill out page after page with tests, more often than not in motion or with a facial expression that works with the story that’s been served to me by Olov Redmalm, Creative Director and Lead Writer on the project. Doing so makes it so much easier to find the core of each character, and from that core, we once again start adding to it and nurturing it into a more vivid being! Also, let’s not forget the devil’s in the details: I did add two buttons to Even's dress and three to Odds as I wanted to tie their outfits to their names. Also, Death has seven dots on his forehead, just to encourage fan theories! 

(Even’s home in Onecroft)

Finding the right balance between a character and where they’re from can also be important. Even and Odd both look distinctly like they’re from Onecroft, but they don’t necessarily look just like all the other kids. However, when you take a closer look at their home, there are a number of similarities between them. The shades of purple are similar to what the girls wear, the rich brown wood is like their hair, and the cozy lights fit well with their personalities!

This helps to establish a stark difference between Even and the strange places she goes throughout the game, making her stand out as someone who’s clearly an outsider.

(The Queen in her palace)

In complete contrast, the Queen looks nothing like someone from Onecroft or any of the other five realms. She’s a tower of darkness and an imposing sight to behold, and yet, she still has a distinct, elegant style that matches other parts of the game.

Much like how Even’s appearance reflects her home, so too does the Queen reflect her own. Environmental storytelling is a key part of Lost in Random and helps to always keep clear where you are and where you’re going. It details the history of the world, both recent and old, and sets the tone for the story that’s about to unfold.

(Storyboard by Olov Redmalm)

Even the story itself gets concept art in the form of storyboards that map out the player’s journey. These sketches can help the team understand the vision of the game, even before things like scripts and voiceovers are done.

Victor: Olov did work on storyboards which further enhanced the expression of our characters. It’s probably the most efficient way to capture the essence of most things; the way the characters move and interact with each other. Olov would draw the storyboard, show them to tech artist Mathias Lorensson who’d block out the environment and animation, and then pass it on to the animators with further directions and feedback as we went along. Olov and I would help each other out with recording reference videos for the animators—which was also a great way for us to stretch our legs and arms and act silly for a bit! I sincerely hope that we show some of those videos at some point in the future.

(A Queen is Born illustration by Alfredo Cáceres)

Victor: Let's talk a little about the incredible Alfredo Cáceres who drew and painted these illustrations that you’ve seen so far. It started with me, Olov, and Klaus pondering about an in-game storybook. We asked ourselves how a citizen of Random would depict their own dark fairytale world. Lo and behold, Alfredo was the answer! To tell the truth, Alfredo’s prior work was already an inspiration that we drew from, therefore the circle was completed when he joined our team.

This meant that all of a sudden, Random itself had become a cultural and creative world, something in the likes of our own reality and it helped us relate to its inhabitants.

(No Dice War illustration by Alfredo Cáceres)

Victor, cont.: Many people draw a connection between Tim Burton, Alice: Madness Returns, and Lost in Random, but I feel a responsibility as the Art Director to elaborate on my personal inspirations for this game:

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda The masterpiece One Piece is one of the largest creative universes in the world, filled with a thousand unique characters with their own motifs and laughter. When creating characters of my own, I find myself looking through my memories of One Piece, wondering how he could manage with such a cohesive cast, although one is a humanoid reindeer (who also is a doctor) and the other is a full-grown man in a baby’s outfit (with the saddest backstory there ever was). [Editor’s note: Huh…interesting.] Studio Ghibli
Their work has been an inspiration for me since forever, therefore my pencil will unconsciously bleed some of their DNA into whatever I draw. Over the Garden Wall
This series made me, Olov, and Klaus rethink many of my character and environment designs. Its world managed to capture the essence of a true fairytale, so after watching it I worked hard to integrate that very same essence into our world.  Tons of random manga! Tip of the day: go read some manga!

Contemporary and historical ceramic and 15th to 17th-century ironwork Throughout time, we humans have managed to create some incredible functional art. I’m in blissful awe whenever I’m looking at these objects and my urge of creating is rekindled every single time.    To top this off, I’d like to do some name-dropping of some other great illustrators and character designers that in very different ways have been an inspiration to our visuals: Blad Moran, Heidi Smith, Sylvain Marc, Dani Diez, Jesper Eijsing and many, many more! To whom this blog post may concern, I could show you a world shining, shimmering, splendid. There is so much out there that I wish for you to see! There are more topics I would love to touch upon, but I do believe that this will have to be our farewell for now. If you’ve read this far, thank you, dear reader!  If you haven’t already, I hope you now feel the burning urge to step into the world we’ve so carefully and lovingly created. Be wary though, so you don’t get lost...Random Rules! Long live the Queen!

(The Queen concept art by Victor Becker)

We hope you enjoyed learning a bit about the art and making of Lost in Random! The team is always eager to hear what people think about the game, so let us know your thoughts on Twitter!

Lost in Random is available now worldwide on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC. And remember, as Victor said: Random Rules!