Concept Art for IGG Tokyo "Lost Stones: Aya's Prophecy"

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In 2019, I moved to Japan to work full-time as a Senior Concept Artist for IGG Tokyo.

I mainly contributed on the project "Lost Stones: Aya's Prophecy - Puzzle RPG " , a Mobile Game specifically designed for the japanese audience, under the Art Direction of Alexandre Osmoze Brakha. The game combines Puzzle / Simulation gameplay, RPG, and Gatcha system with +100 collectible heroes .

My role was mostly to:
• Create concept arts and visual development for the prototypes and along the project

• Rough designs for in-game content: Manga / Anime Charadesigns, Monsters, backgrounds, moodboards, environment atmospheres, buildings, items, ...
• Follow the process of my concepts by providing feedback monitoring and brushups on the designs & animations produced by outsourcing teams.

•Supporting the local 2D art team by helping with the backgrounds, UI and creating Promotional illustrations & concepts for marketing and advertisement

IGG Lost Stones : Aya's Prophecy Trailer by IGG

PROMOTIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS

this work consist in re-using in-game content (such as characters, backgrounds or assets), re-sketching some elements, creating a new composition and polish the render & atmosphere, to communicate efficiently on in-game marketing events like or promote the game on the Stores, social networks, and press.

Hanami Event ( One of the biggest event for the Japanese market ) . Illustrations published on IGG social networks

Color reskin I did of an outsourced animation, to convey a more luxurious feeling for the Special XMas Gacha

CONCEPTS CHARADESIGN

A few Rough characters for the Charadesign Team inspiration. It was a challenge for me to fit the design for the japanese audience, so I did a lot of researches from the various traditional weapons, clothes and folklore, for a medieval-futuristic look . To keep the balance between the diversity of those characters, I played with different morphologies & races (humans, beasts, robots and more), keeping in mind the shape should remain dynamic , readable on small screens, and easily animated on Spine.

Below are some early concepts, art style was still too cartoony tho:

Some Charadesign concepts for the collectible heroes:

CONCEPTS FOR THE ENVIRONMENTS

Below are some old concepts made from CG/ Collages/ Sketches to introduce the project in its early stages to the Head Quarters and teams . The project evolved , and the last picture is part of the Background of the final in-game world map: Giant statue of Aya protecting the world.

FLYINg Ships

Preliminary sketches of flying ships, to create a lively and diverse environment around the port and between the different island on the map. As the universe was first based on a pirate /futuristic inspiration , my main references came from steampunk and traditional asian ships. The first idea was to shape the boats as birds or sea creatures.

Some more defined doodles for ships, inspired by a mix between steampunk and asian traditional boats.

Some more researches for the Boat of the Heroes, with color tests to fit the reference Background

Cleaning the rough version of the boat, with a isometric view and turn around and all the required views for the Trailer animation sequence

The Final version I've entirely done and prepared into separate layers , ready to be animated by Asura Films for the anime game intro!

Below rough animations of the Light version of the boat ( without textures and lines) I did, just to send some animation directions to Asura Film studio , in charge of the anime game intro. All the elements are separated into layers to create this fake 3D effect, but it is still 2D , and this way the process is faster and cheaper than real 3D !

CONCEPTS FOR THE CITY

The base of our heroes and the main menu of the game, is a city floating in the sky with different platforms to rebuild . There is a spaceship port to explore other islands . A mix of asian architectures with furistic technology, neons and flashy colors.

Below are the early concepts I did to introduce the present the universe to the Head Quarter and Teams. It's a mix between CG/ Collages / Sketches to share the color mood and atmosphere of the city

Some rough color tests with different ambiances & weather for the Simulation part of the city

Process & Brushups

Process for in-game simulation Buildings . Here are some rough Placeholders I did for the prototype. Those sketches were used as a base for the outsourcing 2D artists, then I brushed-up the assets to fit the style

Same process for the in-game items. I closely worked with the game designer to provide rough sketches for the outsourcing teams to polish

Here is an exemple of the files I provided to the outsourcing teams, with rough doodles, color indications , and note or web references

Final render of the items after a brush-up to add more light & contrast, and make the graphics fit together

CONCEPTS MONSTERS & TITANS

Titans used to be guardians protecting this world, but some lost stoned became part of them and contaminated them. They are so powerful they can destroy everything on their way.

Below are the early concepts from CG/ Collages/ Sketches to present the Titans and this world to the teams.

here are some of the validated rough concepts

The Titans have been inspired by gigantic flying sea creatures, floating between the islands. They are so ancient that, over the years, they have been attracting stones and have been contaminated by their power... Heroes have now to collect those stones to cure them .

Here below are the final concepts of the Titans with some indications, such as textures and colors / elements for the Art team to cleanup and polish.

They all have different strenghts and are linked to the element of their stones. Each Titan has two evolutions , darkest one is supposed to be the more powerful version ...

Final Render (Adoptable Baby Titan to help to protect the city)

CONCEPT FOR MARKETING, MERCHANDISING & COLLABS

Below are some concepts for goodies and merchandising from the game. It's meant to be sold in the physical or online IGG Stores, or distributed as freebies on conventions to promote the game to a japanese audience .

Advertisement in Tokyo metro and train stations is expensive, but it's one of the most efficient way to promote the project to the targeted audience. Everyday, many people who play mobile games are passing in front of those ads and can easily download the game and play on their way to the office.

Here are some propals for the campaign:

I also designed Cute and Chibi versions of the main characters of the game to ease the communication and marketing :

From all those additional expressions I created for the in-game characters , the Emoji, and chibi versions, here is are some more exemples of easy and cheap ways to create more content to monetize or communicate !

Line Collab (different set & styles of virtual stickers and emoji to use on the most favorite japanese chat):

An efficient ways to promote a game in Japan can be to find partnerships and collaborations with other Brands and Products , or create special events.

B-Side Collab , specialized in games stickers, shares a similar audience and owns several stores located in strategical spots of Tokyo and across Japan , perfect to attract new players by Walk-ins !

Here are some cute animations I did as a bonus to implement in marketing communication:

Thanks for your support ! I hope you enjoyed watching my work and my process !

I think this project offers an interesting overview on the wide range of skills I can offer on a project and demostrate my flexibility to adapt on different markets, tools, and art styles (as I m usually more specialized in cute cartoon content...)

I'm now starting my own business and I'm open for new opportunities, so feel free to get in touch if you need help to develop the viual identity of your games !