I have always believed that all artwork should inspire some sort of emotion, regardless of how minor the task or piece of artwork is it should trigger something.
To this end, I have found that the propaganda works World War II to be some of the most thought provoking and inspiring works of our time. They were simple, yet powerful. They communicated a complex message to onlookers and were successful at motivating fear, anger, patriotism, and a myriad emotions in just moments.
I was also fortunate enough in my early years to stumble upon an artist by the name of Aidan Hughes a.k.a. “Brute”, a propaganda artist in the U.K. that has been working for years on a style that I feel I am just now coming into my own in implementing. Aidan’s work is by far my greatest inspiration, as he takes what was done for art in WWII and takes it to the next level. Each piece of artwork he produces drips with feeling and radiates a zeal unmatched anywhere else.
That sort of emotion and energy is something I try to portray in every piece I work on, be it a simple image such as Inventory Management or something more energetic like Raid. In the game, my goal is for each piece to give an idea of what that technology brings without having to read the description, and to have that image be memorable. I accomplish this through bold, powerful lines and exaggerated perspectives. I attempt this also through bringing focus to the main idea of the piece with color transitions, star bursts (perhaps a bit excessively), and sweeping lines that guide the viewer through the piece. With these components I attempt to meld them into a powerful and thought provoking image.
I can safely say that without inspiration from great World War II artists and Aidan Hughes, I wouldn’t be where I am today. As eloquently put by Sir Issac Newton: “If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants.”