Five years ago, we spoke with Johannes Figlhuber about his work on Ori and the Blind Forest (2015). Now he’s back on Vox Groovy to catch up with us and tell us more about the decade he’s spent working at Airborn Studios in Berlin.
When asked about the company, he said that they specialise in outsourcing, doing things like visual development, concept design, marketing art, etc. Their focus is on stylised art, and their portfolio certainly shows it with several artworks for successful games like Fortnite (2017), Spyro Reignited Trilogy (2018), Valorant (2020), and many others.
This small studio was founded by artists for artists, only picking projects that they find exciting or want to work on. It’s truly amazing to see how many game worlds Figlhuber and his team brought to life over the years.
Crash Bandicoot – Hook, Line and Sinker
In this interview, we find out more about him as opposed to the projects he’s worked on. You’ll learn about the early stages of his career, his bachelor’s degree in 3D animation, and his job as a concept artist at Funcom in Oslo. There’s also plenty of info about his experience with Crash 4, along with some advice for aspiring concept artists who want to create stylised art like him.
His is a valuable story in our community, so we hope you all enjoy the read and feel inspired to create something new after.
What sparked your interest in digital art?
Computers and games were a hobby of mine very early on. I loved the experiences that games offered, and I loved seeing how the graphics got better and more detailed with time. It started with my older brother’s Game Boy, then finally my first PlayStation and eventually computers and PC gaming. When I learned about creating art for games, I got hooked quickly…
"Learn about composition, colour theory, lighting, patterns, camera techniques, shape language, symbolism, anatomy..."
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