Night traversal sequence showcasing atmospheric lighting and color scripting of the Lake Shore Crossing.
The aurora-driven palette establishes mood while maintaining character readability through controlled rim lighting and value separation.
Early forest environment, Cat's Camp, focused on warmth and approachability.
Soft value transitions and localized lighting were used to create a safe, readable space for player interaction.
Winter scene, Sugar Bush (morning), introducing stronger value contrast and environmental storytelling.
Structural elements and prop clustering guide player attention while reinforcing narrative context.
Night variation of the winter Sugar Bush scene emphasizing focal lighting.
Firelight acts as both a compositional anchor and primary navigation cue, reducing reliance on UI.
Woodland Crossing Mid-game exploration space designed around layered depth and traversal clarity.
Foreground, midground, and background separation supports navigation and environmental readability.
Transitional fall scene of the Lake Shore using color contrast to signal progression.
Warm foliage against desaturated background tones helps direct player movement and focus.
The Amik Den set piece designed for spatial storytelling.
Shape language and silhouette hierarchy guide player movement through a dense composition.
Underwater environment exploring reduced contrast and color filtering.
Light attenuation and simplified value structure maintain clarity in a low-visibility space.
I served as Art Director on Reclaim! Azhegiiwewining, a narrative exploration game centered on cultural storytelling and environmental discovery. I led visual development across the project, defining the game’s style, establishing its environmental language, and guiding production across a small interdisciplinary team.
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Art Direction
My role spanned both creative direction and production leadership. I developed the visual language for the project, including foundational principles for shape, color, and lighting, and created a comprehensive art style guide to ensure consistency across all assets and environments .
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Visual Language and Style Develoipment
The visual direction was grounded in a set of core art pillars—balancing a playful, approachable aesthetic with a strong cultural foundation and a sense of environmental storytelling. Shape language, value structure, and composition were used intentionally to guide player movement and emotional tone, with specific rules for how forms and lines communicate safety, danger, and progression through space .
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Color Scripting and Environment Design
I illustrated key environment concepts and developed the game’s color scripting, establishing a progression of palettes and lighting moods across biomes. Each space was designed to feel distinct while maintaining cohesion, using color and value to reinforce narrative beats and guide player focus.
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Pipeline and Production Systems
The project uses a hybrid 2D/3D pipeline, with 3D environments informed by illustrative 2D concepts. This approach allowed us to maintain strong readability and stylization while building scalable, interactive spaces. In addition to visual direction, I designed the art production pipeline, including asset workflows, material systems, and implementation structure. I developed reusable smart materials and established guidelines for asset creation, integration, and review, enabling a small team to produce consistent work efficiently.
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Team Leadership and Collaboration
Working with a small team, I also structured communication and review processes, ensuring alignment between concept, 3D production, and in-engine implementation. This included defining feedback loops, asset approval pipelines, and maintaining visual consistency across disciplines.
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Gameplay Readability
Art direction decisions were closely tied to gameplay clarity. Composition, contrast, and environmental layout were used to guide navigation and interaction, reducing reliance on UI and reinforcing player understanding through the environment itself.
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This project reflects a holistic approach to art direction—combining visual development, system design, and team leadership to create a cohesive and expressive game world.
