In November of 2018, I was approached by Josh Wood from AEG to step in and provide a complete visual overhaul to a project that was in need of a sense of visual flair. When he described the concept and subject matter to me, I was hooked!
The box art uses a famous Renoir painting generously lent to us by the Norton Simon museum in Pasadena, CA. Conveying the idea that the player IS the artist was important, so I set up one of my used painter's palettes and some brushes for photography.
The wooden pawns were designed by Josh Wood. All other components designed by me. The Player Boards were particularly fun to work on and are a combination of photography and compositing work. We wanted the players to really feel like they were in the thick of the painting process, so the palettes were designed to hold everything on it. If one is careful, they could likely hold one of these in their arm like a true artist!
Atelier is a simple dice rolling game with a light territory control element. The players are all master artists managing their workshop to create masterpieces from popular styles in the 19th century.
I was tasked with designing to "Rule Book" to resemble a folding pamphlet you would pick up at an art museum. The rules of the game are fairly simple and straightforward, so creating a design that was just as elegant to match was important!
While most of the design and UI work is my own, there are a few small vestiges of the original design by Scott Nicely. The wheat icon for realism set the tone for the other icons we would create to represent the four different styles of art.
His original wire frames were also largely respected as I went in to clean everything up and create my art deco inspired UI.
His original wire frames were also largely respected as I went in to clean everything up and create my art deco inspired UI.
All of the paintings in this game were procured from various art museums in the United States (The J. Paul Getty Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago). They were carefully cropped to retain as much of the original intent as possible. All cards cite the artist, title, year of completion, and the museum of origin.
This game would not have been possible without the generous trend in museums in the United states of releasing high resolution scans under the Creative Commons for public and professional use. The subject of art history is important to both me and Josh and to honor this, each piece is fully credited and cited on the cards so players can see the originals in their home galleries.
For more information, you can visit AEG's website for the game at https://www.alderac.com/atelier/
For more information, you can visit AEG's website for the game at https://www.alderac.com/atelier/
