Our studio was asked to create the art concept for an arcade video game about mobsters in 1930s New York. Creating a visual style concept at this point meant not creating concept art and designing the game itself. We needed to focus on a completely essential point. The overall look of the game is created using carefully selected stylistic elements that emphasize the character of the theme, but in an exaggerated way.
The main task was to capture the typical film noir atmosphere. Given the context, we chose a cartoon stylization. We tried to enrich it with color accents (warm light, police sirens and also GUI elements).
1. Noir inspiration in films from the 1930s
2. Detective/Mafia atmosphere
3. Limited color palette, mostly monochromatic scheme with red and yellow accents
4. Cartoon design
5. Caricatured stylization of characters and also caricature of their “rough” appearance
6. Use of classic noir silhouettes
7. “Dirty” elements for insertion
8. Noise element emphasizing the old film effect and roughness
