Splatoon 3 artist discusses his work on the game and challenges
An interesting post previously went up on Nintendo’s recruitment website from an artist that worked on Splatoon 3. As part of this, we learn about the challenges of making illustrations and why it was far from a straightforward process.
The first takeaway is that the artist “needed to display a world that was rougher when compared to the past games” given the new setting of Splatsville. The initial difficulty came about as the artist “was focused a bit too much on drawing the action poses correctly, which resulted in them feeling too small and lacking energy.” He then turned to others on the team that were able to “maximize the charm of Splatoon 3” through his art. Ultimately it sounds like a rewarding job as the staffer was already a fan of the franchise and received positive feedback about his illustrations from around the world.
Below is our full translation of the piece:
The job of an illustrator at Nintendo is to convey the charm of characters such as Mario through illustration. The illustrations are of course used for things such as game boxes and advertisements, but also videos, magazines, social media, and decorations for events and stores. Among these uses, the illustrations for the game boxes are particularly important as they act as the face of the product and should convey the charm of the game and characters to immediately capture and excite the heart of the customer.
The Splatoon series is an action shooting game where you control human figures that can transform into mysterious squids. Splatoon 3 was the first game where I acted as the head of illustration. I had played Splatoon since I was a student so when I started working on it I was very excited. While keeping the dynamic movement of the characters and ink from the first two games, the third game takes place in a new environment; a chaotic city called Splatsville, which contrasts with the urban atmosphere of Splatoon 1 and Splatoon 2. With this, the illustrations also needed to display a world that was rougher when compared to the past games.
The work of making illustrations began about one year before the launch date. At the start I was fumbling around and in my first rough sketches I was focused a bit too much on drawing the action poses correctly, which resulted in them feeling too small and lacking energy. This meant I wasn’t able to convey what was needed for Splatoon 3. Since this job was my responsibility, for a while I struggled by myself, but was unable to fix the problem, so I turned to various other illustrators in the series, my experienced senpai, and the development staff to discuss the situation and receive advice.
One idea was that the pose should not be deliberate and fixed, but instead should be a slice within the middle of real action. Another good thought was to bring out a sense of perspective in the composition to create dynamicness. I was able to finish illustrations that conveyed the charm of the game world by advancing step by step while considering all of the opinions of those around me. Furthermore, by listening to the development staff’s thoughts and stories, I feel I was able to use my imagination in order to maximize the charm of Splatoon 3.
In order to maximize that charm, I really got stuck down in the small details. For example, using a lack of symmetry in expressions, such as just one corner of the mouth raising slightly to create a sense of mischievousness, the angle of a raised arm, the bend in a finger, the silhouette of individual strands of hair, with that I feel I could truly maximize and convey the charm of each character through the illustrations. And of course when we think of Splatoon we also need to think about displaying ink. Talking to the development staff they said ‘The ink mustn’t be too thin, or too thick, it should be the consistency of a thick yogurt,’ so I kept making adjustments to the quality, position, and splatter of the ink.
After such much trial and error when the illustrations that we produced were finally released to the world, there was a mix of happiness and nervousness about how they would be received. When I saw lots of comments on social media and heard players’ positive opinions, at that moment I was very happy and glad that I took on the job, especially when they noticed the small things I worked on.
From this experience I have learned that when I feel stuck or need a new perspective I can ask those around me for advice. Especially when I am lost, I now feel it is very important to not get stuck with only my own thoughts, and instead I should take many different ideas and opinions in order to broaden my view. Making something with a level of quality that I couldn’t make alone, by instead using the strengths of many people, is a true joy of my job.
Splatoon 3 is currently available on Nintendo Switch. A new entry in the series, Splatoon Raiders, is in the works for Nintendo Switch 2.
