What is behind our key art ?
What is a key art in video games?
Key art, also known as key visual is the artwork which is repeated across media such as posters, print, television and digital advertisements, streaming or download thumbnails, and game or film DVD/Blu-Ray box covers.
Resistance Games, the development studio of Great Houses of Calderia, did a brainstorming to determine the scene that would represent the game. During this reflexion session, many words came out: Power, Wealth, Generations, Nobility... The team started to do some research to create a visual that would embody these strong elements.
Resistance Games presented a first idea that Firesquid, the publisher, really liked. You probably have guessed by then...
As you may have recognized, there is a huge reference in the Great Houses of Calderia key art. You might know the original painting, or have seen the same disposition in ads or reinterpretations.
The main reference is indeed: The Last Supper (1495-1498) by Leonardo Da Vinci
The idea was validated and we looked for an artist to help us creating the key art. After some research, we found the perfect match for our game: Scott Pellico.
His principal goal was to rethink The Last Supper to make it medieval and Renaissance style. We wanted less characters to enable fluidity in the reading.
Scott created this first background with silhouettes.
A Steam event serie will be shared soon to also show you the characters creation process.
Then, we had to think about a background that would fit the spirit of the game. We made a few tries before selecting the official one.
A first iteration was made with opened windows to show the colorful lands of Calderia.
We felt that the front scene was overshadowed by the background. It was a bit too bright for our Renaissance-themed game. Plus, if we added the logo, it would have been faded by the light colors of the sky. Scott made another iteration but indoors.
After a few retakes, here is the final asset you all know:
How do you like the final key art? Have you guessed the references used for the characters?
To be part of the development process of Great Houses of Calderia, join us on Discord!
Great Houses of Calderia Discord: https://discord.gg/vsxD6n8P8J
- Great Houses of Calderia Team -