Defining the visual identity, atmosphere, and artistic rules of a game world
Client: Dr.Cat Labs
Project: Roguelike video game
My Role: Art Director — Environments
Lotus is a roguelike video game developed with a strong focus on atmosphere, visual identity, and replayability.
My role on the project was Art Direction for the environments: defining the artistic vision, visual language, and stylistic coherence that guided the production of all locations, props, and architectural elements throughout the game.
Responsibilities included:
- Defining the overall visual identity of the world of Lotus
- Establishing mood, color palettes, and lighting principles
- Designing the visual logic behind architectural progression and spaces
- Creating style guides, moodboards, and key artworks to align the environment team
- Directing the design of hero locations and signature environments
- Ensuring visual coherence between gameplay readability and cinematic atmosphere
A key aspect of the art direction was the definition of a visual hierarchy across the game world.
Environments were designed to communicate progression through contrast:
- Lower areas are simple, worn, dark, and utilitarian
- Higher areas become more ornate, refined, and visually complex
This vertical progression visually supports narrative tension, player advancement, and emotional pacing, reinforcing the sense of ascent both physically and symbolically.
The environments of Lotus were developed through a layered visual development process:
- Early mood key art to define atmosphere and emotional tone
- Color and lighting studies to establish consistency across spaces
- Modular architecture concepts aligned with gameplay requirements
- Hero props and focal elements designed to anchor key locations
- Style guidelines used to support production and consistency
Every environment was conceived not as an isolated space, but as part of a coherent visual system.
While environment art focuses on the creation of individual assets and scenes, my contribution to Lotus was centered on art direction.
The work was not limited to producing environments, but to defining the visual rules that allowed multiple artists and assets to feel part of the same world.
This includes style definition, visual storytelling, spatial logic, and the supervision of how aesthetics serve both gameplay and narrative.
A curated selection of key artworks, mood pieces, and environment designs developed as part of the Art Direction for Lotus can be explored here:
The work on Lotus represents my approach to Art Direction: combining strong visual identity, production-awareness, and narrative intent to create worlds that are both expressive and functional.
This project naturally extends my experience in directing environments for large-scale productions, such as the Bonelli Animated Brand Logo, where visual coherence and stylistic clarity were equally critical.