Rise and Shine With The Sleeping Prince Game and Athom Studios
Athom Studios created the key art for Signal's new game, The Sleeping Prince, an updated take on "Sleeping Beauty" in which players use their fingertips to rouse Prince Perilous from his slumber, undoing a mysterious spell on Cloudreach kingdom. "I – and by extension our client, Tilting Point – wanted to work with someone who could nail not just the physical look of the characters, but the spirit and personality of the game," explained Dave Rogan, creative director of production company Nutmeg Post. "When we met Thomas [Bernos of Athom], we found someone who not only did everything well, but did it all in a way that could drop a few jaws. We'd use him again in a heartbeat."
Bernos first made images of the prince both awake and asleep on his throne set in front of a black background before moving on to the main visual. "I received written directions, which gave me room to create the expressions and poses," he said. "I was soon provided screenshots of the app, in order to base my detailed model on the low, poly characters." He initially drew 2D sketches and sought Nutmeg's input ahead of putting the components in 3ds Max, ZBrush, and then Photoshop. "There was a lot of good back and forth," he noted. "One of the challenges was integrating feedback as we went along, especially with so many characters" in the final scene.
The Sleeping Prince will soon be released Stateside and is already available for download in the Australia and New Zealand App Stores.
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Athom Studios Scores With Samsung Galaxy 11 Campaign
Athom Studios, under the direction of Thomas Bernos, created the spacesuits and dynamic poses for Samsung's newest Galaxy campaign – which has garnered the attention of The New York Times. "Samsung Electronics is taking, fittingly, a galactic approach, with an international marketing campaign that blends science fiction with soccer fandom," reported Andrew Adam Newman. "Earth is being invaded by aliens, and the only way to save the planet is to beat the invaders in a soccer match."
For the suits, R/GA approached Bernos with examples of the desired textures, colors, and cuts. "I had room for creation and our team designed several versions using detailed digital sketches," he explained. "For the action poses, R/GA again provided photo references, but for the walking poses, we looked to male runway models." Using ZBrush, Photoshop, and 3ds Max, he and his team made 65 images – five for each player.
The finishing touches included compositing Cristiano Ronaldo's and Lionel Messi's heads onto the suited-up figures. "That was reassuring, since we were working on headless bodies from the beginning," Bernos remarked. "It was a great feeling to find out it looked natural and realistic ... coming from the world of animation, we were used to doing more cartoon-like characters and this project helped us further develop our skills."