Isolating Game Elements: Doing the right thing in arts

It is very hard to talk about art. It is so wide and broad that is risky to explain part of a thing and forget to explain other. However, there is some simple rules that can keep us running on right track even when we don´t have under our control a subject so free and abstract as art. Once you have an idea on what your game will be about, as a game designer, take a note of all ideas, try to sketch some screens, things that you think might be nice to have in the game, desired interactions and then it would be smart to call your best friend and ask him what he has to say. This process is pretty similar to a brainstorm.

Discover what you like the most when you see a picture or something
else. When you know it, you will be able to expand your knowledge
on this subject and perhaps improve your design skills.

Origins

If you sketch things that you saw somewhere else, try to figure out its origins. If you write down anything that might help you in this tasks, also think of where it might come from. Then you are ready to go a little further. It is a very important activity from where you might find things that you really appreciate or, in that case, that you considered relevant. If perhaps you find out that Baroque style fits in what you intend to design, spend a little more time researching it and putting apart things that might be useful.

Don´t be affraid to take notes or sketch thing. It´s natural and
helps you to record insights at any time.

Adequate things

One gold rule at beginning of a design stage is: Find adequacy in everything you do. If perhaps your game is set in Baroque ages, try to stick to this period of time when you do your searches, select your charset and adornments, pay attention to some clothing rules. It is also a good start and makes you look an expert in this matter. If perhaps you intend to create the next Metal Gear, again, stick to militar and war patterns. Game is just a slice of reality, and it can be a good convincing start.

If you will work on a game project about Persia, it would be
wise to start looking around to find some Persia references.

It helps you to build a convincing design and don´t take
so much time to do.

Thinking over your sketches

Once you have in hands couple of sketches, writings and all results of your research, it is time to get them all and think over. It might sounds crazy but spending some time just watching sketches from your own might bring up new insights over it. Personally, I spend this time listening some music at a local coffee bar and just taking a look at them, browsing somewhere on the internet, drinking a little coffee. Just seeing where this activity might lead me. And bingo!, you find amazing things to complement your work.

Taking a break contemplating your sketches and notes helps
you to improve your concepts and get them sharp.

Pinterest, Google Images, Tumblr, Instagram, Youtube and Wikipedia offer a good companionship at this level of the process. You end up discovering new things, learning others and improving your project. These are just examples of where you can go while think over your project. There might be a couple of different address you can discover by yourself.

Creating game projects having relations among all your sketches and notes is a good step to have a consistent design. It gives you a steady environment where you can go beyond this starting point securely, try new things and go back if something weird just happens. At this stage, things that doesn´t match isn´t a good element, keep that in mind. Art itself has no boundaries so, we created fictional boundaries to ease our process. Few people start doing things amazingly coherent and cool. It is a exercise that people serious to getting into game design should do regularly, freely. ;-)

All characters and brands in this
article are properties of their
respective owners. This is a fictional
text and has nothing to do with any
official schedule neither implies
into anyone´s oppinion unless
expressed otherwise.