Fiji Boat Builders

Case Study

Illustration

Illustrations commissioned by SPACE – Markenfilm Crossing, for their educational game and application project with Humboldt Forum in Berlin.

Overview

This project was developed to complement the Forum’s exhibition about the culture, and production process of the traditional Fiji boats “Druas”. The game was created specifically for children and young adolescents to learn about the process of making a traditional boat in an interactive way.

In the game, the user follows a character who tells the story of the boat builders. He explains the process and illustrates the various steps of boat construction. The character also instructs users on how to interact with the game and what they must do in order to construct a boat. These tasks entail building the various parts of the boat using various game interactions. Finally, the user understands the entire procedure and creates a new Drua (a traditional Fiji boat).

The interactions and storytelling were designed for children and young adults. The primary goal is to educate these young users on the process and culture. To accomplish this, the game employs simple language and interactions to keep it broad and accessible.

I was tasked with assisting the agency in creating the in-game illustrations, characters, and animated components based on a storyboard and interactions designed by them. We created a clean, vibrant, and fun style that is appealing to the target age group while also remaining true to the source material.

Style frames

To establish the illustration style, I prepared a series of style frames that explored the character design and environment. These were fine-tuned to the final look, as seen below, with the help of the agency and client feedback.

In-game illustrations

We began creating all of the different game sets, characters, and necessary elements once the style was approved. These were based on the agency’s storyboard, which had already planned out all of the interactions and game procedures. Some of the scenes that were created are shown below.

Fiji Boat Builders Workers Cutting Trees

Fiji Boat Builders Workers Building Windbreaker

Fiji Boat Builders Workers Preparing Sails

Conclusion

It was a pleasure to develop this project and support SPACE – Markenfilm Crossing GmbH in creating this fun and educative project.

Special thanks to Malte Stehr (Project Manager Interactive Media) and Jan Wirth (Art Director – Interactive) for the commission and great collaboration.