Week 1: Retro Gaming
Since making a comeback a couple of years ago, retro graphic design is as popular as ever. The trend not only inspires the world of graphic design, but interior, industrial, and social design too. You may have seen some major rebrands over the last couple of years with the likes of Gucci, Burger King and Burberry revamping their visual identities with nostalgic elements.
The c3 design team decided to look specifically at retro gaming design because of the current popularity of gaming-related campaigns. We have collated our favourite retro gaming designs to get inspired by, as well as the artists, and why we like them.
Jane Seymour: Head of Design
Artist: Poposhki
Isometric gaming illustration, 90s style
I love this retro isometric design by Mexican illustrator Poposhki. Homing in specifically on 90s-inspired design, this use of vibrant block colour and heavy shadowing creates an eye-catching composition. The products chosen in the image adds to the nostalgia even further, making us reminisce on the gaming and digital classics.
Nuno Vidal: Junior Digital Designer
Artist: @_quesa__
3D retro-gaming style asset (in video format)
Apart from how cool and retro this feels, these kind of assets are made in a retro-style ‘console’(PicoCAD), and that is just so meta! It inspires me to explore other tools (even if they are not the industry standard) and make low-poly in a playful way. We could use this style on retro/nostalgia gamer-themed assets that are animated.
Oliver Johnson: Junior Digital Designer
Artist: Storm Designs
‘Retro Gaming Poster’ : Made with Photoshop
For our gaming themed inspiration this week, I chose this work by Storm Designs. The retrowave style uses shades of pink and purple, combined with geometric patterns as a throwback to old 80s video game arcades. The fonts used also give a pixelated effect similar to old video games, along with simple shapes and lines in the background which could be straight out of an old arcade machine. To top it off, the main element on the page has a worn effect, which reminds us of pulling old VHS tapes or game cartridges out of their boxes.
Josh Kerr: Junior Digital Designer
Artist: Vik Kainth
GAME OVER
Vik Kainth is an illustrator based in London. His eye-catching recreation of a vintage arcade collates everything any avid lover of retro games will remember. From the distinct, poorly designed carpet to the classic bubblegum machine, Kainth has really gone into the fine details with this design. The pallet features a collection of vibrant, neon colours which were all widely associated with arcades of this generation, boasting some of the most iconic retro video games in history.
Keep an eye out on our social media and blog, as we’ll be doing these weekly, where we find different design inspiration each week.
