Background Design: Bonzai & Ned

When 2A! was working on the Bonzai & Ned's Anthill Adventure game for Sifaka World, we had very specific layout to follow. The client wanted the game to be reminiscent of the classic Pac Man arcade game, where each level was a fixed background with interior paths that changed with the difficulty of each new level.



Here is my original sketch of the background with a nice picnic clearing and an anthill in the center. Jungle plants border and contain the playing area, with exits on each side that connect to one another. Part of the trick was keeping everything proportionate to the main characters of Bonzai and Ned, while allowing enough room for movement and interchangeable walls for the levels.



Above is the proposed color mockup for the background. We chose lush, bright colors very similar to the Jungle Floor background we did. We felt that cherry color scheme worked well with this game.



Here's the final background. When we delivered it we omitted the walls that are shown here so the programmers could use them as separate assets and create the various levels. I really am happy how this turned out as it feels very spacious and allows for lots of customization for harder levels.

Why not head over to www.sifakaworld.com and give it a try? Let me know what you think. ;)

Copyright © Sifaka Productions, LLC

HP Character Design!

Ha, ha! I recently found this little dude hiding in a remote corner of our archives and just had to pull him out. 2A! created this fun character design for HP way back in 2005. I believe he was printed up life-sized and used at various technology expos to help point people towards HP’s innovative new products.


Here’s a few more shots of the little guy posing with some HP products.



I love searching the archives and finding these little blasts from our past. Hope you like them too! ;)

Copyright © Hewlett-Packard Company

Monday Morning Motivators: Giant Robots!

The basic idea of Monday Morning Motivators is to pick a theme -- preferably something we normally wouldn't draw -- and spend the first hour of each week sketching. The sketches can be very loose or super tight, but the point is to work out the weekend stiffness and draw something new.

This week's theme is... GIANT ROBOTS!






Copyright © Two Animators! LLP

Fun Art Fridays: The Thundercats' Snarf

Welcome the Thundercat’s comical sidekick, Snarf!

Originally I was going to include Snarf with Lion-O -- considering he's technically Lion-O's protector -- but once I started sketching him I dug the pose so much I decided he could stand on his own. Plus, Snarf has become something of an icon to me… I mean, who hasn’t used his name as a phrase? “Snarf, Snarf!” I’d say I use it at least once daily. ;)

Snarf is part of a larger Thundercats team drawing I'm doing for fun. Figured I’d post each character as I finish, then the whole image once it's done. Be sure to also check out my takes on Lion-O, Panthro, and Cheetara if you haven’t already!

Until next time... "Thundercats HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Illustration © Joe Costantini

Character Design: Tui the Tortoise!

Here’s another cool character we designed for Sifaka World. His name is "Tui the Tortoise" and you can find him at the entrance to the Mystery Beach activity. I’m really happy with how he turned out and thought I'd share. Hope you like! ;)

Head over to www.sifakaworld.com to see Tui in action. You can also check out more Sifka World designs by following the links below.

Sifaka World Mascot
Sifaka World Mascot Part II
Ring Tailed Lemur
Sifaka World Albatross

Copyright © Sifaka Productions, LLC