Artist Statement:
In a fictional world where you and your pooch are seeking a meaningful relationship with another caring dog owner, this dating simulator requires you not only to woo your date, but impress their canine best friend as well. This project explores diverse character designs including factors like social class, culture, sexual orientation, and gender identity. This wide variety allows the audience to be exposed to lifestyles they may not know much about, or to connect with the characters they normally wouldn’t see represented in media.
I hope to use distinct character design to push the boundaries of who and what is accepted in popular media, and nothing brings people together like the love we share for our pets.
Project Objective:
To explore character and game development for this project, I decided to design four dog owners that you could pursue in this game. In addition to this I made small character sheets of each of them as well as a home screen mockup of what the game would look like on your PC/Console screen.
These were my intial sketches/designs of the characters I wanted to create. My intention was to create characters that I felt I didn't see represented in video games very often. This included biracial, trans, and mentally unwell people. I tried my best to reference people in my life and the real issues they face.
Next, I attempted to draw one of the characters in a cartoony/anime inspired style. After finishing this character sheet, I realized that the art style wasn't matching the mood of the game. It seems too stiff and serious compared to the concept of Date By Dog, so I decided to change art direction towards something more simple and fun.
After creating the characters in a style that I felt matched the mood of my game concept better, I made a mockup home screen for the game. Ultimately, the screen would be filled up with more characters that you could pursue, but for a beginning concept I was happy to show off my overall playful branding for this project.
