Hey:

Ideas come from anywhere. Their self-initiated projects don’t really start with an initial brief* but the working process is the same.The designers involved all show a selection if ideas or sketches which are brought together, preferred approaches are selected and then developed further to create the projects.

Bompass & Parr:

Good to look through a wide variety of books, etc. Visualise whichever way you’re best at; written outline, sketches, images, prototypes, whatever lets you get the idea across.

Werkflow:

Work differently to the rest maybe due to their field. It sounds more like prototypes are used to develop an idea followed by a script for the game and a design ‘bible’ as a set of guidelines. The idea further develops from there and is passed to whichever developer has the best knowledge of the platform needed to produce this first step.

Basic methods are the same; bouncing the initial ideas around, sketches and scribbles, working things out on screen and scouring through books for references. I tend to have a set of books where the favourite keeps changing over.

I take a lot of different approaches to getting a project going depending on the job. Logos for instance, I find sharing a scrapbook-type collection of images and examples really useful to get the style the client is thinking about out of them, or to guide them if their mind’s a blank. Most other ideas come from looking around, there’s that much stuff in the studio here that there’s nearly always a starting point lying around.

I carry a notebook whenever I can to jot or scribble things down. Smartphones are a godsend, I always photograph the things I see when I see them.

I miss bouncing ideas around to develop them further now that I work mostly on my own, it’s a good way to find that missing link to getting a concept going. Now I tend to leave something overnight and see if I still like it in the morning.

Hey:

Design from the 60’s and 70’s, designs with a good principal are preferred starting points. Look for timeless design reference, avoid current trends so the outcome is more universal and can be understood by anyone.

Frost:

Inspired by the surroundings, be aware of them – listen – look – question. Listen to other people’s problems or things you see which you feel are wrong and think how you could fix them. Immerse yourself. A creative environment brings energy from the projects and the people involved, the amount and the people involved are inspiring.

Bompass & Parr:

Collect images and references as you go along. Drill the project down to two words, eg. lava barbecue, see what it brings out. They contact the people they admire and suggest collaborations, even a negative response can be positive; at least they’ve taken the time to respond.
When contacting someone, talk about what’s interesting to them, not just what you’d like to get out of it.

Werkflow:

Inspirations come from cinema and music, soundtracks to their games are best to come from the people who were around at the time the game is set. Look to other games for references; their gameplay, their scenarios.

I collect things which stand out; toys, books, scraps of paper, found items which just look right. Something comes from those from time to time. Found alphabets are a favourite, letters painted on a wall or carved into the beams on the old buildings around town, I try to think what the rest of the alphabet would look like, or at least the words for the cover I’m working on.

References come from anywhere – sooner or later you spot something. I might decide at the start of a project whether I’m going for imaged based or type based answer.

I try and introduce tension into a layout when I can get away with it; make something look almost out of place or use colours which don’t quite go together.