JSMathieu | Salvador's Deli

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Character Design / Salvador's Deli

Illustration of four versions of the same male character standing side by side

Progression of five illustrations depicting the development stages of a male character

Illustration inspired by Salvador Dalí's The Burning Giraffe

This project was created in the context of an artistic direction class at university.

For this assignment, small groups of four individuals were tasked with creating and presenting a game design document centered around art style and thematic.

The team imagined a game based on a pun on Salvador Dalí's name: Salvador's Deli.

From there, we ideated on how to bring the characteristic surrealism of his art to the video game world.

The premise saw our main character, the run-of-the-mill owner of a local delicatessen ironically named Salvador, fight in the revolution against an authoritarian government led by Salvador Dalí.

While we collaborated on determining the wider aspects of the project, I focused on creating the main character.

Being an ordinary man with a passion for food but hard-working, I imagined he would have a stout physique.

As a new member of the revolution, he would have to fight with objects of his day-to-day life as impromptu weapons — from a butcher's knife to a baseball bat.

In addition, I worked on a boss fight and arena greatly inspired by Salvador Dalí's The Burning Giraffe.

The design brings the imposing figure from the painting to life by ripping it from its supports.