

HOGmented Podcast Episode 3 - Arek Tomaszewski, Art Director
Being an Art Director takes a whole lot of knowledge, experience and taste. Being a good one, means you also have to be a good manager. Shaping up the visual identity of a game like Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is, after all, not a small feat. Arek Tomaszewski, Art Director of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, takes us behind the scenes of his journey into the role and gives us a closer look at what it really means to lead the artistic vision of a game. Join us for a conversation about visual storytelling, creative challenges and Lara Croft’s iconic look and wit. There’s many layers that go into creating the world of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis. We hope we touched on all the most interesting ones, and then some. ---- HOGmented is a podcast for anyone curious about how games are made and what it’s like to craft them here at Flying Wild Hog. We’re a game development studio powered by talent from around the world - different skills, different stories, one shared goal: creating games players love. This is where you’ll meet the people behind it all: passionate, talented, smart, and just the right amount of wild. They’re the ones who make this studio such a special place to build games. We’re proud of who we are, and we’d love to show you why. ---- CHAPTERS: 00:00:04 - Welcome Arek Tomaszewski 00:01:02 - Espresso 00:03:42 - Becoming a gamedev 00:05:45 - Characters and Animations 00:06:32 - Managing the Art Team and becoming Art Director 00:10:55 - Art Director’s everyday work 00:12:56 - What makes a great Artist? 00:15:05 - What makes a great Art Director? 00:16:55 - Art Direction from scratch 00:21:54 - Creating worlds that are believable 00:25:48 - When is art done? 00:26:58 - Reimagining the emotions 00:29:40 - Tomb Raider’s iconic cog puzzle 00:31:06 - New Lara and working with Crystal Dynamics 00:32:38 - Arek’s appreciation and anticipation of fans’ reactions 00:35:00 - Creating worlds that are immersive 00:36:25 - Tomb Raider’s character creation pipeline 00:39:23 - Flying Wild Hog’s wonderful (art) team 00:43:19 - Creative friction 00:46:37 - Takeaways from the project and its devteam 00:48:16 - Thanks and goodbyes
