What’s up, doc?
Our next Meet the Team post is here! Meet Guilherme, the man that inspired none other than Dread Pirate Penelope’s crab pet!
Meet our Art Director, Guilherme
So what’s your role inside the team?
As the Art Director my role is to help the Art team to deliver high-quality art assets into the game: new characters, new battlegrounds, skill icons, art for new features like PVP Arena and Endurance Tower, and alike.
Among everything, my main goal is to make sure we deliver amazing new characters that are faithful to the unforgettable classic Looney Tunes spirit. A lot of effort is put in by the team and I’m always so impressed how they raise the standards for each new toon. The team works in a synergetic way where everybody helps each other so the DNA of every artist is embedded in the results.
I follow the whole creation process for every character, from the initial ideation with Game Designers (like Leopold and Han Sel) and our IP consultant Dave, passing through the initial concepts and storyboards, 3D modeling, animations, and VFX, to the implementation of the toons in the game engine and playtesting.
My background is concept art and illustration, so that’s the part of the process that I’m more involved in. I always loved to stay close to the initial phases of the creative process where the first ideas are sparkling out.
What is it that you love about the game and the franchise:
I always loved Looney Tunes and the cartoons had a huge impact on me when I was a kid, so working with this franchise is the dream of 10-year-old Guilherme coming true. At that time I couldn’t even imagine drawing Looney Tunes for a living.
In Brazil, we didn’t have access to every LT cartoon, so I got to know most of the IP working on this project, and that’s definitely been one of the best parts of the development process because I must have watched probably 90% of all Looney Tunes cartoons ever made.
What are you currently working on?
We are working on several new characters and it’s amazing to follow their development and see them coming to life. We usually work on 12 characters at the same time, planning 3 months ahead for each.
We are also cooking some… surprising Christmas Take Over art inside the game – something players have never seen before. And planning for 2021: many interesting initiatives to enhance the art in-game, and more comics and lore to come with newly released characters.
If you were a toon, Who would you be and why?
Well, with tremendous joy I can say that I actually AM a toon!
My colleagues James and Dave had the kind gesture of honoring me, putting my name on the Dread Pirate Penelope’s crab pet. Can you believe that?
I kinda became a Looney Tunes! Achievement unlocked!
What are your favorite toons in the game:
I love working with these characters, both classic and brand new originals. Each character has its own way to think and behave, and their personalities are always so strong and funny. I get involved on very personal levels with most of them, and every month I have a couple of new favorite characters at least.
The art team does amazing things with the limitations that we have, and my expectations are always blown away. Every other week I print my favorite new characters and hang them on the wall of my home office.
Well, my all times favorite will always be Gui the crab, of course!
Besides him, right now my favorites are Evil Granny, EGGH34D, and two characters that I can’t talk about at the moment…
What are your favorite Team Compositions?
I have such a close relationship with all the toons that my favorite team always vary according to the toons that I most enjoyed working on, or that I most like the final result.
I’m also an AoE kinda guy so let’s go with Yosemite Merlin, Star Marvin Pharaoh, Evil Granny and Pepe Le Bard.
Tell us about some Funny/”oh-noes” development moments that you remember:
In these pandemic times, as everybody is working home office, we have a lot of video meetings during the week and some of them are with the whole art team – like the brainstorming we do for every new character, to come up with ideas for all the toons’ animations and behavior inside the game.
On these moments, the creation of memes with screenshots of people talking and reacting happens a lot, providing us with very funny moments in the company chat…
Any other curious thing you want to tell the community – this is your moment to shine!
It’s amazing to work on a project that has such a supportive and engaged community.
I’m always listening to the community on every social media. I don’t interact much, but I’m always attentive, and I see the love many players give us the art team with warm words of excitement for the new toons we release.
Nothing would be possible without an amazing team. I am humbled to work with so many talented artists that are as engaged as I am to work in this project with these characters. The team inspires me every day and they are one of the main reasons I’m so happy in my job.
JOIN THE GANG IN DISCORD!
Didn’t you know, bub? The Looney Tunes World of Mayhem Discord server is the place to be! Join us there to meet other Maestros of Mayhem, discuss strategies and share your feedback with the game development team.
