Here Comes Niko!
Timeline
10 weeks
Year
2023
Role
Lead Designer
Disciplines
Art Direction
Book Design
Packaging
Web Design
Social Media Content
Here Comes Niko! holds a very special place in my heart for being the first Collector’s Edition I have worked on, but also for its story and for working hand-to-hand with the game’s artist Clear Eclair; a process I loved very much. I was the Lead Designer on all of the items present in the standard limited print physical release and the Friend’s Book included in the CE. While I helped with the design of all the other items in the CE, they were led-designed by Stu Townsend, SRG’s Creative Director, while also working with Clear Eclair.
Friend's Book for a professional friend
Centred around Niko, the non-binary protagonist is on their quest into becoming a professional friend. This led to the idea of a Finnish’s elementary school tradition, a Friend’s Book - a book where one notes information about their friends and uses it as an ice breaker to meet them / others. After gathering a bunch of Finnish Friend’s Books and information from Finnish people, I sketched the first book prototype which was later presented to Stu and Clear.
During the design development of all items I worked very closely with Clear to incorporate the game’s art direction and Clear’s artstyle as much as possible. This would include bi-weekly meetings, email catch-ups and changing timelines according to one’s availability and item urgency to enter production. For the Friend’s Book, the themes had been agreed to fit with the game’s universe, I took care of the design and layout, and Clear would bring their final polish and personalized illustrations.
HCN Switch Physical sold +3500 limited printed edition copies and was one of Super Rare Games’ highest engagements on social media in 2023. Its release consisted of the design for the Title Sheet, Switch Cartdrige, the 20-page accompanying Manual, Stickers, Trading Cards, CE Friends’ Book, Sticker Sheets, Store Assets, Social media content, Teaser and Store Page: a led-designed blend of HCN’s artstyle, while remaining SRG’s branding.
