SOFTWARES USED

TVPaint

Adobe Photoshop

Unity

Song Birds is a 2D mobile rhythm game starring the four cheerful tropical birds Chico, Guava, Loki and Bolo. After a long winter, they are craving for snacks. Within our game, you can help feeding the birds: tap on the rhythm as the fruit falls from the trees. More information can be found at the store page.

The game was made within 6 weeks by a team of 4 during the Game Design & Development Minor at Hogeschool Rotterdam. I was responsible for all the visual elements within the game.

SONG BIRDS

Character design | background design | concept art
animation | UI design | Font design

CHICKEN SALAD STUDIO

Character designs

Chico

Guava

Loki

Bolo

Our concept revolves around four tropical birds as main characters. I have made several sketches and design tests of possible bird characters, from which we decided what our final birds were going to look like. The bird designs are imaginary mixed with elements from real birds.

Within an early stage of the project, we had decided that we wanted to make use of pixel art for our game. I didn’t have much experience with making pixel art, but it was fun to try it out. While establishing the style, I experimented with outlines, shadows, pixel size and colours. We ended up picking a bright colour palette to give the game a cheerful atmosphere. We used a pixel size big enough to emphasize the visual quality of the pixels, but small enough to show the right amount of detail. We also decided that we wanted an outline surrounding the birds and other important assets, to make them clearly visible for the player.

Animation

The birds needed to have four particular animated states, of which I gave every bird their own unique version. I wanted them to be vivid and show their distinct personalities within their movements; for example, the goofy bird Chico has brief, jerky motions while the hyperactive Loki is swift and ever-moving. Next to that, I wanted to lay emphasis on the notable parts of their designs. For example, Bolo shakes the long feathers on his head, while Chico makes use of his long neck. Some animations are based on actual iconic bird movements, as Guava moving his crest like a cockatoo, while others are unrealistic for comical effect, like headbanging Bolo.

Chico

Guava

Loki

Bolo

Backgrounds

I have created several backgrounds that could be used within the game levels and menu screens.

Fruits

Within the game, the birds sit next to each other on a branch and catch fruit falling from the sky on the rhythm of the music. I made several types of every bird's fruit and tried out a couple of combinations. In the end, we chose a selection we thought was clear and fitting.

User-Interface

I made the UI of the game. For this, I made various mock-ups to test out multiple possibilities for the design of the user-interface.

Mock-ups pause menu

Mock-ups Level menu

We chose to include the level menu design with the window made out of branches in the game, to give the player a peek into the level to spark their curiosity.

Mock-ups in-game UI

We chose to have three small red birds to indicate the amount of lives you still have left, reflecting the cute and playful identity of the game.

Mock-ups homescreen

App icon tests

We chose the last one.

Splash screen

Artwork that could be used as a splash screen and for marketing purposes.

Accessories

I designed multiple accessories for the birds to wear. These can be bought within the in-game store in exchange for the points you gain during playing.