23. Rogier Van De Beek, Lead Concept Artist, designs iconic Illuvials with modern tech and a 90’s flair

Rogier Van De Beek has a high endurance for the supercharged production schedule at Illuvium. 12 hour days are common, but this is no big deal for Rogier. Day in and day out, Rogier’s illustrations bring life to the characters. Not only their physical features, but the visible cues of their personalities, their soulfulness or fearsomeness or even more subtle, complex traits. His concept art is key to the articulation of the world of Illuvium.

“I think the eventual look of the game will be impressive to the industry,” Rogier says. “It will have a very unique blend of stylization and realism at the same time. We have a game that is visually appealing to people who grew up in the 90’s and to people who are gamers now. We use today’s tech and graphical power to bring a world to life that would’ve also perfectly fit in a 90’s cartoon. It will draw people into a world of characters with strong personalities that you bond with, while also being an adventure in a fantastical world. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Over the past decade, Rogier has been a freelance concept artist and illustrator with work spanning print, film, toys, theme parks, and games. Known in the world of tabletop RPGs, Rogier worked at Paizo as a character designer for more than six years. An entrepreneur and consultant, he also works with companies to create new products, and started a gaming accessories and merchandising company. His experience in creating unique characters and giving them a personality is his key skill set for Illuvium, where he develops characters, ideas, and overall 2D graphics as the Lead Concept Artist.

Rogier makes sure conceptualization and 2D graphics stay on-concept, on point in style, and remains consistent (a form of quality control). He works closely with the Art Director and Lead Game Designer. “They sign off on ideas and looks that I, or we as the concept artists, might come up with. This can be in terms of characters, their abilities, or how a certain terrain could look.”

His creative process involves finding references, sketching, watching videos, and having discussions with other team members. Synthesizing of all of that information, Rogier then sets out to capture the elusive qualities of each Illuvial that gives them their charisma — including small details and clues that hint strongly at traits that may not even demonstrate themselves in the gameplay, but characterizes that Illuvial visually.

“The biggest thing about creating the characters is their likeability, uniqueness, and if they will be recognizable,” Rogier explains. “Every single one of them has to be their own distinct character, even if they appear in the same line, they have different personalities from stage to stage. They need to eventually be as easy for people to identify and have an instant feel for, as if they were a Pikachu, Charmander, Charizard… Giving that recognizable personality to a character is the challenge that makes my work so satisfying when we hone in on it and deliver a fully-realized character.”

Because of Illuvium’s unique structure as a DAO, Rogier is able to branch out into other areas of production and consult on how his work will be interpreted by other core contributors. “This would be the first time for me where I work so closely to the Art Director and other department leads on a project this size,” Rogier explains. “I’m able to be involved and have a say in almost every stage of the realization of a character. Meaning I get to see the first blockouts of a 3D model, the texturing, the animation and eventually the VFX. This means that almost every character eventually comes out exactly to how I/our team concepted it. The uniqueness of this project for me, is that so far we’ve been able to stay so close to the concepts.. I’ve not had that happen on any project in the last 10 years!”

Beyond that more intimate knowledge of how his work carries through the production line through other departments, Rogier, who has been in the crypto space since 2017 and is familiar with DAOs, thinks the DAO structure is a cool way to create a game. “I was not nervous. I’d read up on DAOs and this is how work will evolve in the future. At Illuvium specifically, we have a lot of fun! The people are very nice and very skilled. We have some crazy talented people in the art department that are creating all-new workflows in UE that come half from film and half from Star Trek. There is a sense of community within the team (for me anyway) which is refreshing after 10 years of freelancing.”

Rogier’s concept art for the game, and Cosplay Promo Series:

12 hour work days are not uncommon, but fortunately, the flow state isn’t uncommon either. Though it depends a bit on the task at hand. “If I have to paint something in full detail, like I did for the promo NFT’s, then all I really need is time,” Rogier says. “To crank that out quickly, I just need to sit undisturbed with some music on and grind away. On the other hand, when I’m concepting characters it’s a much more active process which usually involves a lot of sketching, and research and trying out ideas and getting opinions, then revising extensively. Overall I’m always very aware of my time and consciously break up my work days in small chunks. That way I can just keep going all day and night.”

Even with all day, all night sessions, Rogier always makes time to walk Yuna, his Swiss white shepherd. Almost 6 years old, loyal, and always at his side. “When I’m working she’s always either under my desk, or tangled up around my chair.”

Walking Yuna is a good reset, and a centering activity to reinvigorate him for the next long stretch of labor. “I walk Yuna… A lot,” Rogier smiles. “Anyone in this team who works with me daily will have to have gotten this message from me at some time during the project ‘I’m out walking my dog’. While the dog is having fun I usually go out and think about ‘work’ or just not think about it and clear my mind. Whatever is necessary.” With 12 hour work days, it’s nice for Rogier to have a devoted 24/7 companion to help him cope. In Illuvium, you will have a companion too. A trusty Polymorphic Subordinate Drone. One model is m0z4rt, whom Rogier designed.

“The ideal sidekick for any journey will be loyal, constant, and friendly,” Rogier explains. “That’s what m0z4rt will be for everyone who plays the game. It will be loyal to you, and you will be loyal to it too.” He pats Yuna on the head. “It’s always best to have a companion, when you’re on a big adventure.”

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