Pablander
I worked as a concept artist with Archetype Entertainment on Exodus, designing creatures, characters, and other bits for the game. Working closely with Art Director Jeremy Cook, I explored visual ideas guided by strong world building and clear artistic direction, while still having plenty of room to experiment. A particularly inspiring part of the process was receiving short descriptive excerpts from Peter F Hamilton, which provided a rich narrative foundation for imagining the beings that inhabit this universe. It was a deeply creative experience where storytelling and design went hand in hand.
For the Holosiem, I eventually leaned into a quadruped structure after revisiting a part of the brief that described them as custodians and protectors of information. That direction felt more appropriate… almost like a subtle nod to the idea of a guardian dog. I kept the oddness of the creature and pushed the organic growths further to reinforce the idea that their anatomy is being continuously shaped by the burden of stored knowledge.
What I kept coming back to was the thought that the Holosiem processes and stores so much data that its body evolves more slowly than the information itself. Over time, the data begins to shape the anatomy. Their form doesn’t really account for aesthetics… only raw function. Information is effectively encoded into living tissue, directly into cells, and that starts to dictate how the body grows.
“They’ve been watching us. Cataloging our secrets. For millennia… These beings aren’t just reading our data. Cell by cell, they’re becoming our data… living repositories of everything we thought was secure.”
— From Exodus
Initially, my instinct was to design a strangely humanoid creature covered in irregular growths. The idea was that the high-tech aspect wouldn’t be obvious at all. Instead, all the information this being carries would be deeply integrated into the organic matter of its body.
Here’s a turnatble of the sketch I eventually pushed to the final images:
If you’re interested in learning more about my workflow and creature design process, check out The Extra Mile.
