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 Rexxana concept, one of the core challenges was visualising how this creature could function as an engineered laborer… not just anatomically, but behaviorally. The brief emphasised toughness and agility, as well as the ability to manipulate tools, but we didn’t want to fall back on a stereotypical multi-armed creature.
I explored a range of quick sketch variations, pushing ideas around limb structure and joint articulation before landing on a form that felt both strange and plausible. One structural idea I leaned into was giving the forearms an unusual splitting configuration, so that a pair of elbows could essentially yield four functional forearm segments. It’s subtle and a bit odd, but still feels like something that could exist within the bioengineered logic of Exodus.
To shape the creature’s presence, I pulled references from animals that conveyed both resilience and dexterity. Bonobos informed some of the posture and agility, elephant skin suggested a sense of toughness, and even meerkats helped guide the expression and mood. The result kept a humanoid base while being strongly influenced by animal characteristics.
“Standing at an impressive six and a half feet tall, with arms outstretching their legs, the Rexxana were engineered as quintessential futuristic construction laborers… a remarkable fusion of organic form and mechanical function that blurs the boundary between consciousness and machinery.”
— From Exodus
This concept was a nice balance between anatomical exploration and staying grounded in the narrative role of the species.
If you’re interested in learning more about my workflow and creature design process, check out The Extra Mile.
