A New Fresh Look for Our Menus’ Icons + A Little Bonus! (Patreon)

Hi there! It’s Chloe, here for today’s Patreon post. A few months ago, Alex tasked me with something I was not used to doing, but that I was game for: drawing custom icons for the game’s menus! So for this post, I will be showcasing the work that went into our revamp of the Build Mode menus and the Paramaker’s. This post is exclusive to Patreon, so please do not share it! Thank you! 

Rethinking The Menus’ Organization

One of the first things we had to do before I set off to create all the Build Mode and the PAM icons was to re-think how the game’s objects were currently organized. Was it easy for the players to find what they wanted? Were some objects not in the right categories? Could we simplify the way every item was classified?

Our old interface for the build mode catalog. Back when the chalet video, we didn’t have as many categories as we do now! The menus were cluttered with a lot of text, and that’s when we thought we needed some change.

While Sonia rethought how menus would work in the Paramaker, I focused on organising the Build Mode’s menus. Once that was done and we were satisfied, off I was to the drawing board!

Choosing Our Style For The Icons

Until now, we used icons from a website we were paying the rights for. However, it made it that sometimes, we couldn’t get a unified look for our different icons, since the icons on the website are done in many different styles and by different artists. We also needed some specific stuff, so we decided to start creating them in-house from now on. (Some icons that we didn’t make remain in the game, as placeholders for future icons, besides other reasons). 

Before starting production for these, I did a few tests to ensure the look we wanted for the icons. We wanted something simple and cute, and that was easily readable.

 These are the first tests I did for the style of the icons. 

I tried different brushes for different renders on the linework and also experimented with styles quickly. While some options were interesting, some didn’t work for the contexts the icons would be used in – 3D/isometric drawings work fine for furniture items, but not so much for the Paramaker!

 The next batch of test icons I did once we generally knew what we wanted.

Once we decided what we liked the best from the previous different tests, namely the sticker style, it was time to try illustrating a few icons for different Build Mode categories. At this stage, we were able to iron out some technical issues (such as the white lines all around the drawings!) and see what worked and didn’t work visually. Overall, we were happy with how these turned out, so I had to OK to move forward.

Creating Icons For The Build Mode And Paramaker

I decided on some details, like the width of the line work and the width of the stickers, before getting started! Since we were about to start the playtests for the Build Mode, I prioritised creating the icons for it. Overall, just for the Build Mode, I hashed out over 130 different illustrations.

We have everything covered with these! These are just for the Build Mode.

Here’s a closeup of a few of them. You can see a good variety: icons for specific furniture items, rooms, tools, paint, decor, etc!

Similarly, I created around 120 drawings for the Paramaker. Here are just a few!

This close-up view showcases a lot of different category types! Clothing, shoes, body pilosity, body types…

 This is what the icons look like in the Build Mode! I find them lighter on the eyes than the good old text menus we had before! Alex is the one who designed the interface around the icons I made!

 And here are the icons in the Paramaker menus! Alex made a quick version to resemble the Build Mode layout, but it is not the final look!

I look forward to creating more of the game’s icons! We also got to have people test out the new menus with the icons during our visit to Montreal Comic Con, and the feedback we got was very positive! I was happy to hear that our hard work had paid off.

A Little Bonus 

Quite unrelated to today’s topic of choice, I also wanted to show some of the fun things Sonia and I created during our hack week. For those unfamiliar with our previous editions, it is a week that the team dedicates to working on features that aren’t a priority, but that we personally want to add to the game.

Sonia and I ended up working on things that correlated a bit. And so, I present to thee, to conclude the week… the expanded Miki cinematic universe.

 Both Sonia and I ended up creating more Miki-related items; here’s the collection so far. As the one who created Miki on a whim and as a fun poster in the game, I am quite happy to see how it’s starting to evolve and become…canon to our lore.

I hope you all enjoyed this week’s post, with my off-topic bonus feature! Have a nice one!

Chloé (・ω<)