How It's Done — War Robots T-shirt

In our game War Robots, as is obvious from the name, robots play a central role. Each of them has a distinct visual design and personality, so we always emphasize this when creating merchandise. One day, we decided to design a T-shirt featuring a robot

The first step was to choose the candidates. This was not an easy task, considering we have more than 50 mechs in the game. After a lengthy discussion, we selected five robots: Kid, Mercury, Orochi, Fafnir, and Loki

Let's begin with Kid. Initially, we gathered some references to establish the color scheme and seek inspiration for composition. The concept was to create retro art or depict Kid as if it were playing with toys. Here's a small sketch illustrating the idea

Subsequently, our artist, Maria Kuznetsova, produced a few more detailed sketches. The first one drew inspiration from the works of Andrey Tkachenko. The second sketch presented two options: one with just Kid, and the other with toys surrounding the robot

In the end, we opted for the first sketch and developed a finished artwork based on it

Moving on to the second robot, Mercury. We believed that this mech's design perfectly complements a cartoony vibe and vibrant colors

Maria created two sketches for Mercury: one with a more distinct form and the other with a rock vibe. We ultimately chose the first one and decided to create it in two different color schemes

Mercury T-shirt design #1

Mercury T-shirt design #2

When it came to Orochi, our decision was to portray the robot in motion and incorporate simple geometric forms into the composition

For Orochi's design, we settled on the first sketch. The defining feature in this design is the shapes behind the robot. It not only allows us to apply a bright color for contrast but also provides a canvas for incorporating a gradient or other elements

And here's the final artwork

For Fafnir, we gathered references with a cyberpunk vibe. The artwork from Gurren Lagann anime caught our attention due to its composition, so we decided to incorporate it

In the end, we opted for the first sketch

The finished Fafnir artwork emphasizes simplicity to accentuate the composition with the pilot

Loki's design is highly textural, so we decided to stylize its upper part to create something unique

We had numerous initial sketches to choose from, and all of them were impressive, making the decision challenging. Ultimately, we settled on the "Scandinavian" theme (after all, it's Loki) from the first sketch

And here's the final version

In the end, we had six different art pieces for our T-shirt. The last step was to decide which one to print

This time, we chose the Loki design, and it turned out wonderfully.