iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

The Puff Inn A fantasy inn located on an island where puffins outnumber humans #conceptart #environmentdesign

Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I based the environment on puffin island in Wales and Dartmoor national park. They have rocky terrain which is interesting for the viewer and add interest to the mood concept environment.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Final feedback: - Add rocks at the back - Harder shadow in the grass where the rock is - Do something in the empty space on the left, like a rocky area or something

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I am really proud of my live brief work I did during this brief and the ending outcome. It could use some more rendering, but that is something I can work on after the brief and when I have more skills.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I considered the surrounding area of the tavern by making it tall to stand out as the British Isle islands are pretty flat, and using orange in the design as a secondary colour which will make it stand out from the environment. I gave the building a deck to separate it from the environment.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I achieved a stylized art study for the building, which they wanted in the brief. The material definition I did was stylized, however I could've push it more. I could of exaggerated the shape language more to give the silhouette a more distinct shape that would make it stand out as a POI.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I did iterations, and showed the entire process on this development diary, which I annotated to give more context and explanations to my decisions and design, and why I have chosen certain things. I did call-outs of areas that need further information for the 3d artists to model and make.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

What did I do good? I stuck to the brief and it looks like a tavern you would find in a 3d open world fantasy RPG. I considered aspects of gameplay for the building, which would make the building enjoyable for the player and a place players want to explore.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I used the references they gave in the brief presentation for the basis of my tavern, to make sure its in line with what they want. I think my tavern is in line with what they want. Its a European-looking tavern which links to the references in the brief.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I would also do some environment studies using Mapcrunch as I haven't done environment in a while so I am a bit rusty. I referenced Victoria Hall's work for Sea of Thieves for my artbook, so it fits in with Flix's work and shows I have looked into the company, their employees and their work.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

If I was to do this brief again, I would look at rendering tutorials on websites like Artstation. As I am weak at texture/material rendering and I think it would really level up the building and make it more clear to the game artists what materials things are.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

The point of interest is the puffin shaped roof. The roof makes it stand out against the environment and can be easily be identified at a distance, especially the orange roof with contrasts with the green and blue of the surroundings.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

The area above the the eatery is where the save point is. This is where they can purchase a room and rest/save. Which was one of the gameplay features they said they wanted in the brief.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I added a eatery area as a lot of pubs have an outside area for people to chat and hang out, so would be a good place for players to hang out out and meet. The quest board is out front so players can easily pick up quests, and set off on their adventure.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Reflection Overall, I really like how my fantasy open-world RPG tavern turned out. The puffin-theme adds a fun and nautical theming to the tavern which makes it unique to other taverns. I considered gameplay while making the tavern, as shown in the quest hub, save point area and the eatery.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Final render This is the final render. The brief asked for a 3/4 and/or mood concept so I decided to combine the two.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Gameplay The brief wanted us to pay attention to game design and they wanted specific things in the design like a quest hub and save point. So I have labelled the different gameplay areas, so its easy to see I have considered and shown I played attention to the brief.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Turnarounds I did turnarounds to help the game artists model the environment. Getting different angles makes sure the game artists can model it accurately and they are asking less questions. I did them as flat colours as shading isn't really needed as could be confusing.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

The brief specified callouts, so I did a callout sheet. Callouts of the signs, the doors (they are obscured in the turnarounds). The food stand area and the entrance. I did those in grayscale as you can get the colours from the turnarounds, these are just a different angle to help the game artists.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

So, using some of the concepts I did before, I drew an image of the puffin to add to the sign. Curstaidh gave me this feedback, as pubs didn't have text back in medieval times as some people couldn't read, and it would be easy to identify. This would link to the brief as they want a point of view.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I started rendering out the 3/4 view/mood piece for the building using the 3d model. Feedback from Curstaidh, more polish especially on the lattice on the windows, make the wood on the deck two-toned to add more visual interest, addition of environment lighting and change the to add image of puffin.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Finally, I did some more iterations to really nail down the composition. He chose 13 and 14. I went with 13 as you could see more of the eatery, and I could also add more land behind the building to help incorporate it more into the landscape.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

He then chose 7 and 8. I went with 8 because you would be able to see the sign of the tavern on the other side. Joe also said to play around with lighting to make some interesting shapes. This was easy to do in 3d as I could just change the lights, which would've been harder if I was doing it in 2d

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

First he chose number 5 and to get closer to the camera at a human eye level. I didn't like how you could barely see the eating area, and as thats one of the main parts of the building, I did some more iterations making sure the eating area could be seen by the viewer.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Composition iterations. I was having a hard time figuring out the composition, but using Blender and a sketchfab model of a mountain really helped me get the composition down. Also feedback from Joe about the composition helped me a lot while I was struggling.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Make the tavern eye level in composition

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Feedback from lectuer: - More rendering or cell shading is required, as image still feels very 3d - Add more details/render the lattice window - two toned wood on deck - environmental lighting may help add further depth - change the sign from text to an image

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Did the lineart, which will help me with rendering the piece. Added the finished weathervane design as well. Added stone stairs as reference, as I was struggling with the stone stairs.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

I then did some signage iterations with different names. My favourite for the left is number 1 with the puffin feet of 5. On the right for the food stand, my favourite is number 1. The first circle one could be used for branding. Then I did different angles of the puffin, I still need to polish it.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

I then did a rough render to sketch out how I might like the render to turn out, and add extra details like foliage and puffins burrowing in the roof, both of which was suggested by my peers as a way to add some more interes to thw building and feel like it lives in its environment.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Then I did flat colours for the building over the 3d model, this was to check the colours were okay and make it easier to render

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Then I did some weathervane iterations as another point of interest for the building, and link in with the puffin theme

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

I used the secondary colour advice and played around with it with these iterations, which lead me to adding the orange to make it look like a puffin beak. And it would also stand out from the surrounding area and help the building be a point of interest.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Colour iterations based off of feedback from lectuer and peers. Which was to add a secondary colour, and my peers liked the darker roof and lighter colours for the main building. For the first iterations I chose number 4 because the values were readable and peers liked it the most

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

- long roof needs fixing as its flat, so water would pool (not good). Rooves that let the sun in have a way to have the water escape. This could be by adding a drain or/and making the roof curve so the water runs down - add another colour, maybe a cool tone/blue

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Feedback from lectuer - It is stylized enough (what I was worried about) - Liked the canopy area to the entrance - roof of balcony smaller, as roof is directing light to the balcony area

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Modelling more of the building in 3d. This is to help get all angles of the building, which the 3d modellers would need in order to model it for the game. And to easily make/add things to the building to make it more interesting or have a better design

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

My first ever #portfolioday ! Hello, I am Zoey and I am graduating this year from the concept art course at University of Staffordshire. I am hoping to get into freelancing or a junior role www.artstation.com/zoeyc1 Zoeycronin02@gmail.com

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Did a sketch of the front view while also making some changes to design to make it look better and add more interesting details. I will now block it out in 3d so I can do the render and turnarounds

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Some iterations on number 4. I added the puffin-shaped roof of the other sketches that I liked. I got rid of the stairs on the right to create asymmetry in the design. It would lead the player to the other side, which would have the desk to rent a room/save point. The board out front is for quests.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

I didn't really like any of the sketches using the 3d blockout, so I went back to the colour sketch to do some more iterations. I like these ones more than the other sketches. My favourite is number 4, so I will do some small design tweeks and then I think I will be done with the base design.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Then I did a 3d blockout of number 2, since that was the one people liked the most. Then I used the 3d blockout for sketches as a way to speed things up and get different angles

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

From peer feedback they liked number 2 the most, but also 1 and 4

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Using that environment, I did some sketches in colour to get more of a sense of the building.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Based off of feedback, I did a drawing of the environment. This is to help ground the design into its surroundings and see if it fits the setting or not. I used a sketchfab model of the white cliffs of Dover as a reference.

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Kiwi / Zoey @zoeyecrow.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

I did an art study from Sea of Thieves, as its a stylized game and some of the buildings fit with the brief. It helps when I get to the rendering, so I can do the render in their style, which shows I can work in their studio.

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