I was the Creative Director on a collaboration project between TIER1 Accessories, a videogame collectibles company and Sea of Thieves, a pirate action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Studios for Windows and Xbox One.
The TIER1 art team was tasked with developing a 6-inch figure series based on Sea of Thieves.
This was TIER1’s first collectible figurine line. It debuted at E3 2018.
Creative Lead
3D Modeling
Posed character and elements
3D renders
Production follow-up
Paint Spec Sheet Creation
Photography Postproduction
Creative Lead
3D Modeling
Posed characters and elements
3D renders
Creative Lead
3D Modeling
Posed characters and elements
3D renders
We were tasked with capturing the lively, humorous feel of a new open-world where players took the role of a pirate sailing the high seas. As the Creative Lead, I decided to pursue the world’s in-game lore.
The figurine competition consisted of simple action posed characters on plain bases.
In response, our figurines used large compelling characters with complex, highly detailed bases that told a story.
First, we had to decide what went inside the box. What would people want to collect especially in a game that hadn’t been released yet?
We decided that a player’s connection lied in the game’s inner lore especially with an open-world game where the player is the protagonist.
So we made the virtual real and pursued the legendary Captain Flameheart, a once humble scholar and captain of the Silverblade. He and his crew were cursed by a goblet that turned them into skeletons. Now he hunts for treasure and his long-lost journal.
With a limited knowledge of a still developing character and game world, we reworked some early concept art for the initial pitch.
We added a base for the figure of a worn, wooden barrel covered in barnacles displaying the logo. For Flameheart, we covered the base in jewels and gold and positioned him on rocks.
The plan was to add glitter paint to the gold to make them sparkle. And strategically add glow-in-the-dark paint to set him further apart from the competition.
Rare approved of the design.
We received a 3D rigged model from Rare.
I imported the rigged model into Maya. Flameheart only had a t-pose and no animations to reference.
I posed him 2 ways. Version 1 was as a creepy, undead skeleton and Version 2 was as a composed leader.
Rare chose Version 2.
During this stage, we were simultaneously developing the other figures in the series. As the Creative Lead and a collector of figurines, I felt our figures were generic and boring.
I had an idea to add a horde of skeletons answering their captains call. Rare liked the idea and provided us with the needed assets.
We used provided 3D assets to compose a base that told a story of a captain calling upon his undead army to protect his treasure.
We built a wood barrel base and filled it with a treasure chest, sand, rocks, gold coins and plants. We wanted to add the logo so we used a ship’s crest and added it to the front.
The skeleton minions were imported into 3DS Max and posed using repurposed animations provided by Rare.
As TIER1’s first figurine, we created low-cost and premium 3D version to test factory limitations and cost efficiency.
Our factory in China produced a prototype based on our 3D.
The TIER1 Art Team developed very detailed paint spec sheets with included pantones under my supervision.
I worked back-and-forth with the factory to achieve the final look.
