Oxenfree ii: lost signals
for this assignment, we had to use adobe aftereffects and artivive to create an accompanying animation for a promotional poster—also designed by us. for mine, I chose to create a promotional poster for night school studios’ oxenfree II: lost signals to be displayed throughout Burbank, Ca (home to night school studios) and the annual e3 video game expo in Los Angeles, ca.
this project was more or less my introduction to aftereffects, but I feel like this was a great opportunity to familiarize myself integrating motion into my design. I really enjoyed this project because it allowed for the viewer to take part in a somewhat immersive experience.
A brief introduction to the Oxenfree lore
oxenfree ii: lost Signals, is the long awaited sequel to Night School Studios’ debut narrative adventure game: Oxenfree. Oxenfree follows the story of five teenagers who accidentally open a ghostly rift on Edwards Island, and must navigate and appease the lost spirits by using a handheld radio. In Oxenfree ii, five years after the events in Oxenfree, we meet Riley, a skeptical and stoic Climate researcher who returns to her hometown of Camena to investigate mysterious radio signals similar to the ones seen in Oxenfree. Along the way, she meets Jacob Summers, a laidback but unsure handy-man who is enthralled by the paranormal phenomenons occurring in Camena. Not much information had been released on the game beyond a few teaser clips, but it was highly anticipated by the indie gaming community.
in oxenfree, the player communicates with souls suspended between the real world and the afterlife by using handheld radios to open up rifts around the island. the goal for this poster is to imitate the in-game experience of using the handheld radios by having the viewer use their smartphone to activate the animation.
early sketches
I knew early on that I wanted this poster to have an illustrative and retro feel, given how the game itself has a unique illustration style and how the storyline is based on paranormal happenings in relation to radio frequencies.
for the animation I wanted the users phone to act as the handheld radio in game that allows players to open up portals and communicate with the lost spirits.
refined sketches
given how oxenfree II was still in the production stages during the development of this poster, I had very little reference for how the characters were supposed to look, so I studied the few references I that were available and imitated the art style from there. Riley (left) was traced from the official oxenfree ii promotion for the Nintendo switch, and I imitated her art style for Jacob (right) as there were very few references for his character.
as for the color palette, I pulled colors from the official promotions that were floating around the internet which included this deep aquamarine color, and a bright glowy orange. the characters themselves tended towards a warmer color palette, so I tried to keep as consistent as possible with the current branding.
final product
the final illustration was completed using both adobe fresco and adobe illustrator. as I mentioned earlier, the art style is based loosely off the pre-existing art styles that night school studios previously posted promoting the oxenfree franchise.
At the bottom of the poster you will see a QR code for artivive. this code will take the user to a download link for the artivive app. I ask kindly that you do not use this method, as this poster was made with a student plan and only has a limited number of plays.
my animation was created in adobe aftereffects. in oxenfree, players navigate the world and learn more about the oxenfree lore by using handheld radios in order to open rifts and communicate with lost souls. my objective for this poster was for the users smartphone to act as the handheld radio, imitating the in game experience of opening the portal and hearing the distorted voices through the radio.
the audio for this animation was mixed by myself in GarageBand, using clips from the official oxenfree Ii: lost signals trailer, and the original oxenfree soundtrack by scntfc.