Introduction

Hi, my name is Ibrahim Abdo. I’m 36, originally from Syria but currently live in Novi Sad, Serbia. I’ve worked at Eipix Entertainment as a Senior/Lead animator for the last 5 years.

I’ve always had a passion for video games and animation which led me to become an illustrator and 2D animator and to get a bachelor degree in art (Visual Communication major). In order to pursue my passion, I started making flash games in 2002 and had to learn a little bit of scripting to accomplish that. This led me to work for multiple video-games and animation studios in the Middle East. I became an art director for one of them and a co-founder of a design studio.

When the war broke out with all its unfortunate and inhuman events, I had to leave everything behind and start a journey that first brought me to Cairo, Egypt. I was fortunate to work in an indie mobile game studio there until the situation in Egypt got worse and I went to Serbia. There, I started working at Eipix Entertainment.

At Eipix, I worked on many Casual and HOPA games such as Dark Parables and Mystery Case Files series, as well as some R&D projects involving VR and comics. I also worked as a storyboard and cinematic artist for multiple indie games such as the remake Outcast: Second Contact remake and Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark.

I always like experimenting with new tools and curiosity drives me to try different things such as 360 painting. Last year I started dipping my toe in the 3D environment design.

Inspiration & Storytelling

I am a big fan of Diablo, WoW, and Blizzard’s environment style in general which inspired me to make this diorama.

At first, I wanted to design an environment that reflected a mixed feeling of gloom and hope. Being a storyboard artist in the past, I strongly believe that one of the main elements in environment art is the visual story. We see that clearly in Hayao Miyazaki’s works: most of the backgrounds in his movies tell a story on their own and communicate a struggle between nature and technology.

The first thing that came to mind was this cold bedroom in a tower-like structure under the moonlight, yet comfortable and surrounded by everything you need, from books to a bathtub and a comfy bed. I did a couple of sketches and started designing the concept.