Self-proclaimed designer of “visual playfulness,” Rex Crowle has built a career out of doodling and messing around with animation. Though his name maybe unfamiliar, you can see his artwork all over Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet and in magazines such as Computer Arts. We caught up with the accomplished designer to talk art design, PS3 marketing and how Media Molecule’s audio director got hired.
Where do you get the inspiration for your animated works?
Rex Crowle: Well, obviously a lot of games. Things like Parappa the Rapper and things that [have] their own very unique art styles. A lot of animation and anime… it all gets channelled in.
Rex, you designed lots of the art for LittleBigPlanet as well as its opening cinematic. Tell us about your involvement.
RC: Yeah, I directed the opening [cinematic] to the game. A lot of game’s start, they throw you into these crazy worlds and they expect you to instantly know where you are and what the context [is]. I really wanted it to be a live action production, so that you put the disc in and you feel like you’re being eased into the game. You’re seeing a lot of human people before you see crazy little sack/doll people. It’s a more gradual introduction to the game.
Aside from that, there was all the graphic design, bits of texturing and all the more techie stuff. I had a lot of input in choices of music and just pulling the whole package together. Then, when it was all pulled together, it was doing things like the boxart, the logo, marketing and so on.
Can you tell us anything about the game’s soundtrack or process that Media Molecule’s audio designer, Kenneth Young, went through creating it?
RC: Kenny is amazing. His show reel, when he sent it to us, just featured him trying to get the perfect sound effect, which was filling a chicken up with nuts and bolts and then beating it with a baseball bat. That’s [his] level of attention to detail. He’s totally OCD about it.
We licensed quite a lot of tracks as well, ones that had that feeling of shambolic celebration, a sort of joyous anarchy, basically. Like The Go! Team track [‘Get It Together’] that get’s used – it’s being played everywhere now. [They] had that real sense of creating and destroying and creating again. Very different from the standard… well, game soundtracks in general – I think they [can] sometimes be a little bit dark.
How do you feel about Sackboy being the new mascot for the PS3?
RC: It’s not even like it is [just] Sackboy. It’s great to see that the whole visual style has transferred. You know, [Sony’s] latest [marketing campaign] with the new cheaper PS3. It takes a lot of the visual motifs from [LittleBigPlanet]. LittleBigPlanet is cardboard and stickers – and some of the stickers have ended up [in the campaign too].
And I think it’s very interesting, because when they launched PS3 it was all about [being] shiny and, you know, “this a machine that you’ll turn on and it will create worlds for you,” and it does all that stuff. But I think, [considering] electronics’ prices, they’re all trying to say that same thing. [Sony] have been able to use [LittleBigPlanet] to give [the console] a slightly different message.
Do you create a lot of LittleBigPlanet levels yourself?
RC: I created a lot when we were developing the game. I haven’t made so many lately. But I’m really interested when I get a bit more time to really sit down with it again and have some fun.
See Rex’s work at RexBox and check out LittleBigPlanet at Media Molecule.
Aaron Lee & Stuart Kent
Photo: Rex Crowle
Tags: gamecity, littlebigplanet, media molecule, rex crowle
