Borderlands

Borderlands is another game that really pushes art and design to new place. The whole game was actually completely redesigned well into its production because one of the artists did a drawing like this one and the company fell in love with it and decided to restart the game.

This addition was simply "cell-shading" - a black fine-liner like line that surrounds objects/shading.

There was something ridiculous like 500 + different kinds of weapons in the game - each one customisable. So, naturally, a lot of care and time was spent on the design of these

The game was also home to some disturbing deformed creatures such as Skags and Raks. This image shows how many times one simple creature is explored from all different angles.

This is a concept drawing of a Rak creature.

The character designs are also amazingly detailed.

This shows one of the cell-shaded character designs. You can see that the lines even surround chunks of hair, clothing folds etc.

Claptrap was another amazing character in this game - a little Robot with a wicked sense of humour.

Again, it's cool to see the sketchiness of the concept drawing. Also Interesting to see how specific details are explored and how the entire design comes from a few simple shapes.

Another couple of cell-shaded characters ...

These are some screenshots from the actual game that show how the cell-shaded aesthetic looks on a larger scale. This game has an amazing and unique aesthetic that really creates an interesting world for interaction and exploration.