There seems to be an endless debate on whether or not video games are worthy of being called an art form, but there is one team who whole-heartedly believe in medium’s artistic merit and aim to celebrate the creative individuals who make it all possible.
Independent games publisher Digitally Downloaded have set out to create a 200+ page, premium quality hard-cover book called The Interactive Canvas: Gaming Artists, to showcase the mountains of beautiful artwork that are born within the games industry. Though the book’s main angle will be to focus on the visual side of gaming, with some rare and never seen before concept art and sketches within its pages, it will also contain features on composers and writers, too.
So far many game designers have shown an interest in contributing to the project, with Digitally Downloaded aiming to have 25 to 30 in-depth, multi-page interviews within the publication. Some of the interested developers for the project include American McGee (Alice), Jonathon Blow (Braid), Konrad Tomaszkiewicz (The Witcher), Hidetaka Suehiro (Deadly Premonition), Ed Key (Proteus) and Guillaume Provast (Contrast), to name a few. While they are currently unable to name all of the developers interested in the project, Digitally Downloaded have added that a long list of Japanese developers are also keen to participate.
However, there is a small catch. Digital Downloaded need the help of the community to make this project a reality, and have turned to Kickstarted for crowdfunding. The project aims to collect $60,000 in donations to cover costs such as production, printing and editing of the book, the costs of shipping, Kickstarter fees, and hiring a freelance designer. Digitally Downloaded hope the book will be available later this year, around August time, should the Kickstarter be a success.
If you’re interested in contributing to the cause or want to know more, check out the projects Kickstarter page.