Most modern online casinos are like two peas in a pod: very, very alike. Advanced modern online casinos create a unique design to attract an audience, among which there are real works of art. Unique visual solutions allow them to attract new gamblers and retain the existing ones. Gratorama France, with its specific bright and laconic style, is a perfect example of good concept art.
Concept art is a type of art designed to visually convey the core, the essence of your product, but it does not possess external attributes of it. It brings artists who collaborate on the project to the same vision and can serve as an effective marketing communication tool.
Concept Art: History and Features
Walt Disney Feature Animation studio coined the term. In the 1950s, Walt Dipossesssney hired Mary Blair to develop concept paintings for Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan.
After that, the film industry started developing models and prototypes for real objects. They included the model of Titanic and a life-size ghost ship for the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. George Lucas using Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art to create images of robots, spaceships, and alien planets for Star Wars is another good example.
The development of technology went hand in hand with progressive artistic concepts. Most of the objects with which we interact today (cars, cell phones, furniture) grew from concepts.
Role of Concept Art in Online Gambling
According to Tandfonline’s study, websites and other digital resources have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression for users. For edgy, competitive industries like gambling, that is especially the case, so the right design is paramount to success. Casino resources are “storefront” that relies on an online presence. So, you should connect how a website looks to how the target users want to see it.
Start from conducting thorough market research. Lack of visual appeal and aesthetics can scare away users before they even get to your game catalog — and if you skip this step, you may never know what exactly causes your high bounce rate, where did you go wrong.
And vice versa, if you work every design detail to make it appealing to gamblers at first sight, and then keep them feeling comfortable and confident and provide a user experience that’s clear and can be grasped quickly, you will attract new customers. A good color scheme, easy navigation, and hassle-free registration will turn gamblers into regular visitors.
Creating Concept Art
You won’t get it right at once. It takes patience, repetitions, redoes, and a solid reserve of creativity. But, the good results of an artist’s work determine the mood, message, and design style of the future digital resource. Here are the steps you should go through to create it!
Generate the Idea
Gather all the information for the concept first. Then, you should analyze it. This will save you unnecessary headaches in the later stages.
If needed, brainstorm for ideas with other concept artists. Write down all the ideas in your notebook and analyze the messages they bring with a fresh mind. Read the documentation and look at the references.
Then, make a couple of sketches. Try experimenting with silhouettes and shapes. Add some text notes, to draw the client’s attention to specific details.
P.S: If you need inspiration, check out the famous websites such as ArtStation, Concept Art World, DeviantArt, Scott-eaton.com, and others.
Select Relevant Colors and Styles
The tone is a very important aspect of working with color. Think about it before choosing colors — otherwise, the whole thing may become boring and monotonous. If you don’t use the tone right, any colors will turn into a set of disparate elements that conflict with each other.
Once you’ve got the tone right, you can use almost any color you want, as long as it doesn’t disrupt the overall tone.
When it comes to finding a style, anything can come in handy: drawings, books, museum exhibits, fine art and pop art websites, cartoons — whatever you will find! Pay attention to what you really like at first sight. This is the most obvious sign that such works can become a source of your inspiration.
Create the Atmosphere
There are plenty of tools and techniques you can use to add some atmosphere and mood to your piece of concept art. Check out the following tips:
- use lighting to convey the vibes you want: for example, put accents in the composition with it;
- try to take examples from life;
- don’t forget to tell a story (and make it clear for the audience);
- pay special attention to composition;
- experiment with colors;
- use filters to give your creation a special charm.
Collect the Feedback
When you complete the main stages, you can receive the first feedback. Usually, you get it in the form of notes or drawings, with clear instructions on what you need to improve.
The requirements for, for example, concept art for an online game or a movie may vary, but the feedback loop should exist everywhere. You should ask for feedback from both your testers and your client (if you’re working on the website’s design for someone).
Finalize and Deliver
The final step is to give the work its final touches. Work with lightness or darkness of object’s colors, give them shades, texture, depths. Introduce more realism to your work. Fine-tune the mood, the theme of the narrative your piece represents. For a gambling website, that could be a theme of winnings, relaxation, simple fun, or a swirl of exhilaration. If you’re introducing characters in the design, make sure to tie their personality to the user research you’ve surely conducted. Let the users recognize their own features in them.
By the way, we all know mobile and tablet-based gambling is rising. As PRNewswire claims, mobile users account for about 80% of all users in the online gambling industry. So, your website’s design should look good on mobile devices!
Wrap-Up
Design plays a huge role in the attractiveness of your online casino website. It allows it to stand out from the crowd and increase its popularity.
Concept art is of great importance in creating such a design. It helps to embody the visual foundation of your project; for example, the type of slots or gambling table, style, color design, and so on. All this is crucial in developing the project since concept art forms the future appearance of a product.
