Paperbark

Paperbark is an illustrative, narrative exploration game that follows the journey of a wandering wombat as it traverses a very hot Australian Summer.

It presents a sincere representation of the Victorian bush-land which is inspired by iconic historical and contemporary landscape artists and Australian children’s literature.

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Award-winning game Paperbark lets players wander as a wombat through the Australian bush

Finally, Australia sees video games are important – but it can’t be only because they make money

✦ My role

On Paperbark, I had the privilege of leading the art direction and guiding the project’s visual identity from its earliest sketches through to the final, playable experience. My role was a blend of hands-on creative work and team leadership, ensuring that every aspect of the game’s look and feel stayed true to its uniquely Australian setting and emotional tone. I developed high-quality 2D assets, concept art, UI assets and textures, while also building and rigging 3D models in Maya for our contracted 3D animator.

I worked with the other directors to present drafts and iterations to our stakeholders and ensure the game’s art direction remained consistent and polished. A large part of my focus was on creating mood paintings, lighting studies and colour scripts that shaped the atmosphere of the game. Beyond asset creation, I collaborated closely with our small team to troubleshoot creative challenges, refine workflows and balance technical constraints with artistic ambition.

Ultimately, my goal was to create a warm, painterly world that felt both authentic and inviting, immersing players in the gentle narrative we wanted to tell.