Josh Larson – Portfolio

God at play – Branches Interactive Music Video

Company: 

God at play

Work Performed: 

Design, art production, scripting

Early in 2009 I created a new online identity – God at play – dedicated to spiritual games and interactive experiences. I created a prototype for an interactive worship tool in Unity, which acted as an interactive music video for my friend Paul Gratton’s band Finn Miles.  See the excerpt below for a brief description.

The [...]

Napkin Sketch – Movement Bash Poster

Client: 

Impromptu Studio

Company: 

Napkin Sketch

Work Performed: 

Design, illustration, screenprinting

My friend Daniel Shipton of Impromptu Studio wanted to throw a party for regional entrepreneurs to celebrate what companies in Des Moines have been doing to make the city a cool place.  I wanted to design a poster to promote the event, which I eventually named MOVEMENT BASH.

I talked to Napkin Sketch partner Matt Shwery [...]

Dinowaurs – Characters

Company: 

Intuition Games

Work Performed: 

Bronto design, dino suit production, dino animation, suit skinning, dynamic item attachment

Dinowaurs was Intuition’s first full game.  It was part of Kongregate’s Premium Games Program.  Along with Greg and Ted, I designed the characters, which were based on Ted’s concept art.  Play Dinowaurs to get a better look at them.  We each took ownership of drawing a character, and I ended up taking the bronto.  After [...]

Darkest of Days – Civil War Barn

Company: 

8monkey Labs

Work Performed: 

Research, texture scouting and photography, modeling, UV layout, texturing, light baking

This is a Civil-War Era barn for the Civil War time period in Darkest of Days.  These are in-game screenshots, with the barn arranged as it would look in an environment, decorated with props and using in-engine post effects. Poly count is just under 10k, with small latches and details at the player’s eye level.  [...]

God at play – Right of Passage

Company: 

God at play

Work Performed: 

Design, art production, scripting

Early in 2009 I created a new online identity – God at play – dedicated to spiritual games and interactive experiences. I was commissioned by Lutheran Church of Hope to create an animation, and I used the opportunity to create a prototype for an interactive sermon tool I created in Unity and described on the [...]

Logo Design

Company: 

Various

Work Performed: 

Graphic design

Here are a few logo designs I’ve done, either for companies I’ve co-founded or for friends/family.  The Sholdenburg & West logo is the exception; with typography from Wayde Stover, it was created while working on Apertures as part of the 2009 Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project. Wayde also did most of the typographical work [...]

Sausage Factory Atari Box Art

Client: 

Adult Swim

Company: 

Pixeljam Games

Work Performed: 

Illustration, design

I once again teamed up with Pixeljam Games, this time to create an illustration that resembled Atari box art from the 80s.  The box art was for a game entitled Sausage Factory. [The game doesn't seem to be out yet, so I'll wait to post the illustration.]

Krod Mandoon Visuals

Client: 

Comedy Central

Company: 

Pixeljam Games

Work Performed: 

Environment art, character art, animation

Intuition teamed up with Pixeljam Games to make the visuals for the Flash game to Comedy Central’s Krod Mandoon TV show. Pixeljam envisioned a Monty Python-esque style, so I took some production photos and photocopied them on an old copier, then colored them in Photoshop, for an authentic look.
I also rigged and animated the characters [...]

Napkin Sketch – Intro, Apertures Opening Sequence

Company: 

Napkin Sketch

Work Performed: 

Motion graphics

Our same group of friends who made The West Excursion, now officially formed as Napkin Sketch, decided once again to participate in the 2009 Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project.  We were given our character, prop, and line of dialogue. We drew the genre “Drama” from a hat, and then had 48 hours to make [...]

Immersion – Rejected Website Design

Client: 

Immersion

Work Performed: 

Design, illustration, scripting, web development

I was commissioned to design a new website for the Immersion church that I was involved in. The church is targeted to 20s and 30s and tries to teach Christ’s message in a “culturally relevant way,” so I opted for a more creative design where the user navigates content areas spread throughout the 2d [...]

Unfinished Interactive Toys

Company: 

Personal

Work Performed: 

Design, illustration, scripting

Before this website, I had planned on creating a Flash portfolio website that used Conway’s Game of Life rules to grow plants.  I ended up going with this version instead, to ensure easier access to the content.  I was eventually able to incorporate these ideas into a musical gardening game.

This project was supposed to be [...]

Immersion – Blitz Illustrations

Client: 

Immersion

Work Performed: 

Digital illustration, t-shirt design

During 2008, I was asked to create a series of illustrations to help promote Immersion’s Blitz, a co-ed bible study.  The Fall Blitz illustration was also printed as a t-shirt.  Prior to the Blitz illustrations, I created a Hokusai-inspired illustration, which has been used on the BeImmersed website.

Napkin Sketch – The West Excursion

Company: 

Napkin Sketch

Work Performed: 

Brainstorming, storyboarding, illustration, animation

Some friends and I decided to participate in the 2008 Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project, which is a competition where teams are given a character, prop, and line of dialogue.  Then they draw a genre out of a hat and must use those things to make a 4-7 minute short film in 48 hours.  [...]

Immersion – Fall Blitz 2008 Promo

Client: 

Immersion

Work Performed: 

Crafting, photography, animation

This is a promotional video for Immersion’s Fall Blitz.  It’s a co-ed bible study, heh.  This is a stop motion animation of felt I recorded with my own digital camera.  I was asked to make a powerpoint slide, but I just felt compelled to create a stop motion piece.  It took forever. :P

Darkest of Days – Level Design

Company: 

8monkey Labs

Work Performed: 

Level design, visual scripting, environment design

This includes a level layout design, screenshots of a level in Habitat, and some in-game shots from an early build of the game.

Darkest of Days – Unused Player Arm

Company: 

8monkey Labs

Work Performed: 

Modeling, sculpting, texturing

This is a pretty faithful representation of my own hand and forearm modeled in ZBrush.

Interestingly, this was scrapped because of how objects that recede into the center of the screen appear in a first-person view.

Darkest of Days – Environment Art

Company: 

8monkey Labs

Work Performed: 

Workflow research, equipment purchase, texture and panoramic photography, texturing, technical art, materials

A large amount of the production work I did toward the end of my time at 8monkey involved creating environment art. I created textures for vegetation, set up vegetation lighting, and captured panoramas of skies. See more after the jump.

Darkest of Days – Spicebush

Company: 

8monkey Labs

Work Performed: 

Texture research, modeling, sculpting, UV layout, texturing, light baking, materials

This is a spicebush modeled for a North American scene in Darkest of Days. The goal was to make a medium-poly bush that would react in a physically-dynamic way from NPC collision a la Crysis bushes. A detailed workflow is available after the jump.

Darkest of Days – Civil War Officer

Company: 

8monkey Labs

Work Performed: 

Research, texture photography, modeling, sculpting, texturing, materials

This is a Civil-War era officer, with Union and Confederate textures, for the Civil War time period in Darkest of Days. See more images after the jump.

Old Motion Graphics Work

Client: 

Cornerstone Church, One Event

Work Performed: 

Movie file burned to DVD

I created two motion graphics videos back in 2004 or so while attending Iowa State. The first is a promotional video for an arts showcase hosted by the church I attended at the time. The second is an intro animation for a campus ministry event.