Foreign media PC Gamer interviewed the chief artists of the Diablo series and asked a question.After designing thousands of thorny demon armor, how did they stay inspired when they had to design new gear and ghouls for Diablo — whether for linking with Sword Wind or otherwise?
“I encourage the art team to occasionally pull out of the world of Diablo,” said Emil Salim, chief artist of Diablo: Immortal. “Don’t look at the images of Diablo on weekends. Go to the museum, experience other things, go to the Coachella Festival, and enjoy all kinds of different art forms. There are a lot of original ideas coming from there.”
This is something that all kinds of artists and creatives often say.An artist who only obtains material from one pattern or medium will eventually fall into a stagnation of his creation.This is true in every field: for example, if you want to write about video games, if you take the time to watch movies, read books, listen to music—anything that will expose you to other ideas and fit into your work—you will write better.
According to Salim, even the same gloomy linkage with Sword Wind provides some useful and diverse experiences for the Diablo Immortal team.
“This kind of linkage is really helpful to our art team because visually it refreshes us,” Salim said. “As artists, we have such a visual library in our minds, right? Participating in different projects, like during linkage, really helps us reset that visual library. Now that we’ve done linkage, we’re back to regular design, it can help us come up with new ideas.”
Vivian Costi, chief artist of Diablo 4, also expressed the same view.
"Think about cooking, right? You eat your own food and then experience other foods in the world so you can find similarities, compare flavors, flavor characteristics, spices and ingredients, and then you can come back with a whole new idea and create something new," Costi said. "Art is very similar to cooking, fashion and all other art forms. You should always be clear about what you are creating and what others are creating, and that's how you create."
