With all of the time that’s spent playing Pokemon Go, players have no doubt spent quite a bit of time checking out the loading screens. In a recent release from the Pokemon Go team, players can now download four high-resolution photos of the Pokemon Go loading screens to take with them even when they’re not out playing the game.
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The release of the photos came in an announcement from a Developer’s Insights post where the team hoped to give a bit of insight into how these artistic loading screens are created. Picturing Trainers and Pokemon side by side with pieces of advice that warn players to keep aware of their surroundings, quite a bit more goes into these creations than just putting any old Pokemon up there.
“Typically, most discussions surrounding a loading screen revolve around the anticipation players feel before they start playing a game, but thanks in large part to Mieke Hutchins — our rock star artist at Niantic — brand and design experts at the Pokémon Company, and the rest of the design team at Niantic, this hasn’t always been the case with Pokémon GO,” the post read. “From outstanding fan art to requests for high-resolution wallpaper versions of each loading screen, we frequently see players sharing their love for the Pokémon GO loading screens.”
Hutchins, the artist who helped bring the loading screens to life, also shared some information on the process and work that goes into creating the loading screens:
When designing a loading screen, the team starts by discussing what the most appropriate Pokémon to feature is based on surrounding events and the latest product release. In the case of the Steelix loading screen, we knew we wanted to celebrate the recent introduction of Pokémon originally from the Johto region to Pokémon GO. We wanted to create a throwback to the original Gyarados loading screen by using an epic Johto region Pokémon with a similar shape and size, and Steelix was the best fit. After choosing the most appropriate Pokémon to feature, it was then time to begin drafting concepts! We spent some time looking at references in various art books, online, and in nature for compelling compositions, lighting, and interesting color schemes. After we had done a bit of research, we created a simple thumbnail sketch to discuss the overall idea and rough composition with the team. The plan at this stage was to have a strong sense of what the eventual artwork would look like.
The artist went on to say that the actual models were put into place after they were satisfied with the sketch. Scaling, colors, and camera positioning were all factors they had to consider next, and after a few more confirmations and tweaks, the loading screens were ready to go live.
Four loading screens as well as the sketches for the Steelix art were released and can be found in the gallery here. The team ended the post by telling fans they wanted them to offer suggestions via social media as to which Pokemon they want to see featured on upcoming loading screens.
