MEET THE TEAM
André: Art Director
Who are you and what do you do at Chief Rebel?
Hello! My name is André Boström, and I work as Art Director at Chief Rebel, more specifically I am the Art Director on Fellowship. My key responsibility is to set the art direction on Fellowship and execute on that vision together with our talented team of artists. We have various sub-crafts I work with daily: Concept Art, 3D Art, Character Art, VFX, Animation and UI Art. I work with the other directors to ensure we’re building the right game together.
How did you find your way to Chief Rebel?
I started out as an indie developer back in 2008 and always dreamed of working on stylized games. After many years of AAA development, I felt a yearning to return to my roots. Working with dedicated and focused teams on passion projects always felt like my calling. I sought out this role because I grew up playing the types of games we want to develop at Chief Rebel. I felt like I connected with what the studio wanted to do on a deeper level, and I very much wanted to be a part of realizing that vision.
What’s the best part about working for Chief Rebel?
The best part about working for Chief Rebel is having the honor to work together with kind, talented and like-minded individuals, on our very own creative work. It is a privilege to carve a footprint and help pave the way for more stylized games.
What are your typical tasks and responsibilities on a normal day at Chief Rebel?
I come into the office each morning and say good morning to our wonderful Iti at the reception. Then I’ll sync with the other directors on the project about what we’re doing that day. Typically, I’ll then take a walk around the office and look at the work the art department is up to, moving across the team, talking to our artists, supporting and helping them out where I can.
I will help out with concept art, do various art related tasks and engage in project planning as well. This is also an opportunity for me to learn and develop our workflows and also hone my own skills. Ultimately, the majority of my time is spent maintaining the visual identity of Fellowship.
What are you doing when you’re not working on Fellowship?
I like learning new things, though some activities have stuck with me longer than others. I play bass guitar from time to time. I also practice Karate and have done so for over a decade now. I like to write, and I have been working on a personal project for what feels like forever – maybe one day I will get to realize it into some type of game – for now I paint concept art and write to store my ideas for that project. I am also interested in people and behavior and enjoy philosophy in general. Otherwise, I like to simply spend quality time with my partner and family with the time I’m given.
What other games or media do you draw inspiration from?
I’ve been playing games all of my life, but I draw inspiration from all kinds of places, be it games, films, books etc. I’ve been fortunate enough to have parents, friends and a partner who have all indulged me in my interests, so I’ve been able to build a sizable library of references throughout my life thus far.
As far as Fellowship goes, we draw inspiration primarily from western RPGs and games a lot of us grew up with: MMORPGs, RPGs, ARPGs, MOBAs, etc.
Can you give us a sneak peek of what you’re working on right now?
Here is a sneak peek concept art I’m working on for one of our heroes, Mara.
Who is Mara?
Mara is a deadly assassin with a shadowy past. She weaves in and out of the darkness with precision and may even be able to change her form to slash at her foes!
Do you have any advice for those who want to work in the industry that you can share with the community?
I think the most salient advice I can give is to ‘go for it’. When I first started working with games all I knew was that I wanted to continue making art! Look inward and see if there is something which speaks to you with regards to games specifically: is it animation, audio, narrative, design, gameplay, etc. which speaks to you? From there I’d say the next steps would be to look at how you can get involved with the games community.
In certain places nowadays there are even programs you can enroll in to learn game development skills. These did not really exist when I started out and I’m constantly impressed by the work I see from students. In short: Look for what speaks to you, and then go for it. Start making things. Don’t be scared to fail. We all fail – learning is a lifelong journey. Take one step at a time and embrace the process. I believe in you!
What’s your first gaming memory?
I don’t have a specific memory in mind, but playing SNES, Gameboy and Dreamcast with my siblings immediately comes to mind. Sitting in front of (what we thought then) a huge CRT until our eyes essentially became square-shaped and bit-soup running out of my ears are fond memories of mine.
My first memory playing computer games (Commodore 64 is a blur), however, goes back to Captain Claw. It’s a little-known gem by Monolith Productions, and incidentally one of my favorite games of all time. Here is a picture of me playing the demo on my dad’s computer back in 1997, begging to get the full game for the holidays!