So the goal of this project at the beginning was we want to take these iconic characters from all these coal I ps and make them at the trading card art. When I was brought in to help. In this process, one of my first tasks was to help design how to represent these cards in the game originally. When we first started exploring these ideas, it was all in 3D. So that was exploring how to make these cards really have that visual impact you see in a lot of traditional card games like Pokémon, where you pull a foil card and they look great and valuable and shiny, how do we translate that into A video game engine.
ANIMATION/VFX Exploration
Initial tests were taking rough concepts of what these cards could look like, bringing them into the unity game engine and going from there.It started with a three d based approach. Here you can see first steps at texting how to bring these Cards to life
All Effects her were created by myself. With the use of Particle effects. Custom Shader Coded by myself by hand and created using a visual shader editor.
It became clear that full character or limited animation wouldn't be feasible for this project due to the scale and the number of cards required. Instead, we focused on capturing the animated essence of iconic shows in other ways. This involved experimenting with industry-proven techniques like animated and scrolling textures. By layering these effects onto the cards, we were able to achieve the lively, animated feel we aimed for.
Eventually the game switched from 3D to 2D so the card setup had to strictly be Unity UI based system so that hampered some of those 3D effects were going for but there's still a lot of opportunity to do visual progression within the UI system itself an example below you can see a simple example of that
Below you can see some Progression Visuals, created to help with out new with our new 2D UI setup. Had to come up with a custom shader setup that let us place IP specific Scrolling texture effects. The setup allowed us to layer Custom VFX on the UI Canvas without any complex setup
UI Animation Design
We wanted more than just our cards to make a visual impact—the game's UI design was equally important. By incorporating bold colors, asymmetrical shapes, and dynamic animations, we aimed to create a visually stunning experience that truly brought the UI to life and wowed the player.
For Nickelodeon Car Crash, I guided fellow animators and UI artists in defining the overall mood and style of the game's visual effects. Through VFX mockups, animation references, and style guides, I helped establish a bright, graphic, energetic aesthetic
To achieve this, I created various mood boards (like the example shown) to serve as visual inspiration, ensuring consistency in tone and style. These references played a key role in shaping the vibrant 2D VFX, bringing the game's action sequences to life with dynamic, expressive energy.