my friend and comrade david hellman (who is gorgeous and charming by the way) has been doing the art for jonathan blow’s braid (which i will interchangably be referring to as “jonathan braid’s blow” henceforth). he’s been posting a blog about the process of illustrating the game. the latest entry is on the title screen.

I’m personally pleased with how the bridge worked out. Its bold horizontal stripe across the screen references the platform genre, in which running to the right is the most fundamental player action. In fact, it’s the first thing Braid invites you to do, as it carefully introduces its basic concepts. The silhouetting removes unique detail, and leans towards symbolism. In a way, Braid is a re-envisioning of, and comment on, the platform genre, so this sort of iconography feels very germane.

i like braid’s title screen a lot, not just because david is an inspired artist, but because it’s integrated seamlessly into the game. i don’t think there’s enough of that: this is an interactive medium, and the title screen doesn’t have to be static. that the verbs the player uses to interact with the world are present from the very first moment of play lends them a kind of omnipresence that is very reassuring, and strips another layer that usually stands between the player and the game.