In late 2022, I got asked to work on Kickblips’ Chiptune High project, a visual novel game to be released alongside the launch of their newest anime centric chiptune compilation. For this project i worked on the main logo of the game, as well as the user interface, creating a set of text boxes and dialogue options.

For the styling i knew i didn’t just want to follow conventions within the visual novel genre, seeing as the setting and its characters would not necessarily reflect those of typical Japanese visual novels. however, i did take note of the importance of readability in visual novels, so i took that as my foundation and started to layer subtle elements in that would feel thematically appropriate while not taking away from the ease of use.

i was inspired by the concept of chiptune and low resolution artwork, but i didn’t want to force squared off shapes and pixels in a game where these elements wouldn’t feel appropriate. I decided to layer in a grid in the backgrounds of the textboxes, recalling both the low resolution aspects of chiptune namely 8-bit visuals, as well the kinds of graph paper found in schools.

upon seeing the character designs i realized that a western comic approach to the text boxes could fit well. using neutral shades of white and grays, i attempted to build a bridge between american and japanese illustration styles, without making either type of style feel out of place. to add detail, i added comic-like shading to distance the character’s name element from the text.

for the logo i was directly inspired by american high school sports typography. i wanted the text to be strong on its own, and recall type like the ones found on american football jerseys. the concept of a romantic visual novel felt fun in context with that kind of typography, so i decided to lean into it, making the contrast more apparent by use of a graphic element. the graphic element shows music notes meeting a book, resulting in hearts and sparks. the notes stand for chiptune, the book for the high school setting, and the hearts and sparks for love and friendship. the flow is deliberate.

Kickblips: Chiptune High

released December 23 through itch.io

Chiptune High credits:

3xBlast – Story, programming

Brickbrker – Background art

Chunderfins – LSDJ portrait art

Doefriends – Serum portrait art

DonutShoes – Sound design, producer

Twirlin’ Curtis – FDS portrait art

vera, etc. – Logo & UI art

More information about Kickblips can be found on their website.