O The impact of good references

A good reference can change everything.

The reference itself can be used in various ways, such as for an illustration, concept art, game, story, and even for environments. It's a good method for not doing something blindly, obtaining inspiration, and assisting in the creative process.

The reference will give you robustness about what you want to do. It will give you an idea of colors, shapes, and whether it really works, as well as assisting in composition.

The human brain works comparably; it is always comparing information and storing it for later use. Therefore, using comparison for a creative process is exercising this information storage and having a guide for the final result.

As in the image above, well-organized references are aiding in the creation and composition of the concept.

It is very interesting to use references for studies where you will have visual stimuli, and eventually, this will become experience, like a collection in your mind that will assist you in creating future projects. Experiencing different things, reading, imagining, all enriches creativity because you will have more information that can be used for creation.

Areas for using references include:

• Game creation: If there is already a similar game on the market to the one you are creating, it is of utmost importance to observe that game to see the pros and cons of the mechanics, art, niche, whether it is fun or not, and then you can absorb the points that interest you for your game.

• Character creation: References will help you in various aspects such as clothing, pose, art style, and in terms of concept, you will be able to better achieve the concept you want for your character and the composition.

• Story: When developing a story, we often encounter creative barriers and doubts about what to choose for a particular thing. If you read many other stories, your mind will become clearer and more objective in the creation.

It is worth noting that I have several folders with saved references on Pinterest. It is worth taking a look! https://pin.it/1mQoc8X or going to the Inspiration section.

Cover artist: https://www.artstation.com/jakubrozalski