significant impact on Ian’s career,
since leaving Rockstar in 2014 a whole
world of opportunities has opened up
to the Sunderland-born, Edinburgh-
based artist.
One of his biggest and personally
most satisfying projects in recent years
has been his contribution to the
awesome-looking post-apocalyptic
film Mortal Engines (2018), based on
the 2002 young adult novel by Philip
Reeve. And how could any conceptartist not love working on a film like
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
(2018) – one of the most visually
varied productions of the past decade,
which received huge critical acclaim?
“Having provided the artwork for
the initial pitch I wasn’t available when
the movie went into full production,
but working with Phil Lord and Chris
Miller and their production designer
Justin K Thompson was an absolute
blast,” recalls Ian.
“I’ve worked on a few things with
those guys now and it’s always great
fun, but being connected to something
as awesome as Spider-Verse turned out
to be special. I’ll always be grateful to
Justin for opening the door to workingin film, which enabled me to take the
step into a freelance career.”RENEGADE ROBOT FUN
Then there’s the 2017 game The Signal
from Tölva, praised for its artistic style.
It’s another important project for Ian
because the look and feel of his
personal artwork helped inspire the
game itself. Deep in the future, a
hacker hijacks a robot and explores
the world of Tölva, which comes
complete with Ian’s own trademark
rusting space hulks and renegade
droids. This open-world shooter is a
must-play for fans of Ian’s work.
“Tölva was interesting in that Jim
Rossignol, head of Big Robot Ltd,AIR NAVIGATORS
Ian’s own art is inspired
by the Sunderland
dockyards but floating
in uncharted areas of
the universe.NIGHT FLIGHTS
Ian’s wraparound cover artwork
for Philip Reeve’s recent book of
Mortal Engines short stories.© Big Robot Ltd© Scholastic
Interview
Connected to something
as awesome as Spider-Verse
turned out to be special