“Wethoughtofthepreviouseditionsandeven
thoughwewantedtokeepthesamefreshness
andplayfulnesstoit, wewantedtothinkdifferently
andspendwaymoretimeonconceptand
research.Acknowledgingthis,wecreatedtheinitial
briefwhichweusedasa startingpointto
brainstormonconcepts.”
Fromherethebriefwassimple— makeit
creativeandamazing,tellinga story.Withthisin
mind,it felltoAnsaandartdirectorManonJouet
tonarrowdowntheearlydirectionandsharpen
theapproach.“Itseemedlikea betterwayof
focusingonthesimple,strongmessageswe
wantedtoconveyandsupportwiththisyear’s
makemepulsewishes.”MOEbIUS TRIP
A research period yielded global ideas between the
two, which were pitched during a presentation to
identify the best. Three were favoured before a
developer co-worker was invited to join in with the
writing of a more precise, practical pitch deck. This
document described each lead in terms of concept,
storyline, user flow and interaction, as well as both
creative and technical moodboards
“Our three concepts were about a scientific
drawing, a tarot game and a tale. The tale concept
was about a mysterious tribe living on islands,
moving from one to another every year, doing their
duty. In this imaginary world, those folks were living
in harmony with nature and they could actually
communicate with it. Every island they were livingon, they were dedicated to help the ecosystem heal
and become as strong as it once was. Every New
Year’s Eve they had to bid farewell to it and fly
toward new lands.”
The team saw this as a particularly nice
metaphor for makemepulse as an agency and the
synergy with working with partners to creating rich
and meaningful experiences. With a rough story set,
a subsequent drive for inspiration landed on a love
for comic-book art and a certain legendary figure.
“We went to comic book stores to ask for
recommendations and advice as we looked for
hidden gems. As huge fans of the work of Jean
Girault, aka Moebius, we realised that his comics fit
our story and mind-set. We bought some of his
comic books, including The World Of Edena, that
we literally fell in love with.”
From here, the team started gathering all kind
of references relating to islands, tribes, plants and
evenbirdsbeforemovingintodesign.SCENESTEALING
The design stage of Nomadic Tribe was divided
into three main parts, with the first being the draft,
then the art direction and finally the production of
the website itself. Within the initial phase there was
a focus on story development before work on
conceptualising user experience and interactive
mechanics. “We started by writing the story
detailing the tribe, the island and their relationship,
but quickly we wanted to draw and start sketching
some shots, some concepts. I cannot say howSiTe
HigHligHT
“Thestandoutfeatureofthisproject is
withouta doubtthechoiceofart direction.
WefeelthatmostWebGLproductions
nowadayslookalikeandeverything is
slowlyshiftingtowarda merged style and
trend.Wedecidedtoaimforsomething
differentandnew,a comicbook-inspired
outlined3Drenderstyle.”
Louis Ansa - Creative directorTRIBAL QUEST
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