Challenge

The Last of Us is a game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where fungal spores turn people into zombie-like creatures and monsters. Its UI aesthetic is grungy yet minimalist. 

The intent of This project was not to improve the UI and UX, but to see what it would look like if it went in a different direction without abandoning the core horror themes. For the redesign, I wanted to have a feeling of aggression, the occult, and old-world beauty. I wanted it to feel like a clean and modern horror movie.

Outcome

Early on I decided the visuals would have a consistent 45-degree angle to them, the biggest challenge was creating a full set of icons that worked within this concept. This design choice was directly inspired by the act of crafting from the game. In the game, when you craft an item, you do it down on the floor, digging in your backpack. The game doesn’t pause or stop while you craft, you are always in danger of being attacked. I wanted to lean into this sense of danger and of your character's attention being drawn away from their surroundings.
‍
I chose to have the main crafting area be a diamond to imply the shape of a wide-open backpack. At the same time, I wanted the rest of the screen to be obscured, mimicking the feeling of having only minor peripheral vision while you are looking down into your bag.

‍Results

The final design creates a whole new aesthetic for the game UI that still matches the themes and tone of the game but in a very different way. It brings a clean and crisp look and feel to the UI. While I don't feel that the game should change at this point, I feel this type of direction could have worked if they started out with it.

‍