One of the main goals that I was tasked with as the art director of Marvel Team-Up was to create a distinct art style and look that is unique to other Marvel games, past and present. After several proposals, we mutually agreed on an intriguing art style: Early 60’s Mid-Century Modern in 2018. The idea is that the design aesthetics of the 60’s never fully went away and remain in this alternate world. Technology of today is still present such as mobile phones and electric cars. One of the major reasons for this particular look and style is it fits with the history of Marvel which was founded in the early 60’s and most of the iconic Marvel superheroes were created around this time.

I wanted to pre-visualize how this art style would look like so I took an old photo of Times Square…

I photobashed in signage in the Mid-Century Modern style and modern elements of technology such as electronic billboards and modern product placement advertisement.

The final painting of Mid-Century Modern New York Times Square illustrate the promise of what the world of Marvel Team-Up would have looked like in this art style. The pedestrians and vehicles enhance the art style with similar a design treatment (see posts on Pedestrians and Vehicle designs in Mid-Century Modern for the game). Contemporary elements include the street lights, monorail, and holographic signages. I affectionally called the piece “Blade Runner 1960”.