KINGDOM HEARTS TITLE CARDS (UNOFFICIAL)

As a huge fan of the series, I wanted to design prospective title cards for potential worlds that I would like to see in Kingdom Hearts based off of some of my favorite films as a fun personal project.

Before starting any project, the very first thing that I do is ideate. Which in this case meant to create crude, ugly sketches that help me “carve” out what I want out of a metaphorical block of stone. This part of my process is where I go all out and throw everything against a wall to see the extend of what something can be and then I slowly dial back and refine, refine, refine. And it is something that I like to consider akin to laying out all of your tools before getting to work on something, it is in this stage where I lay out the blueprint for which I will build upon. This is also the stage where I get to figure out what works and what doesn’t, what I want to have included in the design and what I don’t.

As you can see, from the very start, with this project, I had a somewhat clear idea of what I wanted to include with these title cards (but this is not always the case). For the Princess and the Frog title card, I knew that I wanted lily pads, lotus flowers, shine, shimmer, a sunset, and the water. I also wanted the reference to Ray and Evangeline. For the Finding Nemo world, I wanted a nod to the opera house in Sydney, I wanted the ocean, the iconic mask, and somehow figure out a way to connect it to the film’s main characters. And in Land of the Dead, I had multiple iterations but the things I were certain of was that I wanted the city lights, references to cutout crafts displayed on the overworld, and I wanted to capture that liveliness found in the land of the dead.

With the Land of the Dead title card from Disney’s Coco, each part of the design was either hand painted digitally (such as the cityscape in the land of the dead) or embellished by painting textures (as seen on the title card). Both were given treatments to look like they belong within that immersive world that has such a distinct and instantly recognizable look.

For the Princess and the Frog world, the title card was digitally hand painted and rendered on Photoshop to give it that golden, royal-like treatment utilizing shadows and light work to achieve that look. For the backdrop, it was imperative for me to include references that make up the whole of the film so I made sure to put emphasis on the water, the lily pads, the shimmer and magic the film emboldens, the vines and flora, and of course, Ray and Evangeline. The creative goal for this title card was for it to feel magical and inviting, which I believe I achieved.