Akha Hulzebos is an illustrator and graphic designer who has worked on various board games (occasionally turns a hand to game design herself) and several issues of the UK Games Expo magazine.
Geek Native, who sent grumpy Girdy to show, got to talk to Akha. Last Bug Standing, a game that Akha recently worked on, will be a prototype on display at the event. Exciting times!
How did you get involved in designing the cover for UK Games Expo?
I didn’t only do the graphic design for the cover, but the whole magazine (PDF) and printed Map Guide :) The art for the cover is made by the amazing Ralph Horsley.
I met the team by chance. In 2020 they posted a job offer (freebie) for a befriended boardgame cafe (Meeple Mayham) in need. They needed some promotional material for the windows done and a two menus. One for drinks and bites, and another with all their games. Normally I don’t do freebies, but I decided to make an exception as they could turn out to be a good contact to have in my network. However, I wasn’t the only one responding to the call and had to do a test to show off my skills.
Thankfully I won and landed the job.
After finishing the owner mentioned that the Expo team was looking for a new graphic designer (lucky me!), since their previous one was going to take a different career path. I was introduced and we met at Essen SPIEL. I was super nervous and didn’t dare ask too high of a price for my services. I wanted the job badly! They sensed this and called me way too nice, offering to pay double my suggestion. Astounded I happily accepted.
It clicked and working remote worked well for us. I first worked closely together with Kate Evans, and now with James Bowles. Both great people to work with.
What can UK Games Expos expect to see on the front of the magazine this year?
The Jack in the Box Expo Dragon! Or is it the popcorn dragon? I’m not sure. Ralph, explain yourself! If you want to know more about the art, visit him at his booth to dive into the details.
Do you have a favourite? Why that choice?
I really like the 2019 artwork (PDF link).
A sleeping dragon on a green background with gamers sliding from the dragon and hoard of games. It’s the contrast (green/yellow) and composition that does it for me. The other covers have the dragon centered on the page for the most part. This makes is a bit too ‘save’ for me.
It’s not just UK Games Expo covers you do; there are board games too. In fact, titles like Alarún, Biblios, Darwinning!, The Butterfly Garden and The Little Flower Shop. Do you have a favourite board game cover?
Yep, not only covers but cards, backgrounds, characters, logos, icons and more.
Choosing covers between thousands of games… Oh man, is this a trap? How can I choose between so many covers I might not even know! Let’s play it save and pick on of the covers I did myself. I liked working on Alarún a lot. All was drawn traditional with ink and acrylic paint. Finding the right composition with sketches, trying out different colors with paint. How I love getting dirty hands! Digital art is and looks very clean. It takes me just as long as traditional art to create. In this case the little mistakes and textures helped bring more life into the piece. The logo was made digitally in Adobe Illustrator. The contrast between traditional and digital helped make it pop just that little bit more.
Is there a favourite game you like to play?
I love playing boardgames and have been playing as long as I can remember. An all time favorite of mine will be Talisman (2nd edition). My current my favorite game is Destinies. Astra and Alchemists taking second and third place.
More recently, you’ve been working on Last Bug Standing along with designer Bez, which will be published at Surprised Stare Games. If you’re allowed, what can you tell us about that game?
Sure thing! The game started as a nature themed game, as many of Bez’s games. I’m not sure what its original name was, but it was already underway with another illustrator who, luckily for me, had to stop working on the project for personal reasons.
Alan (the owner of Surprised Stare Games) and I met years ago in Essen and have been friends since. We’d recently talked at SPIEL about his game and how fab it would be if we ever got to work together. Weeks passed and the chance actually presented itself! We started of and it turned out we work really well together as a team. Always positive and with good directions to help me further in the creative process.
The original brief was something like “I need the art to be something apocalyptic. Mad Max like, and very B-movie-ish.” I remember myself thinking ‘Alright, that’s something new for me.’ as I’d never created this type of art before. I wanted it to be authentic and went for ink and watercolors. Like the old comic books. And tried to get that color scheme in, which was harder than you think to nail. A lot of sketches went in beforehand. Some too Games Workshop like (thanks for the compliment!) and others lacking something or in need of a bit more spice. I’m very pleased with how the illustrations and the overall feel turned out to be.
Will people be able to find out about Last Bug Standing at UK Games Expo?
A prototype will be presented at the Expo. Go and check it out at stand 1-352!
On your ArtStation I noticed these two fantastic Pokemon fan-arts: PokeCuddle & Gengar. I love the idea of captured Pokemon. Do you sell them? How on Earth did you go from designing board game covers to slate art.
As a girl born in the 90’s I had, and still have, a soft spot for Pokémon. I’ve played all video games, boardgames and collected the cards. (Okay, maybe I still do). I wanted to give something back to the community. As an artist I like experimenting on different materials. Slate and wood are among my favorites. On addition I recently started painting on old pokemon and energy cards. Which have been very well received.
Are there any artists and illustrators you draw inspiration from?
No one in particular. I like to get inspired by what I see and talk to other artists about their work and what makes them do what they do.
And, back to board games and UK Games Expo, are there any upcoming or new games you’re hoping to find out more or get your hands on at the event?
I was super busy before the Expo with work and had no time to dive into the new releases unfortunately. Last year I missed out on a copy of Subterra, so I hope to get my hands on one this year. Fingers crossed!
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