Erik’s an amazing artist and graphic designer, but I’ve always especially appreciated his characters. He does the research into making something authentic, but always manages to create something with a bit of a smirk and smile, which I appreciate. One of his latest characters is no exception.
In the game, there are a number of “Distillery Upgrades” that people can purchase, providing additional bonuses and abilities to that specific player for the rest of the game. Some of these are piece of equipment, while others are actual people – specialists – that you can “hire” to work in your distillery. From early playtests, my wife had mentioned that she wanted to have a celebrity representing her spirits, and that helped me to realize that I needed a celebrity endorser as one of the characters! In the game, this character gives you $4 extra when bottling spirits, which can go a long way. As always, Erik delivered an amazing design that I never get tired of looking at!
Here’s what Erik says about it: “I had a lot of fun with this one—initially, I thought about spoofing some well-known musicians, but Dave reminded me of the film Lost in Translation, with Bill Murray’s character flying to Japan to do an endorsement for Suntory. Obviously, we can’t use Murray’s likeness, but I borrowed a little from that scene, mixed in a little Hugh Hefner (despite Hefner’s reputation as a teetotaler), and tried to take cues from some other well-known endorsers, such as Sir Sean Connery (RIP), David Beckham, Ryan Reynolds, George Clooney, etc. I’ve included my only remaining sketch I accidentally merged a few layers late in the process, but I was able to find one of my sketches, and a few reference pics.”
So, here is our Celebrity Endorser!
