How studying The Last of Us has helped this 3D artist perfect character design

There’s a certain kind of artist who can tell you exactly why a character works, not in some broad ‘good design’ sense, but down to the little things, the scar placement, the tired eyes, the colours chosen for a jacket, the way a face changes when a story gets darker, and that’s very much where Max Bianchini is coming from.

The Italian artist, currently working at Platige Image as a Texture & Lookdev Artist, spends a lot of time digging into the design language behind the game and anime characters he loves, researching how they were made, why they connect, and what gives them staying power years later. It’s the kind of obsessive curiosity shared by a lot of inspirational 3D artists, the people who don’t just make cool images but really study why visual storytelling sticks in your head.