INSIDE
A Game About Meeting YourselfINSIDE is a computer game for self-analysis: the player explores the spaces of the subconscious and encounters beings that embody fears and repressed emotions. Instead of destroying enemies, the player observes them, engages with them, and learns to accept their inner self.Original Academic Project:
https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/267075The redesign transforms the original identity into a visual concept for a small gaming startup. The project features five key visuals, a collector’s edition, three merchandise items, a pop-up activation, and promotional materials.
Original ProjectThe original design utilized a black-and-white color palette, pixelated typography, sharp breaks, and shadowy characters with white eyes. These elements formed the foundation of the new visual system.
From Concept to Startup
The product is an atmospheric PC game and a physical collector’s edition. The target audience is adult gamers interested in narrative indie games and personal interpretation of storylines.
A potential model involves selling the digital game, collector’s sets, merchandise, and an art book. The audience and sales model are presented as hypotheses—market research and actual sales have not been conducted.
IdentityThe name INSIDE remains. The wordmark has been simplified for readability: a contrasting Georgia antique typeface. The break has been separated from the letters and is now a standalone symbol that works across game scenes, packaging, and prints.
Color and TypographyGraphite #101110 — background, architecture, and silhouettes.
Milk #F1F0E8 — text and the white protagonist.
Acid #D9FF43 — light, tears, and points of contact.Georgia — wordmark and accent headings. Arial — descriptions and captions. The original Sonic 1 Title Card / Geologica pair has been replaced for this new direction. The HEX code in the prompts sets a guideline but does not guarantee exact color reproduction by the generator.
Five Key Visuals
This series explores the theme of self-confrontation: entering the subconscious, the outside gaze, the physical form of anger, the unmasking process, and accepting one’s shadow. The frames consistently feature monochrome palettes, neon light, pixelated fragments, and a small, white protagonist.
Tool: OpenAI ImageGen. All initial prompts are listed below.
ThresholdThe light break develops a sharp sign of the original identity and becomes an entrance into the subconscious.
Prompt · Threshold Initial Generation
Task: A stylized concept. Image type: a cinematic keyvisual for the educational game startup INSIDE, focusing on confronting one’s own fears. The foundation of the initial style is the contrast of black and white, small pixel fragments, sharp, star-shaped cracks, and shadowy creatures with white eyes. Develop these elements into detailed, surreal 3D graphics with palpable textures. Palette: charcoal black, bone white, and a single acidic yellow light accent (#D9FF43). Subtle film grain, physically plausible materials, subdued atmospheric lighting, high contrast while retaining detail. Horizontal composition 16:9. No text, interface, or watermarks. Main query: THRESHOLD. A small, featureless human figure, bone white, stands with its back to the camera in the lower right section of a massive, brutalist black hall. A vertical, uneven, star-shaped fissure opens in the wall, from which acid yellow light pours out. Small cubic pixel fragments hang around the opening. Exaggerated perspective, monumental empty space on the left, occupying 40 percent of the frame and designated for a title. Cinematic wide shot, mysterious and contemplative mood.
A GlimpseThe white eyes connect the new creatures with the original’s flat characters.
Prompt · VISION
Initial GenerationTask: stylized concept. Image type: cinematic key visual without borders for the educational game startup INSIDE, focused on confronting personal fears. The core of the original style: contrast of black and white, small pixel fragments, sharp star-like cracks, shadowy creatures with white eyes. Develop these elements into detailed, surreal 3D graphics with palpable textures. Palette: black graphite, bone white, and a single acidic yellow light accent (#D9FF43). Subtle film grain, physically plausible materials, restrained atmospheric lighting, high contrast while maintaining detail. Horizontal composition 16:9. No text, interface, or watermarks. Main prompt: VISION. A small, faceless human figure, bone white in color, stands on a dark reflective surface before a vast crowd of soft black shadowy creatures. Each creature has two small white eyes. The crowd curves around the figure. In the distance, an acidic yellow rectangular gap is visible, reflected on the floor. Wide cinematic shot. The creatures are curious; their emotions are ambiguous. No attack or weapons. Deep black color, delicate light emphasizing volume. The main action is positioned to the right of center.
Anger
An intense form transforms into a volumetric sculpture with an inner luminescence.
Prompt · ANGER Initial Generation
Task: stylized concept. Image type: cinematic key visual for the educational game startup INSIDE, focusing on confronting one’s own fears. The basis of the original aesthetic is the contrast between black and white, small pixel fragments, sharp starburst cracks, and shadowy beings with white eyes. Develop these elements into detailed, surreal 3D graphics with palpable textures. Palette: black graphite, bone white, and a single acidic yellow light accent (#D9FF43). Fine film grain, physically plausible materials, restrained atmospheric lighting, high contrast while maintaining detail. Horizontal composition 16:9. No text, interface elements, or watermarks. Main query: ANGER. A massive, glossy black sculptural sphere with long, asymmetrical, angular spikes, resembling star rays, floats several centimeters above rough, bone-white concrete. Standing calmly nearby is a small, faceless human figure of the same white tone. A single thin, glowing acidic-yellow seam intersects the spiky form. Small black cubic fragments lie on the ground. Wide-angle shot from a low perspective. Subject on the right, negative space on the left. Photorealistic computer graphics with palpable textures.
MaskThe face unfolds like architecture. In the final version, the character has been corrected according to the reference.
Prompt · Mask Initial Generation
Task: A stylized concept. Image type: a cinematic key visual, without borders, for the educational game startup INSIDE, which deals with confronting personal fears. The core elements of the original style are: the contrast between black and white, fine pixelated fragments, sharp starburst cracks, and shadowy creatures with white eyes. Develop these elements into detailed, surreal 3D graphics with palpable textures. Palette: charcoal black, bone white, and a single acidic yellow light accent (#D9FF43). Fine film grain, physically plausible materials, subdued atmospheric lighting, and high contrast while retaining detail. Horizontal composition, 16:9. No text, interface elements, or watermarks. Main prompt: MASK. A monumental ceramic shell of a human face, bone white, stands vertically in an inky black void and is splitting open into two halves that unfold like doors. Inside the opening stands a small, featureless person, bone white, facing the soft acidic yellow light emanating from within. Pixel shards hang near the fractured edges. A quiet, surreal sculptural scene shifted to the right, leaving large empty dark space on the left.
ReceivingA touch of shadow completes the visual narrative of the series.
Prompt · Acceptance Initial Generation
Task: Stylized concept. Image type: Cinematic keyvisual without borders for the educational game startup INSIDE, focusing on accepting one’s own fears. The foundation of the original style is: the contrast of black and white, small pixelated fragments, sharp starburst cracks, and shadowy creatures with white eyes. Develop these elements into detailed, surreal 3D graphics with palpable textures. Palette: black graphite, bone white, and a single acidic yellow light accent (#D9FF43). Fine film grain, physically plausible materials, restrained atmospheric lighting, and high contrast while retaining detail. Horizontal composition 16:9. No text, interface, or watermarks. Core prompt: ACCEPTANCE. A small, faceless, bone-white person stands on a dark, reflective floor and cautiously reaches toward a tall, soft black shadow figure with two tiny white eyes. The outer edge of the shadow dissolves into floating black cubes. A thin, acidic yellow glowing seam, resembling a halo, outlines the point where their hands meet. A calm and gentle surreal cinematic 3D scene about coexistence and acceptance. No horror-style aggression. Wide shot, characters positioned to the right of center.
Collector’s Edition
A rigid black case with a perforated window. Inside is a shadowy creature figurine, art cards, a poster, and a loading card. The packaging continues the metaphor of concealed contents.
Prompt · Collector’s Edition Primary Generation
Task: Object mockup. Image type: High-quality promotional photograph for the fictional educational game startup INSIDE. Style: Contrast of black and bone white with a neon yellow accent (#D9FF43), small square pixel fragments, and a sharp, star-shaped fissure motif. Understated editorial art direction, palpable textures, high-quality studio lighting, realistic object construction. Horizontal 16:9 aspect ratio. No watermarks or extra logos. Main prompt: A physical collector’s edition of the INSIDE game displayed on a charcoal-gray studio pedestal. A closed black rigid slipcase featuring a neat, neon yellow cutout window shaped like an uneven star fissure, revealing the bone-white interior tray. Nearby is a second open tray holding a small figure of a black shadowy creature with two white eyes, art cards, a folded poster, and a download code card with unreadable codes. The only text on the box: «INSIDE,» in large, capitalized, bone-white contrast antique font. Main product promotional shot, three-quarter angle, dramatic side lighting, black background, no extraneous elements.
Merch 01 · Hoodie
Black heavy-duty fabric, acidic rip graphic, and a small «INSIDE» inscription. In the final version, the inscription was corrected: it gained serifs and the spacing was reduced.
