Fighting the system with artist Aurelia Folch

Aurélia Folch (owner of Bandit Bandit Studio) is a French artist and UX/UI designer based in Montreal, Canada. As a product and brand designer, she works with brands to create brand identities, product experiences, design systems, and social media creative. Her illustrations explore sci-fi, cyberpunk, and mysterious urban environments, with a healthy dose of inspiration from Japanese art history and anime, making her a perfect collaborator for Cyberpunk Legends.

—IM

Irene, Night Crew Games: Tell us about you: What's your background as an artist/creative person and where are you based?

Aurelia Folch: I have been working as a graphic designer for more than 10 years after studying cinema and illustration in France and Belgium. I told my parents when I was a kid that I wanted to be “an illustrator in Japan.” Well... I don’t live in Japan so I guess I am halfway to making that childhood dream come true.

What's your main job or day job? Any projects or cool things you would want to share about that people might find surprising? 

I work mainly as a freelancer on UI design and graphic design projects for clients in tech and entertainment. I learned a lot working in agencies but I am much of an independent spirit so I prefer to deal with myself if I need a day off or a new monitor. 

In another life, I was a front end development lead, so there’s a little part still dreaming about code and command lines, somewhere inside me.

Above: A tiny snapshot of work from Bandit Bandit Studio. [Source]

 

What do you find especially unique about working on art for tabletop games? What do you like about it, and what's different about that vs other work you do?

For a kid like me who once spent hours playing tabletop games and collecting Dragonball cards (I still have my collection neatly organized in a special box), it’s such a pleasure to be able to work on card game artwork. It is something that looks very easy, just an illustration, but it is so much more than this. I need to always keep in mind that people are going to actually play with those cards. It is not “just” an illustration, it is a piece in an infinite, moving, and changing puzzle. Those illustrations need to be unique and striking but also infuse the essence of something bigger, a whole universe that needs to show through every pixel of the image.

I hope I was able to feed the collective vision of Cyberpunk. I will be able to tell my mum that I did it. Sure, she won’t know about the game but she will be so proud!

What fascinates you about the world of Cyberpunk (and the genre of small-c cyberpunk)?

I must have been 12 when I saw Blade Runner and it was a blast. What remains decades after is this feeling of loneliness, those dark corners of the streets and mind, and the rain. I was also obsessed with the aesthetic. It was so new for me to see Western-meeting-Eastern culture in such a unique way.

I later opened up to other pieces of the genre and Cyberpunk has something very special. It has this core sense of rebellion. Beyond the characters’ need to survive, they need to fight back against an oppressive system. This is an aspect of this universe that still resonates with me: how an individual can take part of something greater than their own existence.

Tell us about your vision for an illustration you've created for Cyberpunk Legends.

For “Adrenal Booster,” I wanted the character to have this old school look and feel, like in 90s anime which are my main inspiration as an illustrator. That’s why I created this massive, old-looking cyberware. I like this mix of vintage anime aesthetic and the universe of Cyberpunk.