Embodiment, Digital Empathy, and Human-Computer Iteraction
Hi! I’m Chris Solarski—a game design and cultural heritage expert, based in Zurich, Switzerland. I started my career in video games at Sony Computer Entertainment’s London Studio during the PlayStation 2 and PSP era, before making a detour into figurative oil painting. The unusual mix of game art and classical art eventually inspired me to author a series of books that explore the intersections between traditional art practices and interaction design. I have a special interest in how the virtual world and game mechanics shape the player’s physical and emotional experience
Affiliations
Member of the advisory board for the EU-funded EPIC-WE project, which aims to empower kids across Europe to create games about self-expression and cultural heritage.
The innovative web-based platform, enabling kids to capture drawings and effortlessly turn them into dynamic video game assets within seconds, using custom capture-and-code technology and visual programming tools.
Chair the International Game Developers Association’s Swiss Chapter, and co-founded the IGDA Game Art SIG—serving to promote innovation, knowledge share, diversity and sustainable work practises.
Collaborate on events with the Swiss Arts Council for #swissgames and 'She Got Game' programs; and support partnerships between Swiss and Indian development communities for Pro Helvetia New Delhi.
Upcoming Workshops
My Books
Endorsements
"The convergence of narrative in film, video games, and virtual reality will fundamentally change the entertainment industry in coming years. Chris Solarski's book gives content creators crucial insights into interactive story composition and how to adapt these concepts for transmedia storytelling."
"The concepts presented in Chris Solarski's book remind me of Joseph Campbell's powerful demonstration of a universal storytelling structure. This book creates that wonderful feeling of learning new letters, which soon prove useful to form new sentences for bringing new poetry to the world."
"Chris’ work and writings brought me a deep insight and perspective about game design and art. His thorough research on storytelling in games, and how that translates to shape languages in game art that evokes certain emotions to the players, makes me look at visual art very differently today."
"Chris Solarski's book is extremely ambitious; from the smallest detail to broad concepts that encompass an immense scale, its truly applied methodology serves as a catalyst that enriches the reader's heart and promotes the creation of pure art."
"Chris Solarski's book supports my own 30-year crusade to demonstrate that games are an art form that undeniably rivals traditional arts. It gives detailed explanations of game art techniques and their importance, while also highlighting their dependence on artistic aspects of game design
and programming."
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"Chris Solarski's book is a great game design resource, as it breaks down shape theory in all aspects of design."
"The clever thing about Chris Solarski's book is that it bridges the worlds of game design and storytelling. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get into game design and understand what's going on beneath the surface."
Past Speaking Venues
