Got a new one We are interviewing Vana’diel above Final Fantasy XI commemorative website. However, instead of MMO, it’s about Final Fantasy and its art. In it Koichi Ishii, who acted as the designer on the original Final FantasyYoshitaka Amano said “was the first thing that came to mind” when choosing an illustrator for the game.
Here is Ishii’s full comment on how Yoshitaka Amano influenced Final Fantasy and eventually became the artist of the series. He also gives how Amano Maten Art books influenced his projects. He also mentioned how he introduced Amano to series author Hironobu Sakaguchi, and the turning point associated with it.
Back then, I wanted to create a fantasy world in digital form and used to draw illustrations in my notebooks. With FFI I also wanted to design a world where spirits and other supernatural beings feel close. From there, the visualizations I got were based on Mr. Amano’s illustrations.
At the time, the three illustrators whose styles were closest to my ideas were Rodney Matthews, Greg Hildebrandt, and Mr. Amano. In particular, I consider Mr. Amano a leading figure in the world of Japanese fantasy illustration, to the extent that I have consulted Maten to help me expand my imagination when working on projects for Square. That’s why Mr. Amano is the first person that comes to mind when I think of the person I want to ask to illustrate my world. FFI.I went to Mr. Sakaguchi and passionately explained that Mr. Amano’s art was perfect for FFI , but on that point, he doesn’t seem very convincing. But after about a week, Mr. Sakaguchi himself came up to me and said, “Ishii, I have found a great artist, what do you think?” and when he showed me the illustration, it turned out to be Mr. Amano’s work. (laugh)
Yoshitaka Amano also discussed Final Fantasy in the interview. He notes, “For me at the time, fantasy was the subject I wanted to draw the most. Honestly, I don’t know much about video games, but I’d love to try any job that leads to fantasy.” Ishii also mentioned how Amano worked on the monster designs as well as the concept art, illustrations, and cover. Amano notes that usually he will draw covers for projects first and in the first instance Final Fantasy that happened near the end.
Amano also talks about how his animated backgrounds help designs. Here is his exact quote.
That’s where my animated background comes in handy. When it comes to animation, it’s important to design characters with shadows that can be recognized even from a distance. I had that in mind when designing monsters for FFI, and it turns out that it also works for pixel art.
Yoshitaka Amano created art for Final Fantasy game since the original, with some of his most recent designs appearing for FFXVand the series’ 35th anniversary logo.
