· design · 2 min read
Art Direction — Warm Gothic Storybook, Not Horror Binge
Carved wood, parchment, candlelight, and amber rim light. How we picked a visual identity that says "secret trial" without saying "do not play after midnight."
Witch Town is set in a fictional colonial town of the same name. The art direction is warm cinematic 3D storybook-gothic — not jump-scare horror, not cartoon slapstick. Think carved wood, parchment cards, lantern glow, and family-friendly suspense.
Palette
We borrowed from the in-game design system:
- Backgrounds: Deep purple-blacks (
#0e0b12,#08070b) — the mist has a hex code - Wood tones: Carved table surfaces, warm browns
- Parchment & gold: Card text, accents, CTAs —
#d4ad68gold on#f3eadbtext - Semantic colors: Red accusations, green skills, blue equipment, black witch events, white roles
Card art
Fifteen role portraits (v2 AVIF), action card faces, identity cards, and tabletop tokens. Each card color maps to a mechanic — red means someone is about to have a bad afternoon.
Character seats
Twelve townsfolk portraits (Rowan, Milo, Evelyn, Beatrix, etc.) serve as table avatars, not hidden roles. Your seat portrait is who you look like; your identity card is who you actually are. Trust no portrait.
Environments
Lobby, waiting room, game table at night, settlement town — each scene sets mood without loading screens that feel like a different game.
Production notes
Assets ship as AVIF for runtime performance. This marketing site uses the same art — because if the brochure looks better than the game, we have a problem.
More asset breakdowns in future posts. For now: the mist is rendered, the lanterns flicker, and Giles Corey’s portrait looks like a man who has opinions about trials.
