Card Game Exploration — Riftmaw

This creature project explores a range of predatory designs built around sharp silhouettes, exaggerated anatomy, and a sense of raw, instinctive menace. Early sketches pushed different shapes and behaviors, mixing deep-sea influences with a more demonic visual language to find a form that felt dangerous and unpredictable.
The first illustration was a difficult start. I wanted a terrifying monster, but the result leaned too cartoonish and lacked the depth and atmosphere the concept needed. It didn’t capture the tension or fear I was aiming for.
For the new version, I rebuilt the design from the ground up with a stronger focus on lighting, mood, and material detail. This approach helped Riftmaw feel heavier, colder, and more grounded, something both alien and organic, lurking just beyond the edge of vision.
The final stage of the project involved placing the creature inside a custom game card that I designed from scratch. Building the frame, layout, and visuals allowed me to explore how Riftmaw would function in a gameplay context and how its presence translates into a readable, impactful card design. While the card layout takes some light inspiration from Hearthstone’s general readability and framing style, the design itself: artwork, structure, and mechanics-is fully my own concept created specifically for this project.
Overall, this project was a great opportunity to practice creature design from early exploration to polished presentation, and to refine how mood, anatomy, materials, and UI elements work together to tell the story of a monster.