The Imaginary Worlds of Yoshitaka Amano
It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that no one has played a bigger role in defining the visual style of the video game franchise, Final Fantasy, than the artist Yoshitaka Amano. His ethereal landscapes, filled with gentle brushstrokes, pastel tones and languid strokes of the brush, have helped the video game series endure for nearly four decades.
Amano joined Square (the video game developer behind Final Fantasy in 1987, as a conceptual artist. His work encompassed every aspect of the game’s visual development—from character design to graphics and logos. In a time when Japanese RPGs (role-playing games) were trying to establish an identity that was distinct from their Western counterparts, Amano’s contribution—of a style that was distinctly Japanese while also drawing from its roots in Western fantasy—went a long towards helping the series make its inimitable mark on the industry.
Final Fantasy has endured for such a substantial amount of time due to this intense passion and reverence for quality. Amano continues to this day to maintain a consistency of visual language for the franchise, still working on promotional imagery, as well as the designs for the logos. This ensures that whether you are a veteran playing your tenth instalment in the series, or a newcomer, you are experiencing the magic of this illustrious artist.
As well as crafting the visual identity within the video game world, Amano has also contributed to fashion illustration. For the January issue of Vogue Italia 2020, Amano was one of seven artists to provide a cover for the magazine. The issue contained no photo production for their editorial content, relying entirely on the mediums of painting, drawing, graphic design and collage to convey the clothing. This return to more traditional methods of artistic expression, not only proved that more sustainable means of content creation could be achieved, but also in a world inundated with AI and digital generation, physical mediums still hold a vital place.
