GOOGLE
INTERLAND
ART / ANIMATION DIRECTOR
GOOGLE
SUMMARY
A global educational platform from Google, built as four connected browser games to make internet safety simple, playful, and memorable for children and classrooms.
I led the visual development across all four games, shaping the low-poly worlds, characters, and villains to match gameplay and Google’s guidelines. I directed character and in-game animations, collaborated in WebGL to fine-tune performance, and produced the launch trailers that helped the platform reach millions worldwide.
TYPE
Educational Games
WebGL Experience
Game Trailers
PROJECT
Client: GOOGLE
Studio: North Kingdom
Year: 2020
WHAT I DID
ART DIRECTION
ANIMATION DIRECTION
CINEMATICS / TRAILER DIRECTION
AWARDS
Awwwards SotD
FWA Top 100
FWA SotD
European Design Awards
My challenge was to visualize and design the look for all four games. That meant creating worlds, characters, and villains that matched gameplay mechanics while staying faithful to Google’s guidelines. The result had to feel playful and educational, yet scalable and instantly recognizable as Google.
MY ROLE
I led the visual development of the games style, animation and effects from start to finish. I set the low-poly style and directed character animation, then designed and even built environments (because way too much fun not to), and character palettes to reinforce gameplay clarity. To move quickly, I built directly in 3D and collaborated hands-on with developers in WebGL to fine-tune color, scale, and effects for browser performance.
I also directed and edited the launch trailers, extending the visual identity into cinematic storytelling that introduced the games to a global audience.
RESULT
Interland became the flagship of Google’s Be Internet Awesome program. In the first four months it logged 163,000+ hours of gameplay and over 30,000 curriculum downloads. It continues to be played worldwide in multiple languages and has become a model for how educational games can blend fun with meaningful impact.
Recognition included the European Design Awards, FWA Top 100, FWA Site of the Day, and Awwwards Site of the Day.
LOOP
LINKS
WRAP UP
This project showed how far an educational brief can go when you treat it like a real game. By shaping everything from character motion to world palettes, I helped create a product that is still teaching and entertaining kids years later.