Hello Runners! I’m Patrick, also known as BlueHg, NISEI’s Art Coordinator. I don’t write a whole lot on here, but I wanted to take some time to do one of my favorite things ever: supporting artists! I’ve had the exceptional pleasure of working with many artists to help bring Downfall to life, and I wanted to take the time to show some appreciation for all the hard work and hours they spent on helping make Downfall a fully realized and professional set.
The artists retain print rights for the art we commission, so if you’d like to buy a print of their art, I recommend you contact them!
Olie Boldador
Olie has been around the Netrunner community for quite some time. I first saw this Reina art in 2015, and since then he’s been commissioned for several other fan alts for Netrunner events, such as 2015 Dutch Invitationals, 2015 Filipino Nationals, and 2016 Nordic Nationals. He clearly has great passion for his work, and is the most prolific artist for Downfall who is not already a part of NISEI. His Always Have a Backup Plan was featured on our 2019 Store Championships mat, and his art graces some of the most iconic cards of the set, such as SDS Drone Deployment, Direct Access, and Whistleblower.
Olie’s portfolio can be found here.
Diana Simonova
Also known as Antheia Vaulor, Diana is wonderful at figurative work. Her caring portrayal of Letheia Nisei on her eponymous card and Hoshiko Shiro on Climactic Showdown imbued them with a lot of personality. Diana’s Climactic Showdown art is even going to be featured on this year’s Continental Championships playmat!
You can view Diana’s portfolio here.
Elizaveta Sokolova
Elizaveta has been one of our most reliable and hard-working artists. She made Lucky Charm into more than just a soulless doodad, and her vision of setting the Corporate Social Responsibility Campaign billboard against the backdrop of dilapidated slums completely embodies the conflicted nature of the setting. She also helped a lot when another artist fell through and managed to do a fantastic job of Supercorridor. She’s been wonderful to work with, and we’ll certainly see more of her art in the future!
Elizaveta’s portfolio can be found here.
Emilio Rodriguez
You just might recognize this name! Emilio has been involved with art for the game for a while, creating the unique structures and buildings that are so iconic on many Corp cards. I was over the moon that he was able to find time in his busy schedule to do yet another iconic piece of art for us, our very own Jinteki ID, Hyoubu Institute. Nestled at the foot of a mountain, this piece perfectly portrays Jinteki’s secretive nature. The roads themselves even form a symbol that is quintessentially Jinteki.
Check out Emilio’s portfolio here.
Izzy Pruett
Our illustrious Creative Director, Holly Chandler, has actually known Izzy for quite some time. A prominent artist within the furry community, she has a lot of talent and is responsible for the Companion cards, Fencer Fueno and Trickster Taka. Taka in particular might be one of my favorite pieces from the set! His dark, shadowy posture contrasts with the bright digital foliage surrounding him, making for an enigmatically eerie image. It’s the kind of juxtaposition that only happens in Netrunner’s cyberspace.
You can find more of Izzy’s work on her Twitter (mildly NSFW).
Luminita Pham
Luminita is our secret weapon! She’s the artist behind our Runner IDs, Az McCaffrey and Lat. This girl does a lot of work before she even sets pen to paper (or stylus to… well you get the idea). She does exhaustive work investigating aspects of the character and ensuring everything’s good with us before she even starts. From researching trans fashion and proportions to a deep dive into Lat’s Iban tattoos, I’m sure Luminita could write a novel about all the things she’s looked into to ensure she’s doing justice to our characters and to the diversity that’s embedded in the DNA of the Netrunner universe. On top of that, she’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with! Look out for more from her in the future.
Browse Luminita’s portfolio here.
Kira L. Nguyen
HB has a very distinctive style of building, from the strange geometry of Seidr Laboratories to the artistically inclined Asa Group, and Kira had the unenviable task of creating a new HB ID that would be just as iconic. With his depiction of MirrorMorph, I think he succeeded! From the vague suggestion of an ‘H’ shape across the two buildings and their reflection in the pool, as well as their ‘morphed’ facades facing each other, this interpretation was more than I could have hoped for. He also depicted the very first NISEI Bioroid, Calvin B4L3Y, imparting a sterile and severe ambiance that perfectly encapsulates the character.
Check out Kira’s portfolio here.
Janet Bruesselbach
Janet is a long-time Netrunner player in the NYC meta, as well as an established artist and gallery manager, so it’s only natural that she would contribute to our first set! Janet’s art is absolutely beautiful and her depiction of the gentle giant “Baklan” Bochkin is no exception. Her online gallery had some issues recently, so I very much encourage you to donate to her Patreon. Even more so because Janet’s art is very queer- and body-positive, which is always a cause worth investing in!
Find out more about Janet’s work at her Patreon (NSFW).
Deivis Goetten
The art for Remastered Edition is in no need of remastering! Deivis is a comic artist by trade, and I was thrilled with his depiction of kids in the future enjoying a video game. This art prompt had so many small references, from the composition, to the DreamWake Disney-esque castle, to the logo on the moon. Deivis nailed all of them, making it look deceptively easy, and really made this piece a wonderful homage to the most iconic of NBN agendas.
Dimik
Dimik’s art for Focus Group is another one of my favorites in the set. It can be hard to represent a character already depicted in stories, but Dimik drew Bex Gleeson with style! She captured everything perfectly, from Bex’s frenzied expression while frantically scribbling down notes, to the shadowy psychographics she is eagerly drinking in from the screens around her. Dimik took what could be a very boring concept (taking notes while looking at computer screens) and made it incredibly dynamic and exciting—no small feat!
Wyn Lacabra
On the subject of characters that have already been depicted… Wyn is the artist behind our suite of retro Runner connections, The Nihilist, The Artist, and The Class Act. These characters are absolute legends to our community, and he really did them justice. He asked lots of questions, always doing his best to ensure these characters were portrayed correctly, and I’m extremely glad he did! From Andromeda’s newfound control over her luxury, to Kate obsessively making art, to Noise finding a second calling doing whatever he wants, this set of cards honors the beginning of our collective obsession with this card game, and I can’t stress enough how pleased I am with Wyn’s depictions of them.
Jakuza
Speaking of obsessions, don’t mention lasers around our next artist, Jakuza! He does art as a hobby—indeed none of his cards or creations are for sale (much to my chagrin!). He’s a member of the Enschede Netrunner community in the Netherlands, and TOs many tournaments in the area. He ran his own King of Lasers tournament last November, where the lucky tournament-goers received IDs laser-etched into materials like wood, cork, metal, acrylic, and… cheese? Really? The man is a paragon of the community, and I’m very grateful he did the Rezeki art for us, which is oddly appropriate for him. Rezeki is a Malay word meaning sustenance, but it also encapsulates many other concepts, such as livelihood, nourishment, and good fortune. Jakuza likewise provides so much to the Dutch Netrunner community, and is a crucial part of keeping it going strong!
Akira J. Mitchell
Almost everything I said about Jakuza’s TOing efforts could be applied to Akira and her local meta in the York, UK area. A part of NISEI’s OP team, Akira decided to try her hand at using the Deep Dream Generator to create art for us. She did the art for Congratulations!, and since then she’s created a series of Netrunner alts (available in the link above) in the style of the Original Netrunner Cards. She just released her Series 2 alts, and both series deftly straddle the line between campy and stylish. She’s got a wonderful sense of humor, and if you’re looking for additional prize support for your local meta, I highly recommend you pick up a set of her cards!
Akira’s alt-art shop can be found here.
Iain Fairclough
NISEI’s resident Worldbuilder, Iain (also known as dis) contributed many pieces to Downfall, including the evocative Stargate. He enjoys esoteric references, from the Gauss art being a nod to the mathematician’s love of heptadecagons, to the uncertainty equation nestled at the back of Vulnerability Audit. I work pretty closely with Iain, as he’s one of the main progenitors of the ideas for art briefs, which I expand on before delivering them to artists. Beyond the art he’s done for Downfall, the process of writing art briefs for 65 unique cards per set is a very taxing exercise, and without him, Holly Chandler, and Calvin Wong working together, the wonderful pieces of art on our cards would not come to fruition. He doesn’t have a portfolio or store to direct you to, unfortunately!
McGregor T. Crowley
Another member of NISEI, McGregor (also known as ArcV2) is part of our Design team. His role is that of a sort of problem solver. He’s very good at identifying the core of a design issue and providing solutions, a skill he put to great use in the art he contributed to Downfall! He ingeniously incorporated 3D models into his art before flattening the picture and Deep Dreaming it, creating Utae. Without him, Downfall wouldn’t have been released as successfully as it was, and our magical girl’s icebreaker would be missing just a little bit of magic. Sadly, he also doesn’t have a website or store.
N. Hopkins
Ms. Hopkins, our resident NISEI Moderation Coordinator, was kind enough to jump on a lot of the problem cards we had near the end when we were getting artist’s block. Beyond tackling Tiered Subscription and Increased Drop Rates near the finish line, she also put her hobby of nature photography to great use with Rime, our little mythic ICE from Downfall. She’s very kind, and has been a reliable member of the team to ask for opinions or help when we’re struggling with something completely unrelated to her area of work. I really admire the willingness with which she helps everyone on the team, including me!
Krembler
This guy. I saved the best for last. Without Krembler, creating all the art for this set would not have been possible. He has a history in the Netrunner scene as part of the Artist Colony, a group of artists in the community who support each other and constructively critique each other’s work, helping to make all us better at what we do. He was the first of the Artist Colony to experiment with the Deep Dream Generator, and has only gotten better at using it! What he does is not easy — try Deep Dream for yourself and see how long it takes you to get something as elegant as Nanoetching Matrix or Storgotic Resonator (another one of my favorite pieces from this set). A cherished member of NISEI, he did the bulk of the artwork in the set at breakneck pace! And on top of all this, his incredible work ethic means he still finds the time to make even more Netrunner-related art pieces and turn them into alts. I deeply encourage you to buy art from his store and support him for all the amazing work he’s done for NISEI and the community.
Check out Krembler’s store here.
And of course, I haven’t forgotten about the other members of my team, Kevin Tame and Izzy Iqbal. They didn’t contribute art to this set because they were too busy making the wonderful glyphs, templates, and card backs! I’ll write more about them in the future in other graphic design articles, but I really wanted to include them here since they were essential to getting Downfall looking like a professional card game.
That’s it for the Downfall artists! Sometime soon I’ll do something similar for those who have worked on the Organized Play Kits, and perhaps an article on glyph or template design (something I’m still not quite sure I’ve fully gotten past). Comment and let us know what you’re interested in hearing about. And thank you all for your continued support! I promise you’ll be blown away by what we have in store for Uprising — but that will have to wait. Until then, support artists, and always be running!
Shard 2: Turn all cards in Archives facedown.
