LANGUAGE ARTS MYTHOLOGY
As part of Art of Problem Solving's design team, we were tasked with creating curriculum assets for our Language Arts partners in our Academy brand. The purpose of these assets was to illustrate a Greek-inspired Mythology course, whose purpose was to teach students Problem Solving and critical thinking skills via language- based puzzles and linguistics.
Our art director, Greta Selman, tasked me to model these drawings after ancient archeological artifacts, as if the students were finding each of these reliefs in an archeological dig. This immersion factor greatly influenced the style I went with, as well as the reference images I based myself on. After honing in on a congruent visual language, we worked with our curriculum directors to translate the dialect they had created for the course, Kalonerian Script, and decorated the various reliefs with it. Each excerpt in Kalonerian hides a different puzzle the students were tasked to solve in order to get through the course, and it was just as much a mystery for us to create as it was for them to solve.
Creative Direction and Character Designs by:
Greta Selman
Reliefs, and Secondary Assets Illustration by:
Nestor Tomaselli
Language Arts Leadership Team:
Jack Sanchez
Matthew Underwood
Dane Scott
COLOR CODES
#DABCA9
#E0C44E
#5F3618
#93B6AB
#705A9F
MOODBOARD
SKETCHES
MAIN RELIEF
The relief depicted below showcases the story of the Island of Kaloneria and it's seasons that have long been dictated by a pantheon of Gods. Aratar, God of the Sky, stands above them all over a large Greco-Roman hearth which brings about summer. To his right is the Goddess Eliya, Halost and the mermaid Thalassa, and to his left is Atana, Thrasia, and Vulphorios. They stand in harmony with each other as the villagers below reap the harvest brought about by the warmth of the glowing fire.
This relief went through a series of revisions that had Gods removed from the pantheon and certain details made larger than others in order to focus in on the important parts of the narrative. Toward the end I drew in a series of cracks and 'weathering' effects that made the relief look more ancient, as it's final spot was going to be sitting atop the pediment of an ancient temple.
The ultimate goal of this piece was to give a strong, detailed visual for the students to decipher the main narrative behind Kaloneria's destruction, and how it's ruins came to be on the present day where the students would be embarking on their archeological expedition.
OBELISK RELIEF
A poem is written at the sides of an obelisk which stands in a recluse corner of Kaloneria....
The relief below was given to students for them to decipher what is being said in ancient Kalonerian Script. The encrypted poem contained clues that led us to understand more about Kaloneria;s eventual demise. Initially, I came up with two separate sketches to interpret the poem description, as it wasn't specified what kind of structure was to hold the scriptures. The Language Arts directors really gravitated toward the ancient obelisk design, and so I further refined it, adding further detail to showcase the terrible damage the island's seasons had done to its monuments. On the final image, I added several archeological notations, as if the page itself had been recreated by an explorer on the island.
NAVIGATIONAL DEVICE
This device was used by ancient sailors to travel to, and around the island of Kaloneria. I based myself on several ancient mariner instruments to come up with various silhouette sketches, which I developed into more refined designs. The sketches and subsequent linearts were crucial for the Language Arts team to decide what layout was best to show the story inscribed on its surface - that of the evil God Karkaros setting the island of Kaloneria ablaze. After further simplifying my sketch to a design agreed upon by our directors, I polished the device's lineart and colored it in to add to the student's classroom materials.
SPEAR OF THALASSA
The spear of Thalassa is a magical device wielded by the Goddess of the waves, and used to control the ocean's currents. An inscription is etched on its side, which forms part of another puzzle the student's must solve to receive extra lore about Kaloneria.
This spear was also included as part of our official course bookmarks, which were handed to every student who participated in the Mythology course.
IN THE CLASSROOM
Our hard work was paid off by the joy and interest displayed by our students in the classroom. Each became their own problem-solving archeologist, and dug deep into Kaloneria's secrets.
Overall, this project was a success and currently forms part of our academic curriculum under Art of Problem Solving's year round course catalog.
