This is the second complete chess set for the Chesspionage series in order to broaden my Body Of Work on this Masters course. The first side represents either NASA scientists and astronauts, and the opposing side represents alien invaders as seen in various science fiction movies and videogames.
I have designed different thematic sets of Chess Pieces for the Chesspionage Project, in the efforts to flesh out my Body of Work more.
I was asked to create a chess set based on animals, specifically I decided to put together a variety of animals usually found in the Savannah areas of Africa, being Lions, Monkeys, Elephants, Rhinos and Giraffes. I would consider switching the roles of the Rhino and Giraffe around, so that the Rhino is a Rook and the Giraffe is a Knight, which would make more sense.
The next set that I created is a horror themed Chess set, including Frankenstein's Monster and his Bride as the King and Queen, a Vampire as a Bishop, which it makes sense given the religious implications of vampires. Jack-o-Lanterns were decided upon as the Pawn as they are simple in shape, their faces can be carved into many different expressions, and pumpkins can be crushed easily. The Knight is a Dullahan, or a Headless Horseman, riding his horse, making sense for the Knight. The Rook is a Werewolf, this was chosen for its amount of power.
The third set drafted up was a set based on Greek Mythology. The King and the Queen piece represent Hades, the King of the Underworld, and another threatning figure in mythology, Medusa the Gorgon.
The Harpy and Minotaur pieces should be swapped around in their roles, because Harpies are able to fly as Knighrs are able to jump, and Rooks are more befitting for a powerful Minotaur. The Pawns are skeleton warriors, seen most iconically in films like Jason And The Argonauts, and the Bishop is another famous figure in Greek Mythology, the Cyclops. Having similar range of movement to a Minotaur makes it equal in power.
The last unique set that I have made a rough draft of is a Dungeons And Dragons themed set, more specifically, themed around the most powerful and iconic monsters. The first monster who represents the King is the Tarrasque, which is known for being one of the most powerful monsters in Dungeons and Dragons. The same applies for the Queen piece, represented by Tiamat, the Queen Of Chromatic Dragons. The Bishop is represented by the beholder, a crafty opponent who shoots many different rats form its eye stalks, floating around the battlefield. The Knight will be represented by the Troll, who is powerful enough to jump around its opponents. As Trolls are known to lose limbs, it will be designed further to have lost an arm, but will be holding a horse's leg in its intact arm to represent its Knight status. The Rook will be a Death Knight, an while it will not be a Knight in Chess, it is still a ferocious opponent that will have large range in movement. The final piece is the Pawn, who is represented by a meek Goblin, who excel in strength in numbers.
In order to extend my body of work, I needed to design more character sets for the Chesspionage project. To vary the designs significantly, I decided to go for different themes. The first theme I made rough designs for is a Science Fiction theme. The white side of the chess board is based on NASA spacemen and the brains and brawn of Earth's space travel, meanwhile the Black side of the chessboard.
In order to find inspiration and a good frame of reference for the designs of the pieces in this theme, I should look at movies and videogames such as Ridley Scott's 'Alien', 'Starcraft', 'Warhammer 40000', and 'Mars Attacks!'.
The first more detailed sketches were for the pawn pieces, representing astronauts and aliens, both common sights in science fiction. Their simplicity and round designs made them suitable for the role of pawns.
To stay consistent with the first Chesspionage set I designed, their feet are part of the base, making them desemble a chess piece.
The King pieces are based on the ideas of leading powers on both sides. Typically, military generals are used in science fiction as a symbol of authority in space operations, overseeing the operations, which is what i try to convey with these designs, whilst keeping the integrity of chess intact, with the use of the headpieces the same as seen on the tops of chess pieces.
The Alien side ofthe board's forst design goes for a vibe that would be seen in the game series Starcraft, with a slender appearance, fantastical robe and pointier crown. Their appearance also takes influence from Illithids, or Mind Flayers, from Dungeons and Dragons.
A similar design choice was taken when designing the first drafts of the Queen pieces, where a smart scientist makes the role fo the queen on the White Side, while an alien Queen was used for the Black Side of the board. In future, the next design for the Black side's Queen will be more designed after a movie like Alien or Mars Attacks!, which are more iconic and well known when thinking about tyrannical alien life in fiction.
The Knights' first designs are taken from the image of mounts seen in science fiction like Star Wars' Tauntauns, and the probes and rovers used by space stations to explore different planets remotely, such as the Mars Rovers, specifically Curiosity. Their skills in exploring alien terrain make a good candidate for the Knight piece on the White Side, whilst a more alien vehicle or mount (in this case a cavalry unit) works as a base for the design of the Black Knight's piece.
For the Bishop pieces, the Astronaut side goes for a more comical approach with an astronaut ordouned as a priest/bishop, wearing a Mitre on the top of its helmet, and holding a scroll of holy scripture. While there is not a great connection to religion with spece travel, some astronauts and Ground Control at NASA and other space stations will pray to their god for success and safety, so lampooning the subject feels to be slightly comical. The Black Priest on the alien side's design goes for the subject of alien races worshipping their own deities in science fiction, believing in a creator that created their universe and birthed them.
For the Rooks' first design, the idea of large celestial objects being the role of the Rook made sense as a concept, with how difficult they are to impede, both meteors and large space-themed abberations such as Shoggoths. The White side was chosen to be a meteor to represent the research done on them by astrophycisists and space stations in order to prevent them becoming a threat and colliding with the Earth. A Lovecraftian inspired horrific creature like a Shoggoth impeding a piece's progress on a chessboard, whilst being able to move very quickly in 4 directions is fitting for a Rook's space-themed design, and fits in with the design family of aliens.
My next step with This Way Up! was to implement different card backgrounds, based on the importance and severity of some of the objects in ...
