Ideas Behind the Sons of Iron

The Sons of Iron are one of the most technologically advanced factions in the game. I wanted them to look powerful and menacing but not by portraying them as dark and evil. I wanted them to have some elegance to their design and through that they would be menacing.

I looked at flourishing societies and realised that the role of art and its development becomes increasingly important as that society and its culture continues to grow. The Renaissance flourished both technologically and artistically. Many of the famous artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Bernini were not only artists but designers and architects and many other different things.

Bernini in particular influenced a lot of the architecture of the renaissance. He was primarily a sculptor and his sculptures were large and powerful and I think that shows in these grand and elegant designs.

After looking through some of Bernini's work, there was something powerful about incorporating art into other aspects of design. It suggests a distinguished power that shouldn't be ignored.

The first design was for the spider mech. Although it has only six legs, spider mech sounds better than ant mech.

I was partly inspired by Mad Men and the Jaguar in season 5. I liked classic cars and retaining the shape of what made them look classic in the first place. I felt that the Jaguar was too vibrant and wanted to keep the cold granite look of Bernini's sculptures so I looked further back.

The shape was classic but still felt quite cold. I worked the overall shape into the design and added the legs as a contrast to the sleek body. The legs look sharp and unwelcome and kind of act like a warning.

In later designs, I focused more on the sculpture element. I liked the idea of just being extremely blunt about it and just putting a sculpture on top of a mech.

Bernini's 'Santa Teresa' felt like an iconic image so I worked the pose into another design.

I liked the idea that these statues were faceless and were like a crazy rendition of the pilot inside, like these mechs were known for the statues on top of them.

I carried on with the sculpture theme, even incorporating elements of architecture seen in churches.

Here I exchanged the pilots cockpit for a grave and trying to incorporate elements of sculpture into the actual mech itself. I didn't like the idea because preferring the more toned down mechs above so I didn't continue with the design.

Other designs include this zeppelin mech. I think another element of these designs have been quite insect-like which adds even more to the odd designs.