Mati Kalter - Bloom

Bloom

Bloom is a game about restoring desolate planets by planting musical flowers and solving tactile puzzles.
Explore, find your voice, and spread life through creativity and sound in this journey of growth and renewal 🌷

The game was made during a semester at DADIU (The National Academy of Digital, Interactive Entertainment), a collaboration between Danish educational institutions. As Art Director, I lead Bloom's visual design and guided a department of 3D artists within a team of 14 students from art, design, sound, film, and tech backgrounds.

Roles: Art Direction ∙ 3D Art ∙ Tech Art

A Story Shaped by Atmosphere

Bloom's visual style reflects its quiet symbolic themes, relayed without explicit dialogue or narrative. Instead, art and sound intertwine to guide players on an emotional journey.

Soft pastel hues invite calm exploration of several miniature planets, while solving puzzles uncovers vibrant flowers, marking moments of introspection and change. As players spread musical seeds, the planets bloom with evolving shape and color, harmonizing with their song and leading them on a path of discovery and connection.

Final Flower - a combination of all 3

Blue Zone

Yellow Zone

Red Zone

Flowers Guide the Way

Flowers mark each zone with distinct shapes and colors, helping players intuitively navigate the planets. Their extravagant forms intentionally contrast with the timid main character, inviting both the player and the character to flirt with the unknown and emotionally lean into discovery and growth.

Real-life plant references from the Copenhagen Botanical Gardens helped to ground the designs. Our team's visit there inspired a unique visual library (and plenty of new favorite weird plants 🌿) to build from.

Fragile Form, Powerful Voice

The character was designed to feel vulnerable and innocent, intentionally contrasting with the bold, expressive flowers around them. Their enlarged eyes, ears, and nose hint at a quiet observer taking everything in 👀 while a missing mouth reflects their reserved nature… until they finally sing! I used a thickness map, emulative of subsurface scattering to give them their inner glow - suggesting a hidden confidence and voice that shines from within.

2D concept art

Character sings

Final 3D model + material

Communicating Vision

Visual guides helped keep the team aligned on style, mood, and intention. I created concept art and detailed breakdowns for environments, flowers, and animations - which helped the artists stay cohesive and supported designers when exploring interactions and flow.

Credits

Game Direction: Anneli Søgård-Høyer
Production: Zedrick Villegas-Evans
Art Direction, 3D Art, Tech Art: Mati Kalter
Lead Programming: Julian Szachowicz
3D Art: Stefany í Túni
3D Art: Bowie Romer Jørgensen
Audio Design: Karl Birk Andersen
Composition: Johan Feierskov
Game Design: Caroline Sofie Hansen
Game Design: Milas Ray Manley Norman
Programming: Bruce Esplago
Programming: Emil Vilandt Rasmussen
Programming: Jingyan Wang
Programming: Nikolaj Meineche