GENE BANK ART PROGRESSION

Mo Tejerina is back with his art progression of the Gene Bank, a machine in Rapture that you will find yourself using quite frequently. Originally called a "plasmi-quik", this progression shows how the decor of Rapture went from industrial to art deco.

Click the images to enlarge.

These are two of the first Gene Bank sketches from over two and a half years ago. Back then, Rapture had more of a rustic and industrial feel to it, and the design was supposed to echo the look of a medicine cabinet.

Rethinking the design of the first two drawings, this concept was created. The mechanical parts were kept to make the machine look very "real" and that the mechnical parts would "work".

As you can see, each piece has a real-life object in mind when this concept was created. The idea was that a citizen of Rapture could take the tools from the world above the water and recraft them into machines such as the Gene Bank.

After the concept was agreed upon, color was added and the materials that would be used to build the machine were chosen. We then sent this design over to the Australia office to build.

A year passed, and the rustic, industrial feeling was rethought, and Rapture became much more art deco. While the functionality of the machine didn't change, we had to rework the imagery. These were the three options show to the art director.

These are the color studies for the redesigned Gene Bank.

After the color studies, the Gene Bank was put aside for a while, then again re-thought. A back plate was mounted to it for better attachment to the wall, and Rob Waters designed the icons on the machine. Then the pink drops were added to the ends of the syringes by our special effects guru, Steve Alexander. Then, finally, the plasmi-quik was renamed the Gene Bank, and these are the final renders of a machine you will get to know quite intimately during your playthrough of BioShock.