In Fall 2022, Among Us released a collaboration with hololive, featuring not only in-game cosmetics but a slew of all new merchandise to boot. Today we're chatting with Mengmeng Liu, Art Lead at Dual Wield Studio, who designed the selection of enamel pins and two tees for the collection.
Walk us through the design process for the Among Us x hololive enamel pins from start to finish. How did you get started? Do you have any preference on getting initial ideas out on paper, or digitally, and with certain tools or programs? And do you have any WIP sketches to share of the process?
Among Us has a lot of fun cosmetics that translate really well to other forms of media, namely the mini Crewmate has a lot of fun and cute potential for merchandise! So it was just a very natural conclusion to put a mini Crewmate on top of the hololive talents’ heads. There was another different idea that was proposed but ultimately the “mini Crewmate on head” idea had the most appeal (and was the cutest in my honest opinion).
From there it was just providing sketches and some different style choices for hololive to review and go over. I personally prefer to sketch everything digitally, and also do final cleanups digitally too. Pin design is different from just usual spot illustrations, as you have to make sure it’s a design that can be translated well into a pin and won’t cause any issues. I also had to do a lot of color correcting with my Pantone book. There was a lot of back and forth on color ahaha.
Check out some of Mengmeng's development sketches!
If you had any advice or tips for an artist wanting to make enamel pins for the first time, what would that be?
Making enamel pins is fun, but you also have to remember this is a design process, and there are things that you can and can’t do. There’s a whole set of rules that you also need to abide by to make sure your final pin does not end up looking like a mess. Look at other artists’ enamel pins and take notes on how they solve design problems! Also please do not directly rip off said artists’ work. We are doing research, not theft.
Do you have any tips for how to package or organize the pin files when they’re ready to be sent to the factory?
Having everything grouped together by what they are is the best way to do it! Just keeping it organized will do wonders for everyone. I know it’s a pain to label all your layers and groups, but future you and the manufacturers will be happy.
Is there a particular pin that ended up being your favorite?
I’m very biased to my girl Pekora, so obviously Pekora ahahaha.
How about the two t-shirts you designed - does apparel development differ from enamel pins, and are there certain things artists should keep in mind while designing? Any general limitations?
Yes, there’s a different process when making t-shirt designs. The differences come from the physical product I’m designing as they all have their own rules and limitations. Composition comes more into play along with working with a stricter color palette. I also have to consider how the t-shirt color would compliment the art and colors chosen.
Did you pull inspiration from anywhere in particular while planning your designs?
I drew inspiration from the talent themselves! They have very clear aesthetics and themes so being able to draw from them made planning really easy. Also Among Us is eternal.
Any early sketches or WIPs of the t-shirt designs to share?
Did you face any challenges while designing this collection? If so, what were they?
The biggest challenge was just the amount of pins that had to be designed and checked. With ten pins that means ten times the work, along with more people needed to approve the designs. And with so many pins, having to make sure each pin also had the same level of care and appeal was a challenge too!
Where can people follow you and your work online?
I’m over on Twitter @adulture! Fair warning I like to talk about my favorite video games and Gundam a lot. And here's my current art blog.
Interested in shopping the Among Us x hololive collection? You can find it here.