Foreword
Before any introductions, I want to state that this is a personal project. The website that you see in front of you is a diary of that project and a platform on which to share its progress. This will be steps forwards and steps backwards. It may sometimes be informative and other times an itinerary of what has been done and what is left to do. There may be times when it goes silent for a while, and other times when there is a flurry of activity and posts. Snowblind is a passion project that has to be fitted in around a full-time job and real life. The project will only ever progress at a speed that is sustainable for myself, the creator, which leads us nicely into an introduction.
Hello, World!
Hi. My name is John and I have been an artistic creative for the last 24 years (as of the date writing this post). Why “artistic creative” and not a specific discipline? That’s because my creative career has taken me in multiple directions. From graphic design to animation, Concept design, model making and sculpting. My career has been varied.
A Journey
Since 2013 I have been running a miniatures manufacturing business that was seriously hit by the exit from the EU for the UK. It started to bounce back, but the pandemic of 2020 hit it hard again. Throw in some family emergencies and you had a recipe for disaster for the business. It was at this point I decided to dial it back to a hobby business and go into full time employment. In many ways this was liberating as it meant that the pressure to release new miniatures at a regular interval was taken off my shoulders. This allowed me for the first time to really consider a long term animation project. However, deciding on what proved to be more difficult.
Project Snowblind
For several months the project was vague at best. Eventually the first idea was decided upon, but it just didn’t sit right. This would happen several times with a couple of false starts. One was a space station based story, another was an underground adventure (which still has a place in my head). I just couldn’t focus on the right idea to hold my attention for the time I knew it would take to complete it. While sat down doodling an old character of mine the idea hit me. I had been playing around with a story for many years and always kept it as a practice project.
Originally an Unreal Engine project, it felt right to change the name to Snowblind giving its new format. The location is still the same, the protagonist (though younger) hasn’t changed. There are some new creatures, additional characters and the world has generally been expanded upon allowing for a more solid story to be written. This is the start of something long-term. Something that I’m looking forward to making. Something that I hope at least one or two of you reading this post can enjoy, too.