Machinarium

Words by Jez Burrows, Monday 02 November 2009

Created by independent Czech developers Amanita, Machinarium is a deceptively immersive point-and-click adventure game, notable not only for its pitch-perfect soundtrack but for the beautifully considered art direction. It is completely delightful and does great things for a medium often unfairly ignored or flat-out derided in design circles.

The first three stages can be trialled online, after which the full game can be bought (for both Mac/PC) which includes the wonderful Tomáš Dvořák soundtrack.

Most Recent

More like this:

Opinion / Miscellaneous Why creatives should take the election advantage

As we reach the day of our third general election in five years, Creative Brief’s Izzy Ashton looks at why creativity could do with getting a little political.

Izzy Ashton — 12 December 2019
Work / Miscellaneous Make yourself heard: we take a look at the creative projects encouraging people to vote

As the election looms and the deadline for registering to vote is imminent (tonight!), the creative community has come together to encourage people to sign up. Here are some of our favourite responses, from a Black Mirror-style campaign based on real things MPs have said to a series of illustrated skate stickers.

Laura Snoad — 26 November 2019
Sponsored / Miscellaneous Exploring the charming characters, expressive storytelling and cinematic scenery of JSR's artists

Introducing three highly commissionable creatives on the books at agency JSR: illustrators Charlotte Mei and Tiffany Beucher, and photographer Matt Hind.

Sponsored Content — 28 October 2019
Features / Miscellaneous Meet Simone Giertz, the self-proclaimed Queen of Shitty Robots

Born and raised in Sweden, Simone has been building things since she was a child. Today, she runs a YouTube channel with nearly 2 million subscribers who eagerly anticipate her next “shitty robot”. We caught up with Simone to chat making things fail on purpose, getting bored and undergoing treatment for two brain tumours online.

Ruby Boddington — 14 October 2019
Features / Miscellaneous Food for thought on the day the Global Climate Strike begins

As the seven-day event kicks off, we’ve closed the It’s Nice That studio in order to join the protest. In our absence, here are 12 recent stories about creative projects tackling the crisis.

It's Nice That — 20 September 2019
Sponsored / Miscellaneous How designers are utilising the creative possibilities of sustainable print

You don’t need us to tell you that sustainable design is, today, about so much more than ticking boxes or jumping through hoops. A far cry from simply ticking boxes, many are seizing the creative opportunities that working with print sustainably affords, seeing it as a breeding ground for new and exciting ways of working.

It's Nice That — 18 September 2019

Work / Photography “An endless love story”: Claudine Doury returns to the Amur River to photograph its people

Having first travelled to the Russian Far East now 27 years prior, the French photographer decided to return for “introspective reasons” and to find the same people she’d met so long ago. This forms the crux to her most recent series, Une odyssée sibérienne, and newly released book, Amour.

Ayla Angelos — 13 December 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Peter Millard gives a humorous account of his journey so far

There’s no need to take life too seriously is there? On the evidence of his closing talk at November’s Nicer Tuesdays, we can assume that Peter Millard doesn’t, and it’s working pretty well for him.

It's Nice That — 13 December 2019
Work / Illustration “They’re the only things I would save in a fire”: A peak inside Hattie Stewart’s marvellous sketch books

The queen of doodles talks us through the “sacred space” of her sketchbook practice, and the importance of taking time for personal development in a hectic creative work schedule.

Jyni Ong — 13 December 2019
Work / Illustration Illustrator Katy Stubbs on moulding her dishy stories out of clay

Switching delft for daft, Katy is rethinking traditional ceramics through her eccentric illustrator’s lens.

Peach Doble — 13 December 2019
Work / Graphic Design Tom Noon on his musical, spontaneous and illustrative approach to graphic design

Tom sees illustration and design as two media that “aren’t mutually exclusive”. Instead, he combines these elements across the board to build on his spontaneous process for clients such as Adidas, Jadu Heart, Low Island and Khruangbin. We caught up with him to find out more.

Ayla Angelos — 13 December 2019
Work / Art Nazif Lopulissa rethinks the shapes and forms of the children’s playground

Much is said about the influence of childhood experience on personal development, and in the case of Dutch artist, Nazif Lopulissa, it is those early years that continue to shape his creative output. “A lot of my work is actually inspired by childhood memories, inspired by objects or events when I was a child,” he says.

Charlie Filmer-Court — 12 December 2019

Work / Animation Egg is an animation about attempting – and failing – to take control of something you are afraid of

Animator and director Martina Scarpelli talks us through her critically-acclaimed 12-minute short Egg, a highly personal reimagining of a woman who has to eat an egg, but doesn’t want to.

Jyni Ong — 12 December 2019
Opinion / Miscellaneous Why creatives should take the election advantage

As we reach the day of our third general election in five years, Creative Brief’s Izzy Ashton looks at why creativity could do with getting a little political.

Izzy Ashton — 12 December 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Adrienne Law on making something digital feel physical

With nostalgia at its heart, Adrienne Law from Ustwo Games explained how they made their latest project Assemble with Care at November’s Nicer Tuesdays.

It's Nice That — 12 December 2019
Work / Graphic Design Kyuho Kim imagines the shapes of words in his inventive design practice

The Seoul-based designer showcases a mammoth amount of innovative design work on his website. As someone who works with book, poster and web design, the highly creative designer talks us through three recent projects and how he first got into design.

Jyni Ong — 12 December 2019
Work / Illustration Stomping boots and pouting lips, Taylor Silk’s woven women are icons of female sexuality

Introduced to underground art by the comics of Robert Crumb when she was young, Taylor’s woven artworks comment on sexuality, queerness and feminism.

Peach Doble — 12 December 2019
Work / Illustration Jooyoung Kim’s illustrated book is about a long boi in a world of fluffy short bois

Emerging from a refreshing swim, a long dog leaps onto the grass to swish and shake the water off its body. In her hilarious new book, Leipzig-based illustrator Jooyoung Kim creates a world of day-to-day dogs.

Peach Doble — 12 December 2019

Work / Photography Stephanie Lüscher turns the food of The Netherlands into the mountains of Switzerland

Having worked as an art director at KesselsKramer since 2016, this is the first personal project Stephanie has produced. It sees her creating a tribute to the mountains she grew up with in Switzerland through the food of The Netherlands, in a tongue-in-cheek nod to her new (very) flat home.

Ruby Boddington — 12 December 2019
Features / Illustration Celebrating 100 issues of the It’s Nice That Weekly Comic

Over the past two years, the It’s Nice That Weekly Comic has seen 26 illustrators create 100 brilliant Instagram comics. Here we highlight just a few of our favourite moments…

Simon Smith — 12 December 2019
Work / Photography Hick Duarte uses his camera to document the plurality of Brazilian youth culture

Based in São Paulo, Hick is committed to portraying the visual codes of Brazilian youth in all their complexities. He does so through considered casting, experimentation across media, and a collaborative mindset.

Ruby Boddington — 11 December 2019
Work / Graphic Design Fhuiae Kim explores “the third language” in her calming graphic design works

The Seoul-based designer is interested in pursuing the third language through her delicate graphic design works. This is not a written form of language, nor a pictorial one, but somewhere in between.

Jyni Ong — 11 December 2019
Work / Graphic Design Folch designs a typeface embodying the “energetic universe” of acid house

The studio’s senior designer tells us about their new venture into education, Acid House, and the typeface designed for the project’s communications.

Ruby Boddington — 11 December 2019
Work / Illustration Illustrator Michael McGregor turns the mundane into something extraordinary

The LA-based illustrator looks towards his immediate surroundings for inspiration. Whether it’s the market, the cafe, something stumbled upon in his home studio or found on a glorious morning walk, it’s the simple things that he finds most interesting.

Ayla Angelos — 11 December 2019

Work / Publication All together now: Pascal Claude compiles a visual history of the beloved footie record

The Zurich-based curator behind Football Disco talks to us about transforming his 1,000-strong collection of football-related 7-inch records into a book celebrating the wins and own goals of design.

Laura Snoad — 11 December 2019
Work / Illustration “Part-animal, part-household object”: Frédérique Rusch on her wonderfully cryptic illustrations

Encompassing both 2D illustrations and 3-dimensional sculptures, the illustrator’s work challenges and toys with the idea that objects need to have a use or a purpose, and that they should communicate a clear message.

Ayla Angelos — 11 December 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Ines Alpha on imagining a future with digital pets and 3D makeup

At her Nicer Tuesdays talk in November, Ines spoke with enthusiasm about the future of AR and digital expression, and about how her practice is propelling this unique area of creativity forward.

It's Nice That — 11 December 2019
Work / Art Artist Panayiotis Terzis creates vibrant works inspired by his upbringing in Greece

The Thessaloniki-born and NYC-based artist is a man of many disciplines. Not only does he create colour-rich paintings and drawings, but he also lends his hands to Risograph printing and publishing at Mega Press, a RisoLab in Manhattan.

Ayla Angelos — 10 December 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Vikram Kushwah shares the intimate and revealing backstory behind his award-winning series

The fashion and documentary photographer tells us about his beautiful series The Education I Never Had in which he visits the Indian school his father has taught at for the last 35 years, and reflects on how their lives have become so different.

It's Nice That — 10 December 2019
Work / Graphic Design Can you translate a memory into a digital font family? Klim and Dia collaborate on Söhne

The renowned New Zealand type foundry talks us through its latest typeface Söhne, inspired by Unimark’s visual system for the New York subway. For its release, Klim collaborated with kinetic type foundry Dia to further encapsulate the analogue process behind the new font family.

Jyni Ong — 10 December 2019

Work / Illustration Satirical and humorous, Megumi Ono-Chan illustrates a “lustful labourer”

Funny advertisements on trains, construction sites, hipster clothing from secondhand shops, messy rooms, traffic signs and rural mountain roads: these are the pillars to the work of the Japanese illustrator.

Ayla Angelos — 10 December 2019
Work / Art Jessie Makinson on the intuitive process behind her fantastical paintings

Featuring dandy hats and highwaymen, alien-like creatures and forest on the brink of ecological disaster, the ideas for Jessie’s paintings appear from the random shapes she daubs on her canvas.

Laura Snoad — 10 December 2019
Sponsored / Event The Adobe MAX Creativity Tour shed light on how to creatively empower ourselves

Last week, on the evening of Tuesday 3 December, creatives around the world tucked into an evening of innovation on screen or in person for The Adobe MAX Creativity Tour. Bringing some of the UK’s most creative minds together in a bubbling line up, the event delved Adobe’s latest updates and programs on offer.

Sponsored Content — 09 December 2019
Work / Graphic Design “We want to challenge and disturb the audience”: meet graphic design studio Alliage

Going about its daily business, the Brussels-based studio meets every day of the week – you will rarely see its two founders working separately. “The way we work together is very organic, while having our own single approach to design."

Ayla Angelos — 09 December 2019
Work / Illustration Abang’s illustrations of 15 women aim to reveal her true self

The Seoul-based illustrator talks us through her latest book Ladies consisting of 15 illustrated portraits of expressive women.

Jyni Ong — 09 December 2019
Work / Photography Sepia-infused and cinematic, Sam Nixon turns his lens on the stories of the world

This photographer’s outlook is formed via a harmonious blend between documentary, portraiture and fashion, with a tonal glow running throughout – as seen in his most recent project, Yafo to Jericho, published in Document Journal.

Ayla Angelos — 09 December 2019