The Art of Skelvar: Designing Worlds Across Cultural Boundaries

Yuanyuan Xu

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One of the scenes of Skelvar: The concept design of the snow land
Frostvale’s frozen wasteland: Remnants of a lost civilisation hidden beneath the endless northern snow.
A remote fjord connecting mountains and coastlines, where ancient ruins quietly witness the history of the Snow Land.
Environmental concept art depicting Skelvar’s Summer Bay, where Arctic coastlines briefly awaken during the short northern summer.

Master of Design

Concept Design
The project explores ethics, cultural consultation, and responsible approaches to concept design for games and film. Initially inspired by Sámi culture, Following consultation with the Sámi Council, it became clear that meaningful collaboration would require the project to be community-led and required more time than the project allowed. The work was therefore reoriented toward original world-building, resulting in Skelvar, a northern fantasy world inspired by natural landscapes and environmental storytelling.

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