Habbo Design Blog: Habbo 20th Birthday
HELLO THERE, DESIGNERS! HABBO’S 20TH BIRTHDAY IS APPROACHING FAST AND THERE IS SO MUCH ON THE HORIZON. TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE EVENT YOU HAVE PLANNED IN ORDER TO CELEBRATE 20 YEARS OF HABBO.
Kukuyit: We wanted the theme to be a blend of old and new, to show how far we’ve come and a look to a colourful and bright future, that’s why we went with a touch of art deco style to make the event classy yet glitzy.
Sparkaro: The theme is inspired by the roaring twenties, which I’m excited about because I love the style of clothing and furniture from that era. We’ve incorporated a lot of the iconic elements, such as the flapper dresses, Gatsby-style looks and art deco-inspired furniture. I’m looking forward to seeing the roaring twenties-themed rooms and outfits that Habbos create! We’ve got a lot of other fun stuff too like Habbo 20th anniversary balloons and extensions of popular past furni lines.
sillimanite: I'm really excited about what we have coming up this Summer - 20 years is a huge milestone, so we've got lots planned to celebrate! We've got completely new furni and clothing themed around the Roaring 20s, but also we've given new life to some fan-favourite bundles!
DollsEyes: It’s time to put on your most glamorous clothes and show off your most expensive jewels as we celebrate Habbo’s roaring 20s with a party to rival even Gatsby! You’ll find beautiful art deco inspired furni, clothing, and also some familiar old favourites with a twist!
FIVE YEARS AGO HABBO CELEBRATED ITS 15TH BIRTHDAY WHICH WAS AN INCREDIBLE MILESTONE TO REACH. REFLECTING ON THE PAST FIVE YEARS, OR HOWEVER LONG YOU'VE BEEN ON THE TEAM, HOW FAR WOULD YOU SAY YOU HAVE COME IN YOUR SKILLS? HAVE YOU HAD TO CHANGE OR ADAPT IN ANY WAY?
Kukuyit: I do think as a whole team our pixel art style has developed a lot since five years ago, I remember when I joined we were supposed to be the team that paved the way for a new generation style compared to the classic Habbo look. It meant adding more attention to detail, bringing in more colours, doing more animations and overall giving the furni more value to be enjoyed. Personally for me, thinking in pixels and isometric form has helped develop me as an artist a lot, I’m able to see volume and lighting better and I can see myself improving in my own art over the years.
Sparkaro: It doesn’t seem that long ago that we had the 15th anniversary event - time flies! I think I’ve learned a lot when it comes to pixel art and art in general over the past five years. Because pixel art is so precise, you really have to think carefully about the form, lighting and colour of an object. So I think I have improved in those areas with all the practice of making so much furni and clothing.
sillimanite: I started at Habbo around this time last year, and it has been a really fantastic experience. The team is so creative and inspiring, and I've learned so much from them about pixel art and concept ideation.
DollsEyes: Considering I wasn’t even here five years ago, I think I’ve come a long way! My skills as an artist have grown, and I’ve gotten more efficient in designing and pixelling, which means I can make more cool things even faster!
LOOKING BACK, WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE EVENT YOU’VE WORKED ON SO FAR AS A HABBO DESIGNER? WHAT MADE IT SO MEMORABLE TO YOU?
Kukuyit: I’m a huge fan of Japanese aesthetics, so when I got the chance to work on Ancient Japan for Valentine’s 2015 I was over the moon! It was a time when my skills as a junior artist had grown steadily so I was giving it my all when I worked on the sakura tree, bath and waterfall teleport. They’re still some of the favourite pieces I’ve worked on to date.
Sparkaro: The Tokyo campaign is definitely one of my favourites. There was a lot of great builder furni to create a vibrant city street and cute, quirky items like the plushies and robots.
sillimanite: My favourite so far is an event that is yet to be released. But other than that, my favourite has been this Easter with Alpine Heights. I love the outdoors and hiking, so this was the perfect campaign for me.
DollsEyes: I loved working on the sunlight city event! I’d brought up the idea of a 'solarpunk' campaign, and that became Sunlight City, so it feels extra special to me! I absolutely love the building designs and the whole atmosphere, it’s so warm and peaceful <3
ALTHOUGH HABBO HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME, THE FURNI YOU PRODUCE AND THE THEMES YOU COME UP WITH ARE CONSISTENTLY WELL RECEIVED BY THE HABBO COMMUNITY. HAVE YOU EVER FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO PICK THEMES GIVEN HOW MANY EVENTS WE’VE DONE OVER THE YEARS? ARE THERE THEMES YOU ARE STILL ITCHING TO DO?
Kukuyit: When you do enough seasonal campaigns it does get harder on deciding a strong theme to go for. I’d say the hardest one to develop is Christmas, we’ve had 20 of them already, how do you take iconic elements like trees and presents and make them different and exciting for the next season… that is something I need to face in one months time… *this is fine*.
Sparkaro: It can be difficult to pick themes given that we’ve created so many, especially on traditional events like Easter, Halloween and Christmas. We usually have to think a bit harder for those types of events, to keep the theme fresh and new whilst not straying from the traditional elements too much. Which I like to hope we still manage to accomplish! And we still have a lot of campaign ideas that we’ve noted down and are excited to create in the future.
sillimanite: Of course it's difficult sometimes - one of the most important things I've had to learn in my year working here is just how extensive the past Habbo events are! But we still have plenty of ideas in the bank that we're all really excited about - each member of the team brings a unique perspective so there are always new ideas being suggested and workshopped.
DollsEyes: Repeating events such as Christmas and Halloween can be tricky, as we want to continue creating new, fresh ideas for Habbos to enjoy, but 20 years of doing those events can sometimes make it feel like we’ve done everything already! But the team is great at thinking outside the box, and we always manage to find a way to keep these events exciting!
BACK TO THE PRESENT: WE HAVE SO MANY NEW AND EXCITING FURNI ON THE HORIZON THIS SUMMER. ARE THERE ANY, IN PARTICULAR, YOU THINK THE HABBOS WILL GO CRAZY FOR? WHY?
Kukuyit: I hope the Habbo 20th Balloons will be well received, it's been a while since we've done a new recolour of the classic rares and this time we wanted to put a new spin on it with two-toned colouring to jazz it up a bit. Birthdays that come in decade numbers are long and rare, the idea behind the new styling is to make them stand out amongst the rest of the collection and start a new era of collection styles.
Sparkaro: Judging from the past popularity of the 15th Birthday Balloons, I’m sure the 20th birthday editions are going to be popular!
sillimanite: The Rainy Day bundle is getting a whole bunch of new furni related to staying indoors, which feels very relevant to many of our lives right now!
DollsEyes: I think Habbos will enjoy the bundle expansions/redesigns we’ve created, as it breathes new life into lines we know are well-loved!
NOW THAT YOU’VE HAD THE CHANCE TO THINK ABOUT SOME OF YOUR MOST MEMORABLE EVENTS FROM THE PAST, IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO REVIVE THEM FOR US! DIP INTO YOUR NOSTALGIA AND ILLUSTRATE ONE OF YOUR FAVOURITE EVENTS FROM THE PAST FIVE YEARS. TALK US THROUGH THE WHOLE CONCEPT AND WHY IT’S SO MEMORABLE TO YOU. (SEE BELOW FOR EACH SKETCH IN ORDER, LEFT TO RIGHT.)
Kukuyit: I think the most memorable would be the Tokyo campaign we did in summer of 2018, it was a place I've always wanted to go to since I was a teen so doing research for it was fun and exciting. I particularly liked the small details we added to the furni in the line and fast forward a year later, I got to go there in real life with Sparkaro! The real-life resemblance was uncanny to their pixel counterparts, here's me having a good time eating at a takoyaki stall.
Sparkaro: The fairytale campaign we did for Easter 2018 last year is one of my favourite campaigns because it had a lot of cute and whimsical characters like I drew here with Bonnie Red Riding Hood, Rainbow Forest Chicken and the Ravenous Wolf! I also love the whole enchanted forest aesthetic.
sillimanite: As I mentioned earlier, Alpine Easter has been one of my favourite campaigns so far since it's a topic so close to my heart. Over the past few months, I haven't had any access to the countryside due to lockdown, so this campaign took on an added meaning and felt like the perfect subject for a sketch.
DollsEyes: Sunlight City is a place I’d love to live, so here’s my avatar enjoying a nice cup of tea and some sweet treats while enjoying the sun. Would you like to join them?
Click to read the interview!