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Games

Tim Reynolds' Low-Poly, Isometric Worlds Are A Fantastical Feast For The Eyes

Artist Tim Reynolds creates low-poly masterpieces that are glittering impressionist landscapes for the tech age.

Tim Reynolds created his stunning Low-Poly, Isometric Worlds series with minimalist illustrations that combine the harmony of analogous colors with the video game-inspired graphics. Reynolds is an exhibit designer and illustrator based in Milwaukee, WI with a background in architecture. His imaginative worlds flow with structured forms, and showcase the low-poly style we’ve been seeing all around the web at its best.

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Low-poly is a style that emerged from the gaming community out of functionality and necessity—fewer polygons allow for higher performance in video games. Polygons are flat, triangular shapes that together form 3D objects. By decreasing the amount of polygons, you can create a less detailed object that carries higher performance in game engines.

Animators and illustrators adopted the aesthetic to model impressionist works that focus on simplicity and geometry. Part of the appeal may be that the low-poly look is abstract enough to allow viewers a bit of subjectivity—they can make the landscape their own and let their own fantasy mingle with that of the artist’s to create something entirely unique and unconventional.

Enamored with Reynolds’ designs, we shot him a few quick questions via email to find out more.

The Creators Project: What is it about the low poly look that appeals to you?
Tim Reynolds:I just enjoy building things with sharp, angular edges. Trying to reinterpret organic shapes in a more stripped-down, geometric approach is really what I’m after.

As a 3D illustrator with a day job, what do you seek to explore in your personal work that you don’t get to do during the day?
One word: fantasy. Maybe my bio should read “staying up late, building little worlds.”

What are 3 design trends that you wish would just go away already?
Haha, I don’t know. I try to not pay much attention to trends. I’ll just say that I hope people do things because they love doing them, not because they’re the popular thing to do at the moment.

All Images Courtesy of Tim Reynolds