Kokoro

Roleplay servers run on their own economy. Players open businesses, put on events and work for each other, all in character. Kokoro was one of those businesses: a music label with its own artists, and my character was its designer.

That made Kokoro a real client. The names on the posters were other players’ characters, and the nights on the posters happened, in a city that only exists inside the game.

Kokoro is Japanese for heart, so the logo is the kanji 心, painted with a dry brush. Its two dots are hearts.

Koko is the label’s maneki-neko, the beckoning lucky cat. The original Koko was drawn by Aiko. I redrew her to match the label: tattoos, piercings, a black collar and new proportions, and the same smile.

Rockaholics was a rock night the label put on in the city, with players’ characters on the bill. Koko headlines the poster.

It’s printed in three inks, red, cream and black: darker and louder than Koko’s usual warm colours, because it’s a rock night.

Designing for a label that only existed in a game was a lot of fun: as Kokoro’s designer I had almost complete creative freedom. Most design on the server is amateur work, so when players were impressed by the posters and the new Koko, that made me really happy.

I still think Koko looks sick. If I drew her again, I’d give her Japanese-style tattoos, to match where she comes from.