Cataclysm might've saved Azeroth, but Andrew Kuhar believes that the old world deserved a proper send off. We talked with the longtime World of Warcraft player and PCG reader about the vintage posters themed after old school bosses he's making, and what the heck that really abstract one is all about. Best of all, you can download these gorgeous posters with the click of your mouse—just click which ones you want (we recommend all of them) and you'll be downloading the 50MB original file in no time. We wouldn't be offended if you took 'em to the printers to be made into actual posters; there's no doubt that your end-game experience will be enhanced as you reflect on bosses past, staring at your from your wall, while you raid the newest content.
Andrew Kuhar: When making the posters, I knew that Bosses like C'Thun and Ragnaros are so visually recognizable that I didn't want to stray too far from what most players probably remember about them. I remember seeing server-first Ragnaros-kill announcements all the time, with guilds posing for a picture around the fallen Hand of Sulfuras.
At the same time, C'Thun's giant eye was, and still is, absolutely terrifying. I had some conceptual fun in the C'Thun poster by making the text (comprised of various phrases he whispers to you as you descend underground) look like a vision test. That sort of juxtaposition—a sentiment against an image—also allowed me some liberties to acknowledge both the old and new worlds in the other two posters.
In the case of Shadowfang Keep and Deadmines, the spotlight fell on Lord Godfrey and Vanessa VanCleef. Both are new characters, but are busy filling in the shoes of two old-world veterans: Archmage Arugal and Edwin VanCleef.
The SFK poster is an image of the keep's silhouette at a distance. Godfrey's words are quite true: he replaced the only human character that was left in the instance.
The in-game flashback of a young Vanessa seeing her father assassinated is very moving, and I decided to tie that into who she becomes later in life: a radical movement leader in the Deadmines dungeon. The poster is definitely the most abstract of the bunch. The only thing drawing the scene is Edwin's blood: in a pool beneath him, smeared from the battle, across his sword, and on Vanessa's hands. As a small homage and foreshadowing, I drew in the red bandanna worn by Defias members, which is now worn around Vanessa's face.
If you'd like to see more of Kuhar's art, you're in luck. His portfolio/website is readily available at http://andrewkuhar.com , and you can read his various game design musings at his blog Digitalchemy . You can also follow him on Twitter here .
