Merchant Mike

Estoty2022 I was the main 2D artist on Merchant Mike, a cheerful triple-tile match game where players solve puzzles and grow their business empire alongside Mike and his corgi sidekick, Milo. I helped shape the game’s entire visual world, from the main characters, NPCs, to colorful shops, fun upgradeable locations, and piles of polished merge icons.

Responsibilities:

• Art Direction

• Concept Art

• Character & Environment Design

• Asset Design

• Illustration

• Merge icons

• UI Elements

Promotional illustration

Promotional illustration created for Merchant Mike, also used as the game’s main loading screen.

MAIN CHARACTER

Main character design. It went through couple of concepts before settling on the design that felt recognisable and fun.

Other runner up concepts for the main character.

NPC design

A variety of desings for customer NPCs. From regular ones to special ones like dinosaur, pirate, and astronaut.

CORGI character

Main character’s sidekick Milo. I aimed to design a companion that felt connected to the main character, easy to read, full of personality, and visually tied together through colour choices and shapes.

LOCATION CONCEPTS AND OBJECTS

Concepts for upgradeable locations in Merchant Mike. The focus was on rich, colourful environments filled with distinctive objects to make each upgrade visually rewarding.

Concept designs for the items and a visual reference for the 3D modelling.

ILLUSTRATIONS

In-game illustrations shown when unlocking new mechanics. Includes final art and rough composition sketches.

MERGE ICONS

Icons for the game's tile merging mechanic. Each level had its own unique set of tiles, so I created dozens of detailed, polished icons that felt fun and satisfying to click on. I focused on vibrant colors, playful themes, and made sure each icon stayed super readable even when stacked in large tile clusters.