Farewell Adam Adamowicz : The Visual Mind Behind Fallout 3

Earlier today we learned that Adam Adamowicz, one of the main concept artists behind Fallout 3, Skyrim and other Bethesda titles, passed away today. It was silently announced, but I'd like to shine some light on Adam because he was an anomaly in the game industry, a veritable one-man conceptual machine, who unlike his contemporary counterparts, did a majority of his work in non digital mediums. Fallout 3 was pretty much visually designed from the ground up by one humble man who got little to no recognition, nor sought it.

For those who are unaware, I also work in the videogame industry as a concept artist and often sought inspiration from what other conceptual designers were doing in the industry. Back when Fallout 3 was released, it came with a making of DVD showcasing how the game was built from the ground up. When Adam's art pit showed up in the video, with his own hand drawn art covering every inch of space from the ground up in his cubicle I was nothing short of blown away, and filled with inspiration.

Hearing him talk about how he approached visual design changed my mindset about how I approached concept art, it had a real effect on me. Seriously, just sit back and imagine how much work it took one man to design a world as vast as Fallout 3 over the course of its development. For most artists in this industry that would seem like an impossible feat! Adam had something special going on, and was committed to the vision that everyone around him had at Bethesda.  The fact that the game industry has lost this bright mind is a major blow in my opinion, and through our little blog I hope to shed some light on an event that most gaming blogs couldn't care less about.

Please check out after the break to get a little spotlight on his legacy.