Silhouette

A silhouette is the outline of a form filled with one flat colour, with all interior detail removed. It is what is left when a building stands against a bright sky or a prop sits in front of a lit wall. If something reads in silhouette, it usually reads at a distance, in low light and in motion.

#Why it matters

Players often see the world as shapes before they see surfaces. Emilia Schatz of Naughty Dog stresses "preserving the silhouette" of gameplay objects, warning that the more an outline is obscured, "the harder it is to recognize for what it is" (80 Level: Defining Environment Language for Video Games). A ledge that blends into rubble, or a door hidden behind clutter, stops working as a gameplay cue.

Silhouette also carries most of a form's shape language. The round, rectangular and pointed shape families described in character design are read mostly through the outline (waltdisney.org: What is Shape Language?). Art director Eddie Bennun describes building an environment image "from big shapes and silhouettes to small storytelling details" (The Gnomon Workshop: Environmental Storytelling: Composition and…), which matches the primary, secondary and tertiary forms idea of primary forms first.

#Examples

#How to test a silhouette

1. Fill test. Render or paint the object in flat black against white (or the reverse). In an engine, an unlit black material against a bright background works. Check whether someone can name it.
2. Squint or blur. Half-close your eyes or blur a screenshot. Interior detail goes first; the outline is what remains.
3. Distance test. Scale the screenshot down to thumbnail size, around 64–128 px across. Landmarks and key props should still be recognisable.
4. Overlap test. View the object in place, from player eye height. Check whether nearby objects merge with its outline. Two silhouettes that touch become one shape.
5. Rotate. Environment assets are seen from many angles. Check the silhouette from the three or four angles the player is most likely to see.

#Related terms

shape language · primary, secondary and tertiary forms · focal point · composition · value · landmarks · affordance · scale and proportion

#Further reading and watching