Q&A with Jake Fleming: On Designing the 2013 NaNo Theme, and His 8-bit Creative Inspiration

Have you checked out the amazing donor goodies and great NaNo swag yet? Our 8-bit theme was designed to power-up your noveling for good by the incredible Jake Fleming. We asked him about his creative inspirations:

Jake! Thanks for coming on the blog. Be honest: what was your first thought when you heard what the NaNoWriMo 2013 design theme was?

My first thought was, “This is awesome.” I was born in the 80’s, so I grew up playing Nintendo. That’s why I think the idea appealed to me so much. Immediately after reading the design brief, I had an explosion of ideas and was anxious to start sketching out some concepts.

I can’t take all the credit, though. My brother Nate, another 80’s baby, is an 8-bit pixel-pushing master so I knew he would be a huge asset to the project—definitely a team effort here.

If you were a video game character, what would be your super skill that would make you invaluable to your team members?

If we’re talking real-life Jake packaged as a video game character, I’d have to say my super skill would be the ability to not crack under stress. So maybe I’d be some sort of impervious rock boy who blocks doors from being shut and shields my companions from dangerous projectiles. Yeah, that sounds pretty good.

Do you listen to music while you draw? If so, what were you listening to while you worked on these nifty NaNo designs?

I’m almost always listening to music when I’m sketching or arranging the final product on my MacBook. Usually it’s just shuffle on my Spotify library, but I made a special playlist just for the NaNoWriMo project.

The artists that the list consisted of were Anamanaguchi, Boy vs Bacteria, 047, Lifeformed, Jim Guthrie, and Starscream and was aptly named, “Hyper Super Mega.” No, I’m not joking and yes, these artists all make video game music.

If you powered up and did NaNoWriMo this November, what would your novel be about?

My novel would probably be about a man who arrives home after a long unspecified period of time, only to find his house is not where he left it. It’s mysteriously moved five feet to the right! Who would have gone through all this trouble to dig up his house and move it a mere five feet away?

Well, I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out.

What was your favorite NaNo design to work on this year and why? We promise we won’t tell the other designs your answer.

The poster was the most fun. It has pretty much every element from the other designs in it. Creating the poster was really like creating a small video game, which is what I do in my spare time anyway so it was right up my alley.

I actually just released a game of my own to the iOS App Store, called Grilly The Cheese. It was so great to be able to pull my brother in to help me with this NaNoWriMo project. His 8-bit pixel skills are amazing and I couldn’t have pulled it off by myself.

You can see more of his art in his upcoming game Trigger Happy Hustle, and over here at pixeljoint.

What is your favorite video game from your childhood?

This is a tough one, but I think i have to go with Ducktales for NES. The music in that game just puts it over the edge for me. I’ve gone back and replayed that one every few years since my childhood and it never gets old. It’s the perfect example of what an NES game should be.

Born in Alton, IL and living in Chicago, Jake holds degrees in graphic design and business. In 2012, he cofounded Piasa Games, an indie game company whose focus is on iOS applications with the recently released title, Grilly The Cheese. He spends most days at Chicago-based startup, Appiphony, where he helps to design award-winning web applications and reigns infinitely as the ping pong champion.