The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Interview

Gameplanet was able to corner The Lord of the Rings: War in the North art director Philip Straub for an article-style and concept art-laden interview about the challenges involved with creating an immersive, cohesive, and ultimately believable Middle-earth experience.
Each environment in War in the North has its own palette and its own lighting solution. (We never do high noon,) emphasises Straub, adding that at midday there are no interesting shadows, no rich colours. Instead, Snowblind is focusing heavily on the twilight hours, dusk and dawn.

Contrast is an equally important tool. (If you look at Rivendell for example, a painting I did in pre-production, that's a lighter moment in the game and it's really important that we had that contrasted with some of the darker, scary environments such as the Barrow Downs or Carn Dum. There we're using a lot of deep reds and blacks, colours that people (at least in America) associate with evil.)

Then there are the characters that occupy this world. (It's important to understand silhouette,) says Straub, (that each character's is unique and recognisable that supports their personality.) He goes on to explain that each character must have a unique and identifiable colour palette, materials, and both positive and negative shapes within the patterns and costumes.