Hi, I'm Hannah Belan

I'm an artist and designer with interactive media and game development expertise. My focus is on the visual arts, but I am working on furthering my incorporation of the senses into my experience design. Currently, I am a graduate student and I am working to receive my MFA in May 2025. I am pursuing a career as an educator in the arts and I look forward to bringing my experiences in 3D modeling and interactive design into the classroom. I have experience teaching courses both at the college and high school level. I welcome the next big project with open arms!

Physical Installations

I have worked on developing physical interactive experiences that focus on the concepts of coziness, nostalgia and hope. While I still am actively creating digital art, I have spent the last two years focusing on my ability to incorporate every sense into an experience.

Digital Painting

Whether it be studying a masterwork, painting from life, or creating something new from my mind, painting anything has been a joy throughout my life. I have loved taking my traditional techniques and knowledge into the digital realm to develop an artistic pipeline.

Logos, Stickers, and Design. Oh my!

From button designs to conference logos, I love to create vector art that mirrors the mood that my client aims to create with their work.

3D Models

I spent my final years of my undergraduate degree working on my 3D modeling skills. I developed a 3D modeling pipeline for my characters that allowed me to block out characters of drastically different body types quickly and efficiently. I also worked on my ability to create simple modular 3D environments that allowed for complex looking scenes.

Animations

A simple animation can breathe life into a character, showing their personality and how they interact with the world around them. Whether it be a full walk cycle or a looping emote, I love to elevate my designs with animations.

Character Design and Emotes

Over the past several years I have worked with amazing content creators to develop emotes, characters, and branding that reflects their online personas.

What inspires me?

I find most of my inspiration from the world around me; I love finding ways to incorporate all of the senses into an experience and to grow what it means to have an interactive experience. Whether it be game development or artistic endeavors, an experience is elevated when an individual is able to transport themselves into the world you are building.I also find inspiration in color and light. I admire the ability to be able to find the color where there is none, to use light to tell a story, and to understand the impact that either can have to the story you wish to tell.

Memoirscape

Memoirscape is a play on the traditional escape room that encourages you to stay and learn more about the world it is set in. A discussion on queer love, memory, and blocking out the past set (mostly) in an eerily cozy 1986 apartment.I was responsible for the visual design of the room and assisted with the construction of the pillars on which the interactive experience was built. My aim for the design of this experience was to create a cozy environment that was slightly offputting in the details. I wanted the room to pull you in at first glance, but with further inspection, some aspects didn't seem right or felt out of place. It was a balancing act between a narrative-driven escape room and an experience that didn't require you to interact with the story or game at all.
From the smell of old wood and fabric to the feeling of static when you near the television, every sense comes into play when you enter Memoirscape.

Memoirscape Featured in...FDG 2024, under the title of "The Theseus Project: Applying Advances in Memoryscape Technology Toward Novel Applications"
This Boston Post Mortem Interview
As a nominee for the Live Action Spotlight Award at IndieCade festival
This WPI Article
This Eurogamer Article

2 Hour Joseph Leyendecker Study

Amma is one of the six models I created for WPI's Rigs of Color projectThis project focuses on tackling a lack of diversity relentlessly and unapologetically present in animated media.Given a Spotlight at GDC 2022
Discussed at the GDC 2023 Fair Play Summit
This WPI Article
As an IGDA Resource