Interaction Humanism
Hi! I’m Chris Solarski, a transmedia designer and acclaimed author based in Zurich, Switzerland. I empower people to playfully explore identity, culture, and creativity through shared interactive experiences—blending physical and digital media.
My career began as a game artist during the PlayStation 2 and PSP era at Sony Computer Entertainment's London Studio. Since then, I’ve developed unique design methodologies—endorsed by Hollywood director Marc Forster—that have gained an international following among students, academics and professionals exploring digital empathy and human-centred interaction across multiple design industries. I’ve presented my work at organisations including the Smithsonian Museum, Disney Research, PechaKucha, SXSW, and Google.
In my current practice, I guide individuals in bringing a traditional artistic sensibility and expression to interaction design; developing museum toolkits that empower communities to co-author installations celebrating human connection and cultural heritage; and translating research data into transformative experiences that invite the public to reflect and actively explore patterns of knowledge.
Affiliations
My Books
Endorsements
"The convergence of narrative in film, video games, and virtual reality will fundamentally change the entertainment industry in coming years. Chris Solarski's book gives content creators crucial insights into interactive story composition and how to adapt these concepts for transmedia storytelling."
"The concepts presented in Chris Solarski's book remind me of Joseph Campbell's powerful demonstration of a universal storytelling structure. This book creates that wonderful feeling of learning new letters, which soon prove useful to form new sentences for bringing new poetry to the world."
"Chris’ work and writings brought me a deep insight and perspective about game design and art. His thorough research on storytelling in games, and how that translates to shape languages in game art that evokes certain emotions to the players, makes me look at visual art very differently today."
"Chris Solarski's book is extremely ambitious; from the smallest detail to broad concepts that encompass an immense scale, its truly applied methodology serves as a catalyst that enriches the reader's heart and promotes the creation of pure art."
"Chris Solarski's book supports my own 30-year crusade to demonstrate that games are an art form that undeniably rivals traditional arts. It gives detailed explanations of game art techniques and their importance, while also highlighting their dependence on artistic aspects of game design
and programming."
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"Chris Solarski's book is a great game design resource, as it breaks down shape theory in all aspects of design."
"The clever thing about Chris Solarski's book is that it bridges the worlds of game design and storytelling. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get into game design and understand what's going on beneath the surface."
Past Speaking Venues
