Heya yall, HalfACupOfRice here. There's a list of corrections and notes below but before I need to address something else: I am overwhelmed by the amount of support that has poured in since uploading this video. As a student who has other life obligations, this was very much a passion project and never would've I expected this video to break over 1k views let alone 10k! This is why I love being a part of the Arknights community and there is no amount of appreciation I can give to truly represent how thankful I am for all of you who have watched and sent such supportive comments. Thank you so much to everyone! ❖[ NOTES & CORRECTIONS ]❖ ○ 04:40 - [Correction] De Stijl (Neoplasticism) is a Dutch (from the Netherlands) instead of Danish (from Denmark). Thank you to those who pointed that out in the comments! ○ 12:31 - [Note] (Thanks to @untemperance for this) It seems that the actual typeface used by Hypergryph for Lonetrail is ITC Avant Garde Gothic.

Definitely not expecting a graphic design analysis on Arknights, a welcome one indeed.

NoriZC without a doubt one of the best main artists working on Arknights. The way he renders textures and colors on clothing / geometric objects is uniquely unmatched.

The LONETRAIL logo itself evokes a sense of urgency. The letter E cuts off part of the letter T, as if the E is about to overtake T in a race. The A is also leaning to the right, pointing towards a left to right motion. Just as a typewriter creates new words from left to right, Kristen uses ambitions from the past (her parents) to create historical innovations that impact the future.

Yessss please! As a graphic designer, I was first struck with how enthralling, clean, and thematic AK is with their UI and event/story design! Right when I first downloaded it, I was hooked! But I never saw much appreciation for it… until this vid! So I appreciate that you did this and hope that you’ll do more design analysis!

Huh, I thought CN would be the only one to make this kind of vids for AK since one was made back then when they had Lone Trail a few months ago. Good to know that some people in EN also appreciates AK's UI design, I swear it's underrated.

Lone Trail is the one of the best Arknights event I've ever played. It's great to see the elements that makes this event very memorable

I am just impressed how Arknights as a product is satisfying almost every branch of creative industry. PV 3D animations, Anime 2D animations, Live2D, Storytelling, OST (fuck me, there is opera singer who reviews arknights OST and who is impressed about how Der Hexenkönig became excellent modern interpretation of Franz Schubert Erlkönig and how this game is one of very few mediums that is presenting classical music to younger generations) and now graphic design. I was just aesthetically pleased with that side story event and now I know why. Thank you for your video. I learn a lot through that 17 minutes. Do you think of doing more this kind of graphic design analysis? Not only arknights but games overall. I think this is just empty niche on YT that just waits for someone to fill it.

I bet you these artists 100 years ago did not imagine their work would become so famous, as to become part of the culture of an era, which would then be parodied in a video game, which itself would be discussed in a video essay.

We be fighting: - Rogue humantarian group - The government - The shadow government - Ocean cultist > "Earth dome"

DUDE FFS EN NEED THIS!!! thank you so much to honestly create one of the best content analysis the EN sphere of AK ever have. THIS is what AK supposed to evoke to their player, the discussion on things that we take for granted namely the graphic design, something that makes AK so different than other in the market. and im watching knowing fully well how I'll get emotional again and damn i have no shame to said that i cry again, LoneTrail is perfection. so many things i wanna said but ill said just this one, LoneTrail success wouldn't be so monumental if not for HG been feeding us with a real sense of history in the making aswell as diversity in culture and era all this years prior to it. they DID NOT made LoneTrail just bcs, they fully aware of it since the beginning and decided the epitome of humanity moment in AK will be the same as we had irl. and that's what missing in most sci-fi story, the sense of enduring history and the passing of it, they just made a setting in the far or near future with all it's aesthetic and call it a day can't stress enough of how hard it is to pull of a fcking first spaceflight as your peak in this world setting but that cemented AK as one of a kind truly in that regard. again, thank you so much for this and for the emotional ride. i honestly couldn't believe anything could top LoneTrail for me, Goodnight Kirsten

Dam bro that last minute is actually moving me to tears remembering Kirsten This was probably the hardest event for me emotionally just because of how much I love Kirsten’s character I hope one day she wakes up and can see the future she brought to terra

Incredible...arknights NEEDS more content like this. The game has much more to offer than just the gameplay and soundtrack. Keep the good work.

Man just randomly dropped one of the best arknights videos to date

I’m gonna say this. Just like your analysis, I , a college student from a graphic design school, agreed to this as I also recognized each and every detail when I first play this event. Each details do really carry weight and emotions and bonus the songs, ost made me cry for how beautiful the world of Terra and its lore have become. Futura font show me quite a lot about Rhine Lab technology and our counterparts irl era. And yes I did homework research on that, the era of standardization for mass production and many more. A race of technology and space. And just like your video when analyze the very two of your personal favorite details. A lone pioneer and her space station, float amongst the stars. And fun fact, the “We have a lift off” in the trailer, PV and Boss OST (Kristen OST), it’s come from the real life audio from Control Room when the Voyager 1 launch.

It just amazes me how much thought and research Arknights’ GameDesigners have put into bringing each event to life. The way they use history as a means to develop new yet familiar looking stories was a process I always wish to see more of. Especially with Lonetrail , where they nailed the retro futuristic theme in audio and visual language. The more I’m happy someone else explaining what made the aesthetic of certain events so pleasing and harmonious. Thank you for the video.

THIS is the Arknights content we need! And what better event to discuss the game's design elements than Lone Trail? Great show!

This might be the only video so far that explores Arknights' artistic theme that isn't just music. You sir actually input history in an Arknights video, one that, for some reason, is always ignored (except for Marcomeatball). The graphic design of Arknights has always been ignored, as cc only focuses on stage mechanics, operators, and music, severely underestimating the power of articism in the game. And also, I am grateful for the proper use of hypothesis as it is, instead of slapping every educated guess/opinions as 'theory.'

Another thing to add to this is the logo of Lonetrail is reminded me of the Sony Betamax L-750 Dynamicron. Most of the time, whatever the betamax tape contains is written on the cardboard cover alongside the color band. Which signifies whatever we are seeing now is but a record of the past, a record of a significant turning point, and something that can be looked at with nostalgia and a feeling of "tomorrow has possibilities".

I'm surprised none of the event actually made use of Futura like you did in your video, considering it's kind of a staple of the Moon landing aesthetic and Prey (2017) uses it in every aspect of its graphic design. The typeface that the game uses is ITC Avant Garde Gothic, with a bold font weight, not Futura. I'm not sure you can fully make the claim that Avant Garde here is trying to emulate Futura because the latter looks at its best at a thin weight and with expanded tracking, while Avant Garde looks its best with a bold weight and tightened tracking (which conveniently happens to be Arknights' type design comfort zone). I do agree that it works to similar effect, naturally. I tried remaking the Lonetrail wordmark in Illustrator and made a shoddy attempt at cutting out the shapes from the characters before I found out that these are actually alternate glyph designs that are part of the font. Funnily enough, the Investigation Section is how I found that out; and that this is the exact same typeface used in the logo (and Dark Souls-style location names showing up on screen) of the game Control. In fact, Avant Garde is quite unusual for this style because the lowercase together look like they're somewhat rounded despite mostly having Futura's dedication to sharp angle terminals and relatively thinner stems even at bolder weights. It looks like Futura, but it doesn't look like Futura. It's also distinctly younger than Futura (from the 1920s), but happens to have been released in the 1960s, meaning it's just in time for the space race.

I remember when I first saw Silence Alter’s little drone thingy it reminded me a ton of some Russian stuff I vaguely remembered seeing in a 20th century architecture/design class in college - thanks so much for putting this together, it’s super interesting!!!

Lone trail will always have a sweet spot on my heart since it was the first pv I watched and instantly got me stunned by how good it was. I can only wish Arknights as a game was bigger, imagine living in an universe where we got anime version of this event man...

You should, and I mean REALLY, you should make analysis videos on other Arknights' events, particularly the Integrated Strategies. I can see the potential in the quality of how you gave the exposition, and when combined with your knowledge and practiced graphic design background, you'd make future banger analysis videos, of course if you intend to make more videos like this in the future. 😊

I am in love with this, as an artist and graphic designer I love these lore and deep dives into visual design, especially for arknights, keep up the great work and make more stuff like this!

I dunno, I am bored, going to rewatch this video. It's good so why not.

Lone Trail feels like a tribute to 1960 Sci Fi movies related to space exploration, like Odyssey 2001

I'm a graphic design student and this video came out coincidentally when my graphic design history subject touched this period. Thanks for helping me study man

Idk how to say this but this video reminds me of internet historian's type of incognito mode content where he just talks about a random topic and goes in-depth about them but somehow makes it really engaging and fansinating to someone like me who has no idea about graphic design or the other topics etc. I really like it hope you might make another video like this maybe not even about arknights or graphic design. I think with better video editing visual-wise at beginning of your videos your videos will speak to a lot people really well. This stuff is fasinating, and good work bro.

Honestly such an excellent video! I feel like you'd have to be blind not to be struck by the amazing visual language of this event, and seeing someone actually go through and analyze it was fascinating!

I still remember watching the trailer when it was uploaded for the first time, around six months ago. I couldn't stop hyping almost every week. The visual design, the soundtrack, the altimeter in the stages, the CRT-like screen when you open the event menu for the first time, the overall space race aesthetic, the lore dump screens, even the timing of Kristen's appearance in all three stages when you play them in 1x speed. I hecking love it, so much that my brain went productive. I even made some wallpaper (and login screen) for my phone and desktop. The visual design in Lone Trail is what made me so hyped when the event went live on Global server. I didn't want Muelsyse, even though she's a limited operator. I wanted Ho'olheyak just because she looks, well, intriguing, but after reading the reviews I didn't really want her. The only new operator that I wanted, got, and enjoyed was Melanite, just because she was designed by redjuice.

I was not expecting a graphic design essay when I clicked on an arknight video but this was really well-made. I hope we can get to see more stuff like this.

I highly recommend to give this a watch as Lone trail alone has spark a deep feeling in me for the early days of Sci fi that I have loved ever since I have known about Space odyssey!

This is really cool, thank you very much for making this! I would love to see more analyses or dives from you on AK visual/graphic design, whether event focuses like for Il Siracusano for example, or random promotional videos they've made like the in-universe ads they show on livestreams, or enemy/NPC fashion design that evokes certain styles and cultures for different locations on Terra, or even taking a look at the art styles of official artists like NoriZC and how they've been used surrounding the game!

While it might be hard for you to do it in consistent pace, I hope you can continue making contents like this. This is so good! As the uneducated I really take visual design for granted. Just like science, it has long history of craftmans and also taking with them the story of humanity's journey. Good luck on the contest!

Thanks a lot for this, I lov the video! The aesthetic of lone trail was a shock for me since the first time I saw it in 4th anniversary livestream. Edit: I also saw a bit of NoriZC (artist of a lot of Rhine lab characters) style in the event, he's also my favourite artist so I enjoyed the style of the event even more

rrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah lonetrail is PEAK design. From the music to the visuals it's such a banger. Hope I can do something similar someday.

Bro, HOW DID I JUST MISSED THIS VIDEO?! I should've watched this earlier when Lone Trail is still around.

I remember trying out my first event on arknights and I got bored because of how long it took me to read the lore of these events so I just skip the story and just played until the fifth mission to get the rewards and it was like that until this event. During this year I've been afk farming stages kinda cause I didnt think my operators were strong enough to complete stages from main theme or these events and it was going to be like that for a while and then lone trail releases and I absolutelly loved it so now I decided to not miss my chance again, I knew I was going to get a lot of spoilers from the event but I didn't care I really didnt want to miss it so now I'm determined to complete all the main theme, side stories, vignettes, etc so I can understand the lore better. Before lone trail I didn't even start episode 4 and as of right now I just finished darknights memoir (including the mini anhilation mission) and I'm going to start episode 7 tomorrow and when I finish episode 8 I'll just play most side events/intermezzi/etc (I'm using a guide and I think that's supposed to be the order) Thanks to this event I changed my perspective of this game and fell in love even more with arknights :)

This has become by far my favourite Arknights video. I absolutely love the vibe that Lone Trail gave off, yet I couldn't exactly figure out why - and this video has done just that! You've opened my eyes to the beauty and nuances of graphic design, and for that I can't thank you enough

I still love Kristen's Aesthetic with the Coat worn on the left side and clipped on her right shoulder while having a corporate attire screaming CEO of Rhine Lab and her Left hand has these contraption that signifies "Control" since yaknow. Kristen is Control. Might be a stretch but im here for it.

I literally was dreaming of this video, because I loved the visual style and couldn't remember what it was called.

I’ve been blown away by their graphic design for ages but I think it peaked here. Seeing the Here I Stand typography and the colors it used really sold me. Also another thing, it really looks like saria’s design for this event ripped elements straight from the example you used for Constructivism.

One of the best events. The only one which got me to BELIEVE and FEEL this much was the Stultifera Navis. And oh boy, the main theme of the event and Kristen theme... Masterpieces. When the aesthetic alone gives you a spirit of braving the darkness and breaching into an unknown like trailbrazers of the past, this is really proving something about the humble gacha

this was a great video! im always disappointed by how little analytical content there is on youtube about arknights and its story, most of the content i've found is about its meta. i love lone trail's aesthetic and norizc is one of my favorite artists. hoping this leads to more video essay-style analysis of the game!

This is exactly the type of video that we needed for such a graphically intricate event like this one, thank you dearly

As someone who appreciates AK in all shapes and form (gameplay, soundtrack, lore), this was a very interesting watch. I rarely come over this type of video, glad someone was nerding over Lone Trail since i, too, at one point is quite obsessed with Lone Trail story.

That is very thorough and detailed analysis from the visual communication design aspect. I really like the way you describe it, and the way you edit this video. Congrats, you gain another subscriber. Also goodnight Kristen, goodnight Pioneer. May your breakthrough become Terran civilization's first step, and inspire countless stelar voyage. I do hope so for our Earth, may one day humanity will touch the edge of universe and discover every beauty inside it.

Good luck with the contest! With such a high quality output I'm sure you'll win

Damn I missed this event already, I really like to spent my time admiring their retrofuturistic UI desing

Insane quality! The amount of effort you put into this shows and it was a blast watching the entire video. Can't wait to see what videos you have in store for the future!

This is a video I didn’t know I needed. Well done and a perfect way to appreciate an incredible event that HG didn’t have to go so hard on.

Love this video, their graphic design is something we should appreciate indeed.

One of the best videos i've seen until now from a content creator. The way you told the history of graphic design is really profound e show your effort making this video. Really impressing, I'm crying for this...

Thanks for the recomendation yt, I really liked this video and has only 180 views at the moment I saw it.

Remember the name when there will be more vids about the interface of the AK, a very nice video, truly you broke the barrier with this, that the path in front of you goes up.

I already miss Lonetrail because I legit spent hours staring at the art on the UI

Goddamn imma start calling you the chef because you definitely cooked gourmet

im surprised there arent more videos like these this deep dive was really good especially given the lore

Lonetrail was easily the most beautifully made event in the game wich was amazing

Amazing video, you just made me fall in love with lone trail again. Space exploration will always be my favorite genre if done correctly.

Really good job! Deserves to be watched by many!

You picked up one all the parts I noticed and even some more! Excellent. But I wouldn't be able to appreciate all this without my experience from dating a graphic designer/artist lady so its nice and sad that most people only "feel" that it was good design but don't know why. But that's life :)

Fish wandered onto land, and humans wandered onto space. The cycle continues.

Really appreciate this vid, i love lonetrail event graphic design and someone make a full breakdown about it. Nice works!

was waiting for a video like this for lone trail ty for this 🙏

I love these type of video analysis of the visual design. Hopefully you make more of different events. Thank you for this video!!

the details of explaining the graphic design of lone trail is flawless, even minor details are tackled well we want to see more of these content like these in other major arknights event in other countries of terra from you or in other games or media you find interesting if you want

This is so fucking good. As an artist I need more!

I thoroughly enjoyed this video and hope to see more like it, whether for AK or something else. The design in AK, in particular lone trail, does so much to immerse you in a world where you are watching 2 pngs write novels at each other. (This is not a dig, I love AK story)

used this as a guide to make my presentations look like Lone Trail. Your work is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for teaching me graphic design

I'm currently drawing a poster inspired by a series of NASA prints for all the planets (till NoriZC beat me to the punch, but I've already gotten so far I might as well publish it), and I'm so glad you put together this video because it's helped me tremendously in pulling together the aesthetic I'm trying to go for :D

It's such a good idea to make graphic design analysis in arknights, the game is so well designed

A little late watching this video but really appreciate the effort! I’ve always said the incredibly varied graphical styles for each event as well as the music composition is what makes Arknights top-notch!

Congrats man

That last bit made me tear up so bad 😭 I hope in AK:EN they managed to developed space travel so they can save Kristen from stasis and maybe make the Galleria Stellaria a small space outpost 😔

As a graphic designer I have to say this is one of the most amazing video I've seen in my 15+years in yotuube! Nicely done I enjoyed every second of the video :)

Just heard you won, Congratulations.

now this is one analysis that is really unique~

A have to say, I'm extremely impressed by the quality of your editing. The way you use visual elements (such as the arrangement of text in the section starting at 5:35) is particularly nice. It reminds me a bit of XboxAhoy's clean style at a few points - definitely a good thing. I think you're going places.

There's some discussion about the genre called "Nasa-punk" recently, especially with the release of Starfield and of course, the Lone Trail event. As for the weirdness factor (such as the usage of flying weird geometry object, the story, etc) you can trace it back to the 2001: space oddysey (1968), but as the design wise, this genre took so much influence during Nasa "re-branding" with the worm logo in 1975. There's so much retro-punks genre out there and it's hard for me to keep it up with all of them. So feel free to add another info. Edit: I was writting these before watching the video lmao. Good job my past self. You spot on

Beautifully put! The design of the event and the event itself are some of the best. And this video is one too!

That was amazing analysis love it!!

i love the design of that event, but this video finally completed my thoughts, the minds behind the event truly cooked with that one, very nice 10/10 video

Wow, you are so good in explaining all of it ❤ And, from the trailer to the art, to the every design, it really captures my childhood of watching retro movies , shows about science fiction, about that space race, how people in the past tries to imagine the future. And that ending regarding Kristen, mannnnnn

awesome!!! arknights inspires so much creativity! this is a wonderful take on a part of arknights (UI, design) i hadn't seen analyzed before

Man, this is amazing video. Thank you very much

Bro your analysis is so good, thanks for the content!!

I've never felt more compelled to subscribe to a channel to listen to more of its future content. What a great and insightful video; quality stuff. Looking forward to more.

That's one heck of a video, especially for the research and tying all the little neat things that this event had for its visual style and intent. I am looking forward to more of such content

It was an exciting and very informative presentation, which also takes us back into the melancholic atmosphere of this event. Good job. And thank you.

Thank you so much for this video. Teaching these insights does so much for helping people better appreciate art and the things they love. I would totally watch another video like this from you.

phenomenal video, its great to see people talk about the aspects that made this event one of the best

this is such a great video i was looking for exactly this type of analysis on the graphical design of this event

This was an excellent video and I really appreciate the effort you put in to break down all the details of Arknights that I hadn’t analyzed as thoroughly.

If this video only came a few weeks earlier omg. Had this little contest where we make an ad for Rhine Labs and I tried to keep it similar thematically to the event, tho after watching this I feel like I missed a lot of smaller details 🥲. Such a banger video!!

This is really well made. I felt like I was watching a Documentary from Ahoy. Great work, youve thought me something quite interesting and made me notice something I didnt before

I don't know how to express my feelings... It's just, so lucky that we have such a wonderful game and wonderful community😭

watching this for the 2nd time, this video is so well edited

Thank you for the effort! Good work, I appreciate this a lot TTTT

Thank you so much for this breakdown of the graphical elements! It makes me appreciate and love Lonetrail even more than I already do. Won't be ashmed to tell you that I shed a tear over the poetic beauty of the visual design with the themes it's trying to represent.