Richard Vander Wende is an American

visual designer Communication design is a mixed discipline between design and information-development concerned with how media communicate with people. A communication design approach is concerned with developing the message and aesthetics in media. It also crea ...

and

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

designer best known for his work on the 1992

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

film ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'' and the

Cyan Worlds Cyan, Inc., doing business as Cyan Worlds, is an American video game developer and publisher based in Mead, Washington. Founded by brothers Rand Miller, Rand and Robyn Miller in 1987, the company created the Myst (series), ''Myst'' series. ...

computer game ''

Riven ''Riven: The Sequel to Myst'' is a 1997 adventure game developed by Cyan Productions and published by Red Orb Entertainment. The second installment of the ''Myst'' series, ''Riven'' was released for Mac and Windows personal computers on Oc ...

''.

Career

Vander Wende's career began at

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...

(ILM), working on projects such as the films ''

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

'' and ''

Innerspace ''Innerspace'' is a 1987 American science fiction comedy film directed by Joe Dante and produced by Michael Finnell, inspired by the 1966 film ''Fantastic Voyage''. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan, Robert Picardo, and Kevin ...

'' as a concept designer. Because of a fondness for the old

films, Vander Wende took a position at

Walt Disney Feature Animation Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

. His early visual development for ''

'' led directors

Ron Clements Ronald Francis Clements (born April 25, 1953) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He often collaborates with fellow director John Musker and is best known for writing and directing the Disney animated films ...

and

John Musker John Edward Musker (born November 8, 1953) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He often collaborates with fellow director Ron Clements and is best known for writing and directing the Disney animated films ''Th ...

to choose that story as the subject for their next film. Vander Wende eventually became

production designer In film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Work ...

for the film. Following his stint at Disney, Vander Wende became interested in the potential of

computer games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

as a medium for telling a different kind of story. After a chance meeting with

Robyn Miller Robyn Charles Miller (born August 6, 1966) is an American video game designer who is the co-founder of Cyan Worlds with brother Rand Miller. He served as co-designer of the popular computer game ''Myst'', which held the title of best-selling co ...

, he began working at Cyan (currently,

) and eventually became co-director and co-designer of the computer game ''

; the sequel to

Myst ''Myst'' is a 1993 adventure video game developed by Cyan and published by Broderbund for Mac OS. In the game, the player travels via a special book to a mysterious island called Myst. The player interacts with objects and traverses the ...

''. His more cinematic visual influence is seen throughout the ''Riven'' world. After the launch of ''Riven'', Vander Wende left Cyan to pursue other work before returning to Cyan in 2023 as director of their upcoming remake of ''Riven''.

References

External links

* *
WIRED magazine - ''Riven'' cover story

Feature Creatures, a newspaper interview

Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture - Richard Vander Wende gives a talk.
American production designers American video game designers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) ArtCenter College of Design alumni Cyan Worlds people {{videogame-bio-stub