Visual Design with a Mischievous Twist: Behind Sneaky Supper

Keryn Yue's journey as a visual designer is filled with personal stories and playful creativity. In this interview, she discusses how childhood memories, perfectionism, and a passion for user-centered design influenced Sneaky Supper's design. Explore her artistic evolution, behind-the-scenes challenges, and how she finds joy and meaning in every layer of the design process! Plus, meet Steve again as he shares about his experience designing Sneaky Supper!

Q: Hi Keryn! Please give a short introduction about yourself and how you became an artist.

Hello everyone! My name is Keryn, and I’m a visual designer based in Singapore with around four years of experience. I studied Creative Multimedia and a little bit of Game Art Design during my diploma, and my journey into design has always been driven by a love for storytelling and beautiful visuals.

One of my earliest inspirations was Hayao Miyazaki. I grew up watching Studio Ghibli films thanks to my parents, and Princess Mononoke—which coincidentally came out the same year I was born—remains my favorite. The art is stunning, and the narratives are so rich and meaningful that they’ve always stayed with me.

Another big influence was League of Legends. I was captivated by the game's character and environment art, and more recently, the visuals in Arcane blew me away. Back in school, I used to draw a lot of fan art, and I still play the game today—it’s a constant source of creative energy for me.

Q: What are the guiding principles that drive you to be so passionate about art? What is it that you do daily to improve yourself?

I’m my own toughest critic—nothing ever feels finished. If I spend too long on a piece, I inevitably spot flaws and want to start over. Early on, this perfectionism made it hard to complete projects; I have countless sketches that never saw the light of day. But once a deadline is on the calendar, I push through by grounding every choice in data and research.

Before I begin any design, I’d dive deep into research and lean on proven frameworks—like User-Centered Design (UCD) or the Double Diamond—to give my process structure and keep me focused on real user needs. While some may see these frameworks as tools mainly for product design or team environments, I’ve found them incredibly valuable when designing Sneaky Supper—they help ensure the visuals and mechanics align with my target audience and create a more inclusive experience for all players.

Q: This is your second time illustrating a game for Capital Gains Studio. How have your skills or artistic approach evolved since your first project?

I’d say I’ve grown significantly as a designer since Hotpot Havoc—it’s been nearly four years, and the experience shows. Working on Sneaky Supper felt much more seamless, both in terms of the design process and collaborating with Steve. This time, I felt more confident offering suggestions and solutions to the team’s concerns, and the project itself gave me more creative freedom to explore compared to Hotpot Havoc. Over the years, my approach to design has matured; I’m more confident in making decisions, managing projects, and collaborating with stakeholders like Steve and the Capital Gain Studio team.

Q: Sneaky Supper has such a fun and mischievous vibe—how did you approach illustrating a game about sneaking through the house at night looking for food without getting caught?

A lot of the inspiration for Sneaky Supper came from my own childhood memories of sneaking around the house trying to grab food without waking anyone up. I vividly remember once finishing an entire bag of mini Mars bars and making a sandwich with just cheese and ketchup. Working on the illustrations felt incredibly nostalgic—and genuinely fun. It was a joy to infuse those mischievous moments into the game, and we even spoofed a number of familiar household items… see if you can spot them!

Q: What was it like collaborating with the game designer on Sneaky Supper and Hotpot Havoc? Were there any particular visual challenges or memorable moments during the process?

Steve was genuinely a pleasure to work with. For both projects, he gave me a lot of creative freedom to shape the visual direction of the game, while still maintaining open and consistent communication throughout. His feedback was always constructive—he often challenged me to rethink elements I thought were already strong, especially when they could be more user-friendly or better represented through a different icon or color.

One of the parts I enjoyed most was playtesting Hotpot Havoc before diving into the design work. It gave me a chance to bond with Steve, understand the gameplay firsthand, and even offer input on the game design. Experiencing the game from the player's perspective helped me visualize what they would see, expect, or enjoy—something that deeply informed my design choices. I also tried something new, by using Figma to create the layouts for the cards. It was so useful during our collaboration as Steve could easily leave comments in real-time to the workspace and I could work concurrently with him on it.

Q: What’s your favourite card or illustration from Sneaky Supper, and why? Can you share any behind-the-scenes sketches or inspirations that led to its final look?

The cover is actually my favorite part of the project—ironically, it was also the most challenging. I’ll admit, full-body human illustrations aren’t my strongest skill, so this piece really pushed me out of my comfort zone. To get it right, I took reference photos of myself to nail the pose and perspective, and did a lot of research on how certain elements look from different angles. I also drew inspiration from my brother in his army admin tee, which helped ground the character’s look. As a personal touch, I wanted to include my father’s name on one of the product labels—a small homage to the love and support he’s given me throughout my journey as an artist, but was suggested to put something more recognisable in the end, but that’s okay though.

Q: What are some other projects you have worked on? How does illustrating a board game differ from other projects?

Since starting my career, both full-time and as a freelancer, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects—from designing a book proposal to creating visuals for a custom PC, and even custom emotes for streamers. In my full-time role, I focus more on social media content, website assets, and branding.

While the work isn’t entirely different, designing for a board game comes with its own set of challenges. There are so many elements and assets that need to come together cohesively, which can get quite tedious—especially toward the end of the project when everything needs to be finalized and packaged. Board game projects often span several months, and looking back at all the assets created really gives you a strong sense of accomplishment.

Q: What is your work environment like? Are there any quirks or interesting stories you would like to share?

I’m fortunate to be in a very healthy work environment at my current workplace. The hours are flexible, the pantry is always well-stocked, and I’m surrounded by a reliable and supportive design team. There's rarely a sense of unnecessary urgency, which allows us to take the time to think through our ideas and ensure the design process is thoughtful and impactful for the campaigns we create.

This environment has really enabled me to approach design more intentionally—not just creating for the sake of it, but focusing on how to communicate the right message through imagery and visuals in a way that resonates with the audience.

Q: Do you have any tips for aspiring artists who want to make a name for themselves in the Singapore art scene?

I chose the graphic design route because it felt like a more practical career path in Singapore, while still allowing me to stay connected to my creative side. There’s no shortage of talented artists here, but the market can be quite saturated—so I pursued freelancing as a way to keep exploring my artistic interests alongside full-time work. That said, I truly believe that passion always finds a way to work out, one way or another.

My tip is to always stay curious and observant. There’s beauty in everything around you. Critique ads, admire magazine layouts, save posters that inspire you, and doodle freely—don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Most importantly, never give up.

Q: Where can we find out more about your other art or works?

I actually do not keep up on social media, and update my portfolio once a year when needed. Speaking of which, I do have to start a new one soon. But you can connect with me on my LinkedIn, I am hoping to create a website for my own works soon, but until then…

Thanks, Keryn! Now, let's chat with the game designer Steve, and his experience designing the game alongside Keryn!

Q: The artwork in Sneaky Supper really captures the tension and humour of a late-night food heist—how did you develop the characters and scenes to reflect that push-your-luck gameplay? (Steve) 

Developing Sneaky Supper was a project that was really personal to me. A lot of the ideas came from my own late night food heists that I pulled, such as recipes involving frozen food requiring an extra careful token (Imagine using the air fryer at 1am! Nothing like stopping the timer at the absolute last second!).

It is truly only by personally experiencing it can you imagine all the hijinks you could get up to, though I have never had a cat nor stepped on one.

Having push-your-luck as the core mechanic just felt natural to me. The anxiety and nerve-wrecking feeling that at any time you could make a mistake a lose it all truly is a fun and exciting experience even when the stakes are low! I'm glad that a lot of my playtesters felt very connected to the theme, and even though the game does not have a lot of innovations, it speaks to people who have ever had hunger pangs late at night.

Q: Sneaky Supper is all about stealth and mischief, and the cover really sets that tone. How did the idea of someone hiding behind the painting come about? Was it a deliberate nod to the game's sneaky mechanics? (Steve)

The cover was definitely an asset we poured a lot of effort into. I really wanted to invoke the sense of urgency and mischief, hence all the fun elements in it. Keryn really knocked it out of the park putting our ideas on her canvas.

The idea of the person behind the painting came to me after Keryn added some portraits to fill up the wall space. I was thinking about old cartoons, remembering scenes where a character would try to hide, badly I might add, behind a painting with their legs still out.

I thought that it would be hilarious to try and replicate something like that. When I mentioned it to Keryn, she liked it and compared it to Valak (horror warning if you wanna google it). Although terrifying, it was exactly the concept I wanted to use and so we added it in with a few additions that fit Sneaky Supper.

I had an absolute blast working with Keryn on Sneaky Supper, and I hope that whoever plays it gets a kick out of the fun theme and gameplay as well!

Q: Where can we find out more about Sneaky Supper?

You can find out more about Sneaky Supper at this website: https://www.capitalgainsgroup.com/sneakysupper