As part of Polygon’s The Next 10 package, looking at where games and entertainment are headed in the future, I worked with some of my favorite illustrators to put together a digital art gallery.

This was an idea I’d been sitting on for years, sort of an updated version of the time I went around with a notebook collecting sketches at 1UP, but this time themed around a single topic with the budget to afford real work. I had a decent budget but not much time, so I spent a bunch of nights putting together illustrator lists, backup illustrator lists, budgets, timelines, etc.

I told myself early on that if I got three of the people on my top 10 list, I’d be happy, and I ended up with five. So it worked out pretty well.