{"id":28650,"date":"2026-06-03T11:39:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&#038;p=28650"},"modified":"2026-06-03T11:39:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:39:50","slug":"becker-school-of-design-technology-student-has-custom-art-featured-in-professional-video-game","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/06\/03\/becker-school-of-design-technology-student-has-custom-art-featured-in-professional-video-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Becker School of Design &amp; Technology student has custom art featured in professional video game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-aidan-benjamin-29-hopes-to-create-indie-games\">Aidan Benjamin \u201929 hopes to create indie games<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Aidan Benjamin \u201929 was browsing at a GameStop store in 2013 when he paused at a demo kiosk. The game on demo was <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/218060\/BITTRIP_Presents_Runner2_Future_Legend_of_Rhythm_Alien\/\">Bit.Trip Runner 2<\/a>, a side-scrolling platformer that invites players to explore five different worlds. Benjamin was hooked and had no idea that in a few years\u2019 time, he\u2019d be creating art for a new version of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI just got really into that game,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is still possibly my favorite game of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group alignright boxout has-white-color has-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-c9795737b22526925fbfc7e3304c1b34 is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-12dd3699 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-get-your-game-on\">Get your game on<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/clarku.edu\/bsdt\">Explore the Becker School of Design &amp; Technology<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/programs\/major\/interactive-media-ba\/\">Major in interactive media<\/a><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>Benjamin, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/programs\/major\/interactive-media-ba\/\">interactive media<\/a> major on the 3D art track, learned during 2023 that the game\u2019s developers were releasing an updated version called <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2222540\/BITTRIP_RERUNNER\/\">Bit.Trip Rerunner<\/a> and had put out a call: They wanted fans to submit art. Benjamin jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, Benjamin created four art pieces that now appear in Bit.Trip Rerunner, placed as graffiti on the buildings in the game\u2019s cityscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ClarkU News caught up with Benjamin to ask about creating art and his experience so far at the <a href=\"http:\/\/clarku.edu\/bsdt\">Becker School of Design &amp; Technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Bit-Trip-2.png\" alt=\"video game art\" class=\"wp-image-28654\" style=\"width:319px;height:auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Art created by Aidan Benjamin &#8217;29<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What did it mean to create art for this game franchise that really spoke to you?<\/strong><br>I want to go into the game industry, so it&#8217;s cool to be in a game, but much more than that, to be in this franchise in particular. It feels full circle to me because if I had never played Bit.Trip Runner 2 when I did, I can&#8217;t say for sure that I would be in this university, enrolled in the classes I am in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What kind of art is your favorite style, and what do you want to make?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I strongly believe that video games are an art form in themselves, so I would say games are the art I want to make. I want to learn all aspects of game design so I can work with either a very small team or do stuff on my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t want to stick to one niche or one genre, but I do want to make a <a href=\"https:\/\/plarium.com\/en\/glossary\/roguelite\/\">roguelite<\/a> game at some point. For the sake of creating, I want to try other art forms as well, like music and traditional art pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why did you pick the 3D art track?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s my favorite out of all the tracks (other tracks are 2D art, audio, production, programming, UI\/UX, writing), but I want to be well-rounded and know them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1316\" height=\"987\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/AidanB_headshots-ID-26-6.jpg\" alt=\"student sitting on college campus\" class=\"wp-image-28653\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.333346367404395;width:334px;height:auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Aidan Benjamin &#8217;29. Photo by Ismael De La Cruz &#8217;27.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When did you first realize video games interested you as a career option?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve enjoyed video games pretty much my whole life. When I was younger, I had a Wii that I would play, but then the console that I really started playing more was the PS3. I&#8217;ve always had more of an interest in indie games and smaller games, and ever since I got that interest and saw the teams behind those games, I knew this is what I want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What have you been up to during your first year at Clark?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve attended talks from industry professionals. I joined the Clark chapter of the IGDA (International Game Developers Association) and did a couple of game jams, where you make a whole game in 48 hours. I made a fishing game mixed with a cooking game \u2014 kind of like a simplified <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/448510\/Overcooked\/\">Overcooked<\/a>, where you catch the fish and prepare them. It didn&#8217;t get entirely to the point I wanted it to in 48 hours, so I think I&#8217;m going to spend some time polishing what I did and get it to my original vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Bit-Trip-3.png\" alt=\"video game art\" class=\"wp-image-28655\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Art created by Aidan Benjamin &#8217;29<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Bit-Trip-4.png\" alt=\"video game art\" class=\"wp-image-28656\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Art created by Aidan Benjamin &#8217;29<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aidan Benjamin \u201929 hopes to create indie games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":28652,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"var(--clarku-color-blue)","story_headerImg":28652,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[227],"displayed_author":[237],"featured":[494],"topic":[574,238],"class_list":["post-28650","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","displayed_author-melissa-hanson","featured-secondary","topic-becker-school-of-design-technology","topic-becker-school-of-design-technology-at-clark-university"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Becker School of Design &amp; Technology student has custom art featured in professional video game | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/06\/03\/becker-school-of-design-technology-student-has-custom-art-featured-in-professional-video-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Becker School of Design &amp; Technology student has custom art featured in professional video game\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Aidan Benjamin \u201929 hopes to create indie games\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/06\/03\/becker-school-of-design-technology-student-has-custom-art-featured-in-professional-video-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ClarkU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-03T15:39:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/AidanB_headshots-ID-26-5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1364\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1023\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/03\\\/becker-school-of-design-technology-student-has-custom-art-featured-in-professional-video-game\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/03\\\/becker-school-of-design-technology-student-has-custom-art-featured-in-professional-video-game\\\/\",\"name\":\"Becker School of Design &amp; 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