This page features a collection of articles and essays by pixel artist Jude Buffum, an award-winning illustrator and designer with more than 20 years of professional experience in commercial art and design. As part of the first generation raised on 8-bit video games, Jude explores pixel art as both a craft and a cultural language.
Topics range from pixel art history and critique to practical tutorials, art direction insights, and guidance for brands and creative directors looking to hire a pixel artist. Each article is grounded in real-world experience across games, advertising, branding, and editorial illustration, with the goal of helping readers better understand the pixel art medium and its cultural relevance.
Pixel Art Essays and Articles by Jude Buffum
When Pixel Art Leaves the Screen: From Digital Art to Physical Creation
A guest piece from Mes Perles à Repasser explores what happens when pixel art steps off the screen and into physical materials like perler beads, embroidery, and mosaic. The reflection traces the shared discipline behind both mediums and features a bead adaptation of Jude Buffum's "Pause" series.
Who is the Best Pixel Artist?
A curated, opinionated breakdown of the most influential pixel artists working today, what each is best at, and how their work continues to shape the medium across games, animation, education, and commercial illustration.
The Best Pixel Art Logos of All Time (and what I’d do to make them even better)
Pixel art logos were drawn small but had to act big. Hardware limits forced them into tight grids and limited palettes, but they were expected to roar onto the screen with the magnificence of a Hollywood blockbuster.
The Best Pixel Art of All Time
I’ve loved pixel art ever since I put my first quarter into the Donkey Kong arcade machine. In this chronological journey, I’ll guide you through what I believe are the ten most important games in the evolution of pixel art.