Big visual idea for Rift was to use color smoke bombs and arabesque patterns. I thought showing Basim's targets was unnecessary since the player fantasy is extremely well established with the IP. Also during this early key art exploration, parkour and "going back to basics" were key pillars.
Personally I was a fan of pushing a more unique and minimal vis ID as primary key art and box art. Other more traditional key art would support the marketing campaign (see below).
Some thumbs...I'd like to think they might have influenced the final key art pieces.
I thought Basim's missing finger was a visually ownable key art opportunity. It was before the hidden blade was optimized and was on the bottom side of the wrist and projected out towards the middle and ring fingers. A minor occupational hazard or slight inconvenience for joining the early version of the brotherhood.
Credits/
Publisher: Ubisoft
Client: Reservoir Creative
Creative Direction: Charles Bae, Pascal Ruest
Concept Sketches: Charles Bae