Think pixel art, and you'll likely think of the best retro games from the 8-bit or 16-bit era in the 1980s and 90s. It's perhaps why when we see a modern game with pixel art, we can't help but prescribe it as being 'retro-inspired'. It's an admittedly narrow definition in the same way that this aesthetic isn't necessarily tied to gaming. If you think you know pixel art because you love retro games, think again. Shingo Kabaya art is uniquely abstract and meaningful. (Image credit: Hattori Graphics) Pixel art had nonetheless been a fascination from a young age, as he recalls his earliest attempt at the aesthetic in an unusual way: "The first time I ever drew something that 'looked like' pixel art was a doodle I created using the custom character editor - a feature that lets you manually register characters and symbols not included in the system’s standard character set - on a Japanese-made word processor my father owned." Professionally, however, Kabaya's early-game credits have largely been as a 3D artist,…