Summary
Veteran video game Art Director, Creative Lead, Team Manager, and Concept Artist with 25 years of industry experience on numerous AAA console, PC, and live-service games.
EXPERIENCE
_Concept Director on Perfect Dark, The Initiative / Microsoft
• Partnered closely with the Art Direction and Concept team to define and evolve the game’s visual direction, from initial ideation to polished production art.
• Created vision pieces, key art, and narrative illustrations that unified design intent across environments, characters, weapons, and props.
• Oversaw in-game implementation of concepted assets and supported with paint-over iteration to maintain consistency with design, narrative, and technical performance requirements and changes.
• Maintained deep knowledge of the game’s worldbuilding, narrative pillars, and technical constraints to ensure all concept art was functional and immersive.
• Set clear visual targets and design standards for the concept team, driving consistency and excellence across multiple co-dev partner studios in various time-zones.
• Delivered illustrations with an emphasis on atmosphere, lighting, storytelling, and visual impact to inspire 3D, VFX, Gameplay and Marketing teams.
• Provided direct feedback and mentorship to artists; reviewed internal and external concept work and in-game assets for alignment and quality, with extra focus on gameplay-related vfx.
• Created visual documentation, mood boards, and paintovers to clearly communicate vision and support cross-functional collaboration.
• Participated in and led regular team critiques, ideation sessions, and visual alignment meetings across departments.
• Supported Art Direction maintaining the project's artistic integrity by reviewing and shepherding concept assets through their in-game implementation, ensuring consistency in visual language.
• Contributed to the studio culture by collaborating with interdisciplinary leads and ICs with constructive and actionable direction and feedback across all aspects of game art, cinematics, UI/UX, narrative, and gameplay.
_Studio Art Director, Fang & Claw [2023-24]
Conceptualized new IP, including worldbuilding, character development, game rules:
• Developed and communicated a cohesive artistic vision for our flagship game project, aligning with studio goals.
• Produced pitch materials including decks, mood boards, and concept art to convey the tone and style to investors.
• Established quality standards through hands-on concept art, rapid prototyping, and comparative industry analysis.
• Collaborated with our tiny incubation team to ensure the realization of the creative vision in a playable UE5 prototype.
• Developed long-term content plans, balancing creative ambition with resource constraints.
• Managed the production pipeline for prototype vis-dev and look-dev art assets, coordinating with internal and external talent to meet project milestones.
• Co-developed our company values and modes of operation, setting the stage for a healthy culture.
• Co-directed and helped implement company branding and marketing assets.
_Studio Art Director, 343 Industries / Publishing Art Director: Halo, Microsoft [2019-23]
Spearheaded creative direction for future Halo projects:
• Collaborated with narrative, and design leads on franchise themes, tone, and visual style.
• Provided creative direction for characters, environments, and market positioning across products, considering audiences, budgets, and brand values.
• Produced pitch decks, mood boards, and directed videos to convey creative direction.
• Set vis-dev and quality targets through concept art, prototyping, and media analysis.
Live Service Experience:
• Content Planning- Collaborated closely with design and production to develop long-term plans for engaging content within budget/time constraints.
• Seasonal Themes- Conceptualized visual themes for updates, aligning with narrative goals.
• Asset Production: Managed art asset production and integration into the game
• Live Support: Monitored player sentiment and data to adjust approaches, and contributed to blogs, streams and Q&A to foster transparency with player.
Art Team Management:
• Orchestrated cross-functional teams for cohesive visual direction.
• Fostered creativity, provided mentorship, and allocated resources strategically.
• Facilitated open communication and mentoring, conducted performance evaluations, and addressed conflicts, promoting positivity and adaptability.
Publishing and External Development Leadership:
• Worked with various co-dev and outsource companies across the globe, all at different levels of involvement in our projects, ranging from asset design and creation, all the way to full-project co-development.
• Art direction was provided and packaged differently per partner and per state of development, ranging from high-level tone-setting vision docs to one-on-one direction and asset paint-overs as appropriate for expediting results considering different partner teams’ strengths.
• Coordinated artistic direction and creative shifts to compensate for real-time shifts in the schedules, budget fluctuations, and emerging directives of multiple live and boxed titles.
Consumer Products, Trans-Media, and Community Support:
• Created, communicated, and shepherded guideline assets for external groups working on consumer products ranging from toys and action figures, apparel, branded/licensed merchandise, books and print, to 3D/2D game crossover assets by other game publishers.
• Worked closely with franchise stakeholders and transmedia team to ensure brand consistency, high quality, and harmony between game, TV show, and other multi-media promotional assets.
• Provided hands on illustrations for marketing, books, consumer products, and social media assets, along with direction for agencies handling other 2D, 3D, and video assets.
_Studio Art Director, ArenaNet [2016-19]
• Multi-project art leadership across all disciplines (120 artists), oversaw four unique titles (console/PC/mobile/ GAAS)
• Contributed to studio direction, re-organization, new HR culture initiatives.
• Managed the art team structure, headcount, and resource allocation across all project groups.
• Responsible for hiring Project Art Directors, Art Managers, and Tech Art leadership as well as discipline leads
• Incubation lead on new IP team, responsible for co-creative direction and project pitching
• Mobile game- hired team members and directed new stylization of our franchise for casual mobile audiences.
• Collaborated with tech leads on new engine transition features as we moved to implement PBR tech.
• IC art direction on next franchise installment, evolving established style for next-gen tech and new demographics.
• Led rapid prototype art teams to create in-game 3D concepts for establishing art direction and publisher pitching.
• Live service support on Guild Wars 2- strike team allocation and creative artistic direction for evolving seasons
• Art directed multiple game and studio marketing assets, including branding, consumer products, and print publishing.
• Shipped: Guild Wars 2 Path of Fire, Guild Wars Living World. Contributed substantially to creative and art direction for three unannounced projects.
_Art Director, Sucker Punch Productions [2011-16]
• Art Director on multiple first party open-world games published by Sony.
• Designed/concepted main characters for inFamous Second Son
• Led concept team, recruiting artists and designing characters, environments, and visual assets etc
• Oversaw and managed leads for character, environment, vfx, lighting, cinematics, animation, and tech-art teams.
• Contributed to studio direction, re-organization, new HR culture initiatives.
• Managed the art team structure, headcount, and resource allocation.
• Collaborated with tech leads on new engine transition features as we moved to implement PBR tech.
• Incubation lead on new IP team, responsible for co-creative direction and project pitching.
• IC art direction on new IP development and game pitches to Sony, spanning different genres.
• Led rapid prototype art teams to create in-game 3D concepts for establishing art direction and publisher pitching.
• Art directed multiple game and studio marketing assets, including branding, consumer products, and print.
• Shipped: inFamous Second Son, inFamous First Light. Contributed substantially to creative and art direction for Ghost of Tsushima through incubation/pre-production.
_Art Instructor, FuturePoly [2010-14]
• Part-time Digital Arts Course Instructor, in addition to my full time Art Director job.
• I designed the 2D curriculum, and was the instructor for the Concept Art, Digital Painting, and Texturing classes.
• Wrote and taught live art demos, reference materials, prepared example assets for students use
• Classes were 20-25 per session, in-person, ranging from college students to professional video game artists.
• Provided in-class and on-line written feedback and paint-overs for assignments.
• Presented live art demos and lectures at industry events to educate and promote our courses.
• Contributed to recruiting and advertising efforts, both online and in our community.
• Directed company branding, designed the FuturePoly logo, and art-directed web and marketing assets.
_Cinematic Director, ArenaNet [2007-11]
• Directed cinematics for Guild Wars 2, overseeing pre-production to final implementation.
• Directed all marketing videos and trailers for Guild Wars 2 leading up to the game’s launch.
• Pitched and implemented transition from 3D to a new 2D motion graphics animated format, reducing production costs and leveraging in-house concept art talent.
• Recruited and built a 10-member cinematic team, including illustrators, animators, and editors.
• Collaborated with programmers on developing a proprietary 2D/3D motion graphics editor for real-time rendering.
• Managed team, scoped projects, edited scripts, created storyboards, and directed in-game cinematics.
• Directed and edited gameplay and marketing trailers, and art directed marketing assets including box covers/key art.
• Provided direction and feedback to external vendors for BTS video assets, trailers, and gameplay videos.
• Coordinated with external vendors to ensure on-brand graphic design and marketing materials.
• Producing and art directed full-size art book.
• Shipped Guild Wars 2 and Guild Wars Eye of the North (PC).
_Environment Artist / Concept Artist, ArenaNet [2003-07]
• IC modeling and texturing focused on environment models and props.
• IC concept artist for several props, environments, characters, and story cinematics.
• Worked closely with Art Direction and Design to ensure cohesion and fit with gameplay/story/performance.
• Rapid 3D prototyping for new areas in the game, establishing quality standards and visual development.
• Experimented with new texturing techniques to establish unique in-game execution utilizing existing game tech.
• Shipped Guild Wars, Guild Wars Faction, and Guild Wars Nightfall (PC).
_Environment Artist, Valve Corporation [2001-03]
• IC modeling and texturing focused on environment models and props for Half-Life 2.
• IC concept artist for several prop assets in Half-Life 2.
• Worked closely with Art Direction and Design to ensure cohesion and fit with gameplay/story/performance.
• Rapid 3D prototyping for new areas in the game, establishing quality standards and visual development.
• Shipped Half-Life 2, contributed models later used in HL2 Episodes, and Counter-Strike Source (PC).
_Prop Artist, Zipper Interactive [1999-01]
• IC low-poly modeling and texturing focused on props for PC and PlayStation 2 games.
• IC concept storyboard artist for some cutscene cinematics.
• Designed, modeled, and textured map for training mission.
• Worked closely with Art Direction and Design to ensure cohesion and fit with gameplay/story/performance.
• Shipped SOCOM: US Navy SEALs (PS2) and Crimson Skies (PC).
_Texture Artist, Snowblind Studios [1999]
• IC low-poly modeling and texturing focused on props for Nintendo 64 racing game.
• Sky-box background painting for area racetrack.
• Designed/implemented UI and track assets.
• Worked closely with Art Direction and Design to ensure cohesion and fit with gameplay/performance.
• Shipped Top Gear Hyperbike (N64).
EDUCATION
AA 3D Computer Animation, DigiPen Institute of Technology