Experience
Art Director, Jam City; San Francisco, CA — June 2013 - Present
Visual Development Artist, Contract; San Francisco, CA — Feb 2007- September 2013
Character Designer/ Art Director, BTS Film LLC; Italy/New York — Sept 2009 - Aug 2012
Lead Art Director, Concept Art House; San Francisco, CA - March 2011-July 2012
Art Director, Concept Art House; San Francisco, CA - Oct 2009 - March 2011
Art Director, Expression College; 2006-2007
Intern, Pixar; Emeryville, CA - Jan 2006 - March 2006
Education
Animation Collaborative; Emeryville, CA - Visual Development 2013
Expressions College; Emeryville, CA - BS, 3D Animation and Visual Effects 2004-2007
Lincoln University; Jefferson City, MO - BS, Studio Art 1998-2001
Software Proficiency
Photoshop, Maya, Unity, iWork, Office, Google Docs, Jira, Basecamp, and Trello
Art Director, Jam City; San Francisco, CA — June 2013 - Present
- Work with game design, engineering, and production leads to determine visual needs for new games
- Establish a small team to concept and prototype the potential game style
- Create and continually update a comprehensive style guide as the visual look evolves
- Present all visual direction progress to execs
- Note all exec concerns to address and work with production to manage expectations accordingly
- Partner with user testing, to present visuals and gauge interest from target market
- Work with production to determine project needs and appropriate timelines
- Once game scope is established and green lit for full production, interview, test, hire and train additional internal and external teams
- Direct teams of 2D and 3D artists, in addition to UI/UX, to produce content on model and deadline
- Pivot and troubleshoot as necessary, utilizing all resources available
- Mentor and direct all teams through preproduction, launch, and live game phases
- Train/promote artists and Associate Art Directors, to progress their careers and allow them to take on projects of their own
Visual Development Artist, Contract; San Francisco, CA — Feb 2007- September 2013
- Provide preproduction artwork for animated film and game companies.
Character Designer/ Art Director, BTS Film LLC; Italy/New York — Sept 2009 - Aug 2012
- Art Directed 3D team in Italy visually by designing characters, creating model/texture packets and providing redlines/paint-overs for guidance
- Created many storyboards and consulted the director via pipeline process
Lead Art Director, Concept Art House; San Francisco, CA - March 2011-July 2012
- Worked directly under CEO to establish a successful production pipeline
- Met with clients to determine project-specific needs, then establish and maintain an appropriate approval process
- Bid hours for contracts
- Hired, trained and oversaw internal Art Directors for all departments (2D, 3D, Flash)
- Responsible for quality of all final product
- Trained my teams to identify red flags and problem solve on their feet
- Oversaw up to 25 contracts at once
Art Director, Concept Art House; San Francisco, CA - Oct 2009 - March 2011
- Directed outsourcing production team to maintain project quality over multiple contracts
- Daily interaction with clients, pushing assets to final approval
Art Director, Expression College; 2006-2007
- Organized a team of students and negotiated school funding to create preproduction materials for an animated short film
- Responsible for Art Direction, leading story meetings, character design, and storyboarding
Intern, Pixar; Emeryville, CA - Jan 2006 - March 2006
- Selected and prepared a variety of artwork for the gallery show Pixar: 20 Years of Animation
- Organized and sorted all preproduction artwork for Pixar's movie Cars
Education
Animation Collaborative; Emeryville, CA - Visual Development 2013
Expressions College; Emeryville, CA - BS, 3D Animation and Visual Effects 2004-2007
Lincoln University; Jefferson City, MO - BS, Studio Art 1998-2001
Software Proficiency
Photoshop, Maya, Unity, iWork, Office, Google Docs, Jira, Basecamp, and Trello