At Space Ape, the creation of world-class brands is vitally important to us and as a Lead Artist/Art Director, you will be at the forefront of one of our new titles. You will drive both the artistic vision and the internal team to produce high-quality assets through effective communication, accurate detailed planning, and active mentorship.

You will set the example for individual contributors by creating highly compelling artwork that meets the visual and technical requirements of the game whilst serving as the benchmark for artistic excellence and work ethic. The ideal candidate should possess a mobile-first attitude with strong art direction and communication skills. They should also have experience in creating art for casual, cartoon, stylized and mid-core mobile games.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the product owner, designers, and engineers to establish the production pipeline and best practices for the game.

• Create and maintain the brand/art style guides and technical documentation.

• Mentor artists along their career paths, setting challenges to encourage growth.

• Take ownership of the milestone planning, day-to-day feedback communications, and final quality of deliverables from various external partners (outsourcing)

• Inspire and motivate the art team to achieve their best, driving artistic quality by example and successful teamwork, giving feedback and direction where needed.

• Understand and work within project requirements and constraints.

• Keep up to date with game artwork trends and influences.

• Produce creative solutions to brand development through the creation of conceptual art for characters, environments and gameplay artwork.

 

Requirements:

• At least 5 years experience creating artwork for games.

• At least 1 shipped title as an Art Lead.

• Excellent communication skills as a leader, collaborator, and mentor.

• Technical expertise and familiarity with game-engines & their performance requirements.

• Excellent 3D modelling, texturing and asset creation.

• Extensive knowledge of Maya and Photoshop.

• An avid interest in all types of art & graphic design.

• A professional, pro-active & collaborative work attitude.

• Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills.

• Enjoy the feedback process as the best way to create fantastic visuals.

• Passion for games & mobile gaming.

• A "raise the bar" attitude.

 

Bonus Skills:

• Experience using the Unity3D Game Engine;

• Experience working in an agile (e.g. SCRUM/Kanban) environment using agile ceremonies (e.g. stand-ups sprint planning, retrospectives) and working with agile artefacts (e.g. user stories, task boards);

• An ability to work with minimal supervision and review, and exercise independent judgement;

• Experience in conducting user research and evaluating user feedback;

• Experience designing for iOS, Android, or other mobile platforms;

• Experience in other design-related fields such as UI/UX, After Effects, Animation, or Motion graphics design production.