Studio Art Director

Art Director

Join the Certain Affinity team as we embark on an exciting journey crafting an epic fantasy action experience. We are seeking a talented, proven Art Director to integrate and partner with a tight group of highly experienced developers to form our 'Core Leadership' team on our new, original project.

Apply extensive knowledge of fundamental art principles to define, implement and champion a cohesive and compelling art style that enhances gameplay, mechanics, and narrative of the project while balancing practical production needs.

Provide hands-on and quick, insightful, effective visual feedback day to day to build rich environments, characters, creatures, animations and overall project visual goals.

Collaborate with Project leadership and subject matter experts to leverage the latest art processes and tools to advance the vision and visuals of the game.

Become competent in source IP, gain expert level understanding of how it was visually represented and perceived across different media and strategically apply this information when setting visual direction for the project.

Ensure that we are representing cultures, religions, races, and genders respectfully for a worldwide audience.

Build and maintain effective plans, guidelines, and documentation for each phase of the project, and present these materials both to the team and to internal and external stakeholders.

Anticipate potential project challenges and proactively develop solutions to these challenges and adapt on the fly to evolving project needs.

Collaborate with production staff and project directors to create and maintain project schedules and plans for deliverables.

Actively support and mentor artists on the team as well as work with the Studio Art Director and Studio Art Manager on cross-project art culture initiatives.

Stay up to date on industry trends, market releases and best practices and apply this awareness to the benefit of the project.

15+ years experience in PC and/or console game development with at least 5 years experience in AAA brand and IP development as an Art Director or Associate Art Director for a video game with ambitious visuals.

• Up-to-date portfolio demonstrating breadth of experience in the game development space and examples of high quality finished work.
• Comprehensive understanding of all phases of game development from the initial concept phase to post game launch support.
• Strong working knowledge of Unreal 5 features and art tools and pipelines.
• Successful experience building a consistent art style that supports and enhances narrative and gameplay experiences.
• Strong understanding of realistic art styles but able to work within other styles as needed.
• Strong understanding of building, and working within, established IP and brands.
• Experience building successful visual guidelines for outsourcing initiatives.
• Exceptional understanding of video game player experiences, especially for action games, and how art can enhance those experiences.
• Strong foundational knowledge in traditional art.
• Certain Affinity is a well-established and growing development studio with locations in Austin and Toronto. This includes ​a commitment to diversity, excellence, and work-life balance. We're best known for co-developing numerous AAA FPS games, though now we are creating exciting new games of our own. These may be done for the purposes of offering employment or determining eligibility to work on a specific project.