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ART DIRECTOR

Avalanche Studios | Stockhom Stockholm 11829 SWE | Full Time | Posted: 01/22/2011

Studio Profiletop

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Avalanche Studios is a leading independent, privately held studio with offices in Stockholm and New York. The studio is the original creator of the award-winning “Just Cause” series and is currently developing three well-known AAA licenses and original IPs with three of the world’s largest and most influential publishers. We recently released our first XBLA/PSN original IP title, “Renegade Ops”.

With the organization’s backbone based upon a unique proprietary technology, we are a studio that is passionate about creating great games. Our goal is simple: to develop the best open-world games in the industry. To make this possible, we have assembled the best and brightest staff from around the globe. We consider our employees are the most important resource we have and we work hard to insure the health and happiness of our Avalanche family. We believe it’s important to have a healthy work/life balance and we dedicate great time and energy to protecting this often discussed but rarely enforced principle. Our flextime schedule, 5 weeks of vacation and the fact that we consider consistent overtime a sign of poor management makes it possible for our employees to have this balance.

Avalanche is based on the belief in an open and friendly company atmosphere. We are great believers in the success of a flat organization and this influences everything we do. There are no closed offices at Avalanche and all projects are run in cross functional teams. The personal and family atmosphere of the company is rooted in our belief that sharing and collaboration amongst our management and staff can only lead to great things now and in the future.

Job Descriptiontop

Avalanche Studios now seeks an Art Director and offers the chance to work with some of the most talented and experienced individuals in the gaming industry!

We are looking for an Art Director to one of our teams, to oversee development of concept art, project art style, technical art direction and work closely with our Creative Director and Game Director to realize the vision of the game. The responsibility of the Art Director is also to lead and mentor the artists, grow internal talent and review and approve art assets.

Job Responsibilities
* Direct, coordinate and review the work of the project’s art and external content creators to ensure highest asset quality and unity of visual style.
* Create concepts, prototypes and examples that allow developers to create game content with minimal revision, providing specific art assets that serve as a quality benchmark for the product.
* Provide product aesthetic vision to key stakeholders through the preparation and presentation of appropriate project materials (including milestone updates, work-in-progress presentations, etc).
* Collaborate with other Directors and the project’s Lead Artist to establish best practices and improve the project’s art pipelines.
* Collaborate with engineering, design, and production to establish strong performance metrics so that product content hits aesthetic and technical targets simultaneously.
* Provide original and creative input, inspiring the art team and making a significant contribution to the overall quality of the product.
* Act as a role-model for artists by emphasizing project and company goals, provide aesthetic feedback on performance and mentor and train Artists in aesthetic and production skills.

Qualifications
* Typically 5+ years of games industry experience in art and art direction.
* Must have art direction and/or art lead experience on at least two published “AAA” titles and participated in the full development cycle of these titles.
* Position is recognized as having a very high level of artistic achievement. Traditional art skills and creativity is a must.
* Proven excellent leadership, communication, interpersonal and organizational skills; able to communicate effectively both verbally and visually.
* Able to work well under pressure and with deadlines.
* Effective management and motivation of team members.
* Expert knowledge of Photoshop and other 2D packages
* Expert knowledge of one or more types of 3D software (Maya, 3DS Max is preferred, ZBrush, Mudbox)
* Strong understanding of game development process.
* Experience with outsourced content and proven ability to work with outsourcing and external development teams.
* Solid understanding of architecture, human character anatomy, gesture and clothing.
* Good understanding of shaders and material expressions.
* Solid experience and understanding of art/animation pipelines on Xbox 360 and/or PS3.
* Up to date knowledge of current art techniques and development processes.
* Able to work with programmers and designers to help establish art pipelines and improve existing technology.
* Diligence with individual and team tasks, schedule and adherence to budget limitations.
* Solid organization skills with adherence to optimization and asset management.
* Strong Troubleshooting skills.
* Positive attitude and a desire to bring new ideas to the team.
* Passion for making and playing great games, with an awareness of current titles and industry trends.

To apply for this position please register your detailed CV and cover letter here. Apply as soon as possible as we review applications continuously. All further information is provided under non-disclosure agreement only. All applicants are required to relocate to work full-time in Stockholm, Sweden.

This job listing originated on Gamasutra.com, the game industry's leader.

Job Detailstop

Location Stockhom, Stockholm, Sweden
Job Level Senior
Categories Art / Animation, Producer / Director / Project Manager
Work Site On site
Platforms Playstation 3,Xbox 360,Online Multiplayer

Location Maptop

Contact Informationtop

Contact Name Åsa Lundqvist
How to apply Applications are no longer accepted for this job posting.
Primary Phone +4684427670
Job Code ART DIR