Art Director - Mighty Kingdom

Art Director (Full Time)

Mighty Kingdom is Australia’s largest independent developer and has a strong culture of collaboration, creativity and delivery. We work closely with our clients and customers and use data as a key driver for our decision making. Mighty Kingdom’s Art Director is expected to lead, mentor, supervise and inspire the art team in creating games.

Reporting to the Creative Director, the Art Director is responsible for reviewing all art assets for quality and continuity with the creative director's vision. The role supervises the Art team, from concept to ship date. They are ultimately responsible for the aesthetics of the finished game.

Mighty Kingdom:

Winner of Australia Game Developer Awards studio of the year.

A diverse team that values collaboration and creative problem solving.

Competitive salary.

Flexible work environment (flexible hours, work from home) and a CBD location.

Ability to work from home during COVID outbreaks.

Uncapped leave, including all statutory leave, additional personal leave, menstrual and menopause leave, and recharge leave for when you just need a break.

Employer paid parental leave including superannuation paid throughout parental leave.

Responsibilities:

- From first pitch meeting, provide artistic leadership and lead the art teams to drive the overall visual aesthetic of our games

- Provide input on the scope of the game and cooperate with senior staff to define project requirements and budgets

- At concept stage collaborate with the Creative Director, product managers and art leads to establish the visual style of our games

- Assist with planning the milestone schedule and operating budget

- Consider the art assets list, poly count expense, and necessary resources across multiple projects

- In preproduction, lead the creation of storyboards, logos, user interfaces, character design, environments, and all other visual material.

- Direct the research and development of new pipelines, techniques and processes to help create a learning environment for our artists

- Critique/ review art, giving notes for revision, provide mock-ups, and inspire our artists

- Mentor our artists and coach them as required

- Nourish the artistic vision by staying at the leading edge of sources of inspiration from the industry

- Participate in directing the unity of all visual elements of our games: models, characters, atmosphere, environments, UI, effects, vehicles, props, etc

- Follow the work of the team and ensure they reach the expected artistic quality

- Contribute to the art pipeline definition and develop milestones for the art team

- Direct our artists to work in a collaborative team with all disciplines to ensure we are making products that set the standard in the global industry

Qualifications / Experience:

- Strong artistic ability—drawing, painting, and 3-D modelling are expected.

- A firm understanding of anatomy, colour theory, texture, light, and architecture.

- At least 7 years of game art production experience, including 3 years as an Art Director or Lead Artist. - A thorough understanding of art outsourcing pipelines, capacities and technical constraints related to different game engines. - Strong documentation skill with ability to apply it to art production.

- Proven proficiency in current 2D and 3D application including 3Ds Max, Zbrush, Photoshop.

- Strong communication (oral and written) and collaboration skills.

- Versatile in your graphical style; ranging from casual and arcade, to realistic triple A.

- Experience in managing artists with a high-quality driven mind-set.

- Strong, proven knowledge and skills in fonts, graphic design principles, user interface function and design (clean, simple, fresh and readable art assets).

- Ability to carry an idea from the conceptual phase to the finished product, with strong ability to work in an iterative feedback driven process.

- Superior eye for light, value, composition, colour, staging.

- Track record in delivering excellent work while managing, competing priorities.

- A proven track record in relation to the ability to lead, mentor, supervise and inspire art teams in creating games.

- Maintain effective communication with supervisors, team artists, animators and other departments within the company to manage expectations and results and ensure all project targets are met or exceeded.

- A thorough understanding of art outsourcing pipelines, capacities and technical constraints related to different game engines.