Senior Brand Artist - Temp (Story and Franchise Development - SFD)

Team Name:

Creative Development

Job Title:

Senior Brand Artist - Temp (Story and Franchise Development - SFD)

Requisition ID:

R026206

Job Description:

Blizzard Entertainment is looking for a creative and experienced Senior Brand Artist to work with Story and Franchise Development’s Books team. Story and Franchise Development expands Blizzard Entertainment’s universes through a variety of media.

As an integral part of the Books team, the Senior Brand Artist will provide artistic vision for all Books work – including short stories, digital comics, motion comics, and other formats – selecting and guiding artists, providing art adjustments, designing projects, and composing unique assets for social media and marketing needs. As the artistic and graphic design lead of the group, they will play a major role in creating epic products that grow Blizzard’s publishing program in bold new directions. 

The Senior Brand Artist will also interface heavily with Blizzard’s consumer products and game teams, and will be the day-to-day contact for everything involving the visual elements of book projects, including licensed projects with external partners. The ideal candidate will have exceptional creativity and the ability to oversee the development of multiple projects at once, providing art and design guidance from the strategic level down to the fine details. The ability to provide light art fixes as needed is essential to the success of this role.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Irvine, CA. However, we understand each person’s circumstances may be unique and will work with you to explore other possible options, including remote work arrangements.

This is a temporary 6-month position.

What You Bring to the Table

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Develop high-quality visual concepts, cover compositions, and sample interior designs for internal projects. 
• Source, hire, and art direct freelance illustrators, as well as out-of-house designers as needed. 
• Work closely with internal and external partners on artist choice, cover direction, and interior art, ensuring that art meets quality expectations, matches lore/game models, and aligns with the story being told. 
• Interface with art directors on game teams to solicit art-related approvals, providing anatomy corrections, color adjustments, and detailed notes ahead of their review. Revise notes after review to ensure feedback is actionable for artists. 
• Design multiple projects internally, including localized comics and short stories. 
• Maintain an extensive network of talent within the comics, illustration, and design industry to regularly refresh pools of reliable, franchise-approved talent. Keep lists of franchise-approved artists using in-house tools. 
• Act as conduit between artists and animation to ensure files are appropriately rendered and layered for motion animation. Review regular cuts of motion comics and animated stories to ensure quality.   
• Work with production to traffic art and design work, keep projects on a timely schedule and meet deadlines. 
• Work closely with project-specific editor to ensure alignment between story development and artistic vision for each project. 

Minimum Requirements:

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of art and design experience 
• Comics experience required 
• Book cover and interior design experience preferred
• Preference given to those with a background in illustration 

Knowledge & Skills

• Must have excellent communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills, and be able to work with minimal supervision 
• Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite 
• Ability to prioritize, multi-task, and adapt to a fast-paced, iterative environment 
• BFA degree or equivalent experience 

Extra Points:

• Knowledge of Blizzard IPs and interest in the gaming industry a plus

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record tha