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VISION TO EXECUTION
Crafting Clarity
The journey usually begins with reference then a deck I craft to align the vision, inspire the team, and rally the support of executives and publishers. From there, I refine the creative through clearly articulated pillar documents, feedback guides, and visual target materials to maintain alignment across internal and external partners.
Vision
01: SIGNAL THE SILENCE
Intentional minimalism. This isn’t emptiness - it’s design. A deliberate pause before the pitch, creating space for clarity and sharpening attention. The stark black frame and restrained logo suggest discipline, control, and readiness. It's not about style yet - it’s about starting grounded, signaling to your team and partners that what follows is built on focus, not flash.
02: CAPTURE THE CORE
Before the visuals, before the pitch decks and mood boards—there’s the feeling. The emotional imprint the player should carry long after they log off. That’s the real starting point. I don’t begin with “style,” I begin with resonance. What does this world feel like? What tone holds everything together?
And while the TV show has to be taken into account, this early phase is about the game first—crafting a core experience strong enough to ripple outward and help influence what the show can become.
03: VISUAL DNA
Referencing The Road Warrior, The Book of Eli, and Starship Troopers, we shape a distinct, mythic look that is grounded, iconic, and emotionally resonant. It's important to cut through genre noise and give players a world that feels both fresh and legendary."
04: READ THE FIELD
Before setting expectations, I always take a step back and look at the playing field. What will players be seeing when our game launches? What visual trends, mechanics, and features are they going to expect? Understanding that early gives critical context - and it’s what kicks off what I call tactical art direction: shaping a look and feel that’s not just beautiful, but positioned to stand out and hit the mark when it matters most. What does this world feel like? What’s the emotional signature we want players to walk away with?
I don’t chase a “style”; I chase a feeling first. The look and tone grow from there.
I don’t chase a “style”; I chase a feeling first. The look and tone grow from there.
05: SHARPEN THE RAZOR
If I can’t distill the visual direction into one or two sharp sentences—what I call a Razor Statement—then the vision isn’t clear enough. It’s not just for artists; it’s a tool for everyone to stay aligned. Like Spielberg’s “GoldenEye set in WWII” for Medal of Honor, a strong Razor cuts through the noise, clarifies tone and purpose, and keeps creative decisions focused. It helps ensure visuals, gameplay, and emotion all move in sync toward a powerful, unified experience.
06: SIMPLIFY
Once gameplay goals are set, I focus the art direction to support them—intentionally and efficiently. When we reduce visual priorities to a short, purposeful list that ladders up to the core vision, we enable faster, smarter decisions across the team.
07: FRAME THE FEELING
When I’m building a pitch, I always aim to show one hero piece of concept art that nails the emotional tone and visual DNA of the project. I think about it from the player's POV — almost like a still from their future experience. It should walk the line: exciting enough to inspire, grounded enough to ship. Left to right, it’s a story in a frame - a visual handshake between vision and production reality.
08: REFERENCE REBIRTH
References are key - but not just any references. For world-building, I hunt for specific, layered photo reference that speaks to the tone we’re aiming for. The goal isn’t just “post-apocalyptic,” it’s what kind - hopeful decay, overgrown beauty, scars that tell stories. The more targeted the reference, the more it gives the team a clear, fresh direction to build something that feels grounded but visually distinct.
09: GRACE IN POWER
Gathering reference for the Castithans was all about channeling their contradiction - elegance wrapped around dominance. I looked for inspiration that reflected their cold beauty, their aristocratic posture, and the menace that lurks just beneath the surface. The goal wasn’t just to find “alien” looks, but to build a visual identity rooted in power, vanity, and cultural superiority. The more specific the reference, the more confidently we could draw a line between worldbuilding and visual storytelling.
10: ROOTED IN WILD
Irathients are all instinct and earth - proud, fierce, and deeply spiritual. When gathering reference, I focused on natural materials, nomadic aesthetics, and designs that feel lived-in and ritualistic. Their look needed to express a connection to nature without falling into clichés — something raw but not primitive. I was hunting for imagery that balanced survivalism with a real sense of heritage, because these characters don’t just live in the wild - they thrive in it. Authenticity was everything.
11: PRECISION AND PURPOSE
The Indogene are engineered intellect - clinical, elegant, and optimized. When building visual reference for them, I leaned into sterile environments, high-tech textiles, and minimalist design that reflects a society built around logic and efficiency. Their world isn't decorative, it’s intentional. Every material, every silhouette had to feel like it served a function. I focused on references that could visually communicate augmentation, superiority, and restraint — clean lines, embedded tech, and subtle complexity. The goal was to make them feel beyond human, but never disconnected from purpose.
12: FORGED BY FIRE
The Badlands are where the earth cracked open and never healed - a scorched, alien wilderness forged from volcanic upheaval and arcfall residue. When gathering reference, I looked for jagged basalt, scorched terrain, and unnatural glows that hint at danger and mystery. This isn't just post-apocalyptic - it's post-terrestrial. I focused on visuals that feel raw and unpredictable, where every rock looks like it remembers the impact that shaped it. The Badlands set the tone for a world still fighting back.
13: FUTURE ROLLERS
In Defiance, vehicles are forged from necessity -scavenged, rugged, and often built from a blend of brute-force engineering and alien tech. They’re not showroom pieces - they’re warhorses. My reference and concepts focused on machines that look lived-in, powerful, and surprisingly inventive. And because this was a shared universe with the TV show, I had to carefully align vehicle capabilities across both mediums. What worked cinematically had to be adapted for gameplay—and vice versa. It was a creative push-pull, but the result is a grounded, thrilling vision of post-apocalyptic motion.
14: PREFAB HAB
Survival sparks invention. In Defiance, human habitats aren’t built; they’re salvaged. Homes are stitched together from scrap, railcars, cargo containers, and pre-fab military shells. It’s adaptive, resourceful, and speaks to a culture learning to live with less. Collaborating with the TV show meant working inside their production constraints while advocating for modular, game-friendly structures that felt real and playable. The trick was to make something cinematic and repeatable - worldbuilding that serves story and systems in equal measure.
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