Art Direction

Excellent communication establishes the roots of every leadership skill.

For example, when developing an MMO educational platform, I shared updates with my team on long term schedules, goals, and predicted obstacles. This cemented the importance of individual contributions in the minds of my team, alleviated stress from the unknown, and increased their ownership of solutions.

My clear, prompt communication to both superiors and direct reports builds an orderly and measurable environment for managing  projects and fostering rapport with peers. In addition, I encourage peer communication to improve team cohesion and adapt my 1-on-1 messaging with individuals to ensure understanding. 

I provide strong direction to my teams for successful delivery.

My ability to effectively direct work was paramount when developing video game assets for Skye. I gave coworkers and direct reports clear expectations and documented our needs and stretch goals. This clarity gave them focus to complete tasks with pride and efficiency. 

Truthfully, long, large, and multi-faceted projects can quickly devolve into disorder and stress. To open the path to success, I delegate work according to team member's strengths while taking their desires into consideration. I ensure each member knows their role and is expected of them.

Kindness builds trust in peer and stakeholder relationships.

Once, a direct report failed to deliver needed graphics on a deadline. In order to understand why she had faltered and hadn't sought help, I arranged a conversation. By providing a judgement-free space, she felt safe expressing her fears that led to poor decisions. Together we made an improvement plan, and I assigned new tasks with the express purpose of overcoming her doubts and building new skills.  From this moment her ability and confidence grew steadily, and she took the experience as proof that I was a dependable leader.

Kindness is being understanding, receptive to conflict, and strong on effective solutions.

Curiosity is the zephyr that breathes gusto into my lungs.

Creative work can be taxing because of how demanding  it is of the artist; however, my vigor is replenished by following curiosity. Leaving my comfort zone to learn a new program or research a different field feeds my artistic endeavors.  As a result of curiosity, my typography is informed by mid century modern furniture and my communication skills are honed through Toastmasters.

Notably, designing the graphic language system for Saga was successful in part through curiosity. Deep research into classic design and worldwide graphics guided me to create a clean and timeless aesthetic that could be applied across the organization's needs.

Likewise, I also encourage my team to follow curiosity, especially during early development of a project. Curiosity lets our minds draw new connections and produce innovative work.

My support enables employees to create their best work.

I'm an advocate of surrounding yourself with the best crew, giving them the resources they need, then letting them do what they do best. Hence, in addition to providing fair compensation and tools, I aim to create predictable environments, champion the contributions of employees, make accommodations for unique needs, and create safe spaces for them to share honest feedback.

For instance, when I had a worker struggling to understand the concepts that underpinned our art style, I gave them space to work it out themselves, made a safe environment for them to share their struggles, and gave them support in the form of notes, live demonstrations, and a reference library until they reached a deep understanding of the principles.

To provide proper support, it is crucial to meet people where they are without judgement. Finding those paths forward is a creative act in itself.

Great decisions matter.

Decisions make the difference between a project's success and failure, and can manage or overburden a team's stress. 

I give major decisions breathing room rather than making hasty choices. During the decision process I often seek expert advice from peers and superiors alike. In fact, working through complex decisions with my Creative Director was a rewarding way to draft action plans and an excellent way include and inform him of our progress. 

Because of the impact major decisions have on whole teams and outcomes, I strive to approach the decision making process with critical thinking and foresight. These considerations keep the big picture in focus while avoiding pitfalls and increasing efficiency.

Collaboration is a highlight for me. Stuck on a hurdle? Ask others how they would solve it. Looking to broaden my expertise? Ask the pros what resources they recommend. Believing in my team's intelligence and abilities and recognizing their unique backgrounds means we can strong, diverse thought together.

This was crucial when working with the Engineering team for developing our video game. They had constraints my team needed to work within, and we had goals we wanted them to strive for. Through collaboration we were able to create effective workflows for both of our teams and produce a beautiful game experience.

High level organization wasn't always a skill I possessed. Early in my Art Directing days I struggled to keep the big picture for our projects in view. I had to make a change.

I researched alternative methods for prioritizing tasks and worked with a variety of tools to track my team's progress. 

Today I feel confident in my ability to keep important details within reach and timelines in check. As a result, this improves my decision quality and ability to work with ambiguous problems and projects.

Sometimes an uncommon situation arises that needs an uncommon solution. In those moments.