2013-2014 Art Director, Skylanders Franchise

Skylanders Trap Team had some challenges at first. It was a console transition year for the franchise, and the development team needed  raise the bar visually from their previous title, Skylanders Giants. Giants was a great game, but we had set a new art standard with Swap Force, and Trap Team would need to quickly catch up. The initial Trap Team levels were fun and visually creative, but they were not going to hold up graphically in the new generation.

On my end, a lot of paintovers, review and revisions were needed to communicate the pubisher goals, as well as finding areas where we could share tech, assets and training between studios.  Working with the team art leads, within a few months we completed the transition for several levels and then propagated those examples and experience to the rest of the team.

By mid-development it was evident that the visuals had turned the corner, despite the tight schedule and an aging engine. Trap Team was released to critical acclaim, and was another huge hit for the franchise.