About the role
Role: Art Director
Engagement Details
- Type: Remote, contract.
- Commitment: Up to 30 hours/week with flexibility.
- Duration: Initial engagement of 3–4 months, with possibility of extension.
- Compensation: CAD $45 – $65/hour. Full-time equivalent: CAD $93,600 – $135,200/year.
- Requirements: NDA and contractor agreement required.
- Location: International applicants welcome if they can maintain reliable overlap with Pacific Time.
Project Overview
- Unannounced PC game in development using Unreal Engine 5.
- Action-oriented hybrid-genre game with emphasis on gameplay, atmosphere, and visual storytelling.
- Role involves defining a visual language that is novel, striking, and singular.
Responsibilities
- Define a bold and recognizable visual identity for the project.
- Establish visual principles distinguishing the project from generic genre conventions.
- Develop a coherent language across environments, characters, animation, VFX, lighting, materials, colour, cinematics, interface, and promotional art.
- Perform hands-on visual-development work including paintovers, style frames, key art, reference boards, and lighting studies.
- Translate artistic direction into practical production standards.
- Evaluate current game state to identify changes with high artistic and presentational impact.
- Work directly in Unreal Engine 5 to shape composition, lighting, atmosphere, materials, scale, and final presentation.
- Direct visual development of in-game spaces, gameplay moments, cinematics, and representative imagery.
- Review work from concept, environment, character, animation, VFX, and other contributors.
- Determine lean combination of internal and contract talent.
- Define clear creative briefs and acceptance criteria for commissioned work.
- Guide visual quality through implementation, capture, colour grading, and final presentation.
- Maintain clarity and individuality of visual direction.
- Handle confidential materials per NDA requirements.
Requirements
- Professional experience as Art Director, Associate Art Director, Lead Artist, or equivalent senior leader.
- Strong artistic vision and identifiable creative voice.
- Professional Unreal Engine 5 experience.
- Ability to shape visual direction via in-engine evaluation.
- Portfolio demonstrating authorship, taste, and high-quality production work.
- Evidence of material influence on the identity of a finished project.
- Expert understanding of composition, lighting, colour, form, materials, atmosphere, and visual storytelling.
- Ability to balance high-level intent with concrete production decisions.
- Ability to critique work while strengthening the contributor's effort.
- Clear written and verbal communication.
- At least one shipped commercial title, published cinematic project, or equivalent credit.
- Willingness to sign NDA.
Nice to Have
- Exceptional concept-art, paintover, or visual-development skills.
- Portfolio showing original visual languages over established genre templates.
- Experience with action-oriented or hybrid-genre games.
- Experience directing realistic, stylized-realistic, or unconventional projects.
- Strong Unreal Engine lighting and look-development experience.
- Experience with Sequencer, Movie Render Queue, Niagara, or real-time cinematics.
- Experience creating consistent identity across gameplay, cinematic, and promotional work.
- Experience establishing visual direction for small or distributed teams.
- Resourcefulness in combining original art, procedural workflows, licensed assets, and custom production.
Role: Concept Artist
Engagement Details
- Type: Remote, commission-based contract.
- Scope: Each piece or package is selected and briefed by Art or Game Director. Scope, fee, schedule, and deliverables agreed before start.
- Duration: Initial period of 3–4 months with potential for further commissions.
- Location: International applicants welcome; must be available for occasional discussions during Pacific Time.
- Requirements: NDA and contractor agreement required.
Responsibilities
- Explore visual ideas through sketches, thumbnails, studies, and alternative designs.
- Develop selected ideas into clear concepts communicating form, colour, materials, atmosphere, and character.
- Contribute original ideas responsive to game direction.
- Refine concepts through discussion and feedback with directors.
- Produce supporting views, details, or callouts for production.
- Create paintovers, mood pieces, or promotional illustrations.
- Deliver organized source files.
Requirements
- Portfolio demonstrating professional concept-art work and distinct creative voice.
- Strong fundamentals in drawing, composition, perspective, form, colour, and lighting.
- Evidence of design process (exploration and resolution).
- Professional client or studio experience.
- Ability to create designs supporting a larger visual identity.
- Ability to interpret feedback, explain decisions, and work independently.
- Reliable communication and delivery.
Nice to Have
- Strength in environment, character, prop, or other design disciplines.
- Experience translating concepts into references for 3D artists.
- Strong paintover and visual-storytelling skills.
- Experience combining 2D and 3D tools.
- Familiarity with Unreal Engine or real-time production.
- Experience developing production concepts and finished promotional artwork.
Role: 3D Generalist Artist
Engagement Details
- Type: Remote, commission-based contract.
- Scope: Scoped around defined assets, scenes, or production packages. Fee, schedule, and deliverables agreed before start.
- Duration: Initial period of 3–4 months with potential for further commissions.
- Location: International applicants welcome; must be available for occasional discussions during Pacific Time.
- Requirements: NDA and contractor agreement required.
Responsibilities
- Create props, equipment, and 3D assets from approved concepts/references.
- Develop textures and materials supporting the visual language.
- Assemble and dress scenes with attention to composition, scale, and storytelling.
- Integrate assets into Unreal Engine 5 and refine in context.
- Adapt existing or licensed assets.
- Prepare topology, UVs, textures, and materials.
- Collaborate with directors and artists to resolve visual/production needs.
- Deliver organized source files and assets.
Requirements
- Portfolio demonstrating professional 3D work across several production tasks.
- Strong understanding of form, proportion, composition, colour, and materials.
- Professional experience creating assets for real-time games.
- Practical Unreal Engine 5 experience (integration/material setup).
- Ability to carry work from brief to finished in-engine result.
- Resourcefulness in asset creation/adaptation.
- Ability to interpret direction and contribute thoughtful visual decisions.
- Reliable communication, realistic estimates, and independent work ethic.
- Professional client or studio experience.
Nice to Have
- Strong prop and hard-surface modelling skills.
- Experience with scene assembly, set dressing, and lighting.
- Familiarity with modular assets and reusable material workflows.
- Experience supporting animation or VFX artists.
- Ability to maintain consistent look across diverse assets.
- Experience preparing work for gameplay and close-up presentation.
Role: 3D Character Artist
Engagement Details
- Type: Remote, commission-based contract.
- Scope: Scoped around defined characters or asset packages. Fee, schedule, and deliverables agreed before start.
- Duration: Initial period of 3–4 months with potential for further commissions.
- Location: International applicants welcome; must be available for occasional discussions during Pacific Time.
- Requirements: NDA and contractor agreement required.
Responsibilities
- Develop character models, clothing, and equipment from concepts/references.
- Contribute artistic judgment in translating designs to 3D.
- Refine form, proportion, silhouette, and surface detail.
- Create topology, UVs, textures, and materials for real-time production.
- Prepare characters for rigging and animation pipeline.
- Integrate and review character assets in Unreal Engine 5.
- Deliver organized source files and finished assets.
Requirements
- Portfolio demonstrating professional character-art work.
- Strong understanding of anatomy, proportion, clothing, and silhouette.
- High-quality modelling, sculpting, texturing, and material skills.
- Professional experience creating characters for real-time games.
- Practical Unreal Engine 5 experience.
- Understanding of topology and deformation support.
- Ability to interpret artistic direction and contribute design decisions.
- Reliable communication, realistic estimates, and independent work ethic.
- Professional client or studio experience.
Nice to Have
- Experience carrying a character from concept to in-engine presentation.
- Strong clothing, equipment, and hard-surface accessory work.
- Experience adapting characters to existing rigs/animation systems.
- Familiarity with modular character construction.
- Ability to preserve character identity across gameplay and close-up.
- Rigging expertise (scope to be agreed upon).