Context of project

Brought on as Art Director and Production Lead for a new 3D PC game at Northworks, shortly after the studio’s acquisition by a parent company -Travian Games - based in Munich.

I was tasked with defining the artistic scope, quickly assembling a multidisciplinary art team, and developing a user-centered visual style based on research and player data.

Another challenge was building trust between the newly acquired Hamburg studio and the parent company and overcoming the geographic distance.

I collaborated on the internal pitch to the parent company, securing greenlight and funding.

The project ran on an 18-month timeline from concept to launch, with a total budget of €3 million with the need to deliver a fresh product after 7 years. 

My Design Strategy

Internal vs Outsourcing

> Hiring an internal art team saved 120K Euros than outsourcing as initially planned

> Game Design was not completed to brief outsourcing studios, so therefore we started to brainstorm and develop 4 different visual styles to test to a target audience. 

> Having an internal art team made our work, iteration and urgent changes faster. 

> Creative brainstorming, finding solutions and decision making is faster, especially if it envolves cross departmental collaboration

Distinctive Style &
Brand Recognition:

> Inspired by the design and material scheme of american oldtimer cars of the 50's & 60's is not existing in this genre, would stand out to competitors and intrigued users.

Appeal:

> Through our iterations by target audience surveys we came to a final design style, which is very appealing and to a broader audience as initial brief. 

(Females, males who would not play (standard looking) space ship vessels, players already playing and invested in standard looking style would be interested in registering as player because of the destinctive style and finally a bigger acceptance towards parents critical to war gaming).

Stylefinding Process & Survey

Finding the Right Look

We ran 4 surveys during development to refine our visual style.
We explored 5 spaceship designs and chose one unlike anything on the market.
A general style was initially favored — but players found it too similar to games they already played and not strong enough to switch.

Bold Visual Twist

By drawing inspiration from 50s/60s American car design, we created a look that felt fresh and visually exciting. Feedback confirmed it stood out and gave players a reason to try something new.

Validated by Our Audience

75% of our target group said they would register and pay for the game.

A wider Appeal

Unexpectedly, the style also resonated with a new audience:
women, family fathers, and people who normally don’t play space games.
This expanded our potential paying user base beyond the original target group.

Key Challenges & Responsibilities

Project Scope:

> Delivery from concept to launch objective of 18 months with a core team of 9 artists. 

> Tight budget 

> Game design  in  development 

> Pitch pending for final funding approval

Balancing Detail &
Production Efficiency:

> I defined a balanced level of detail to ensure the reproduction capacity of the available artist pool. 

New Stakeholders &
Cross-Team Alignment

> Secured design approvals for creative alignment with C-level management and cross-functional leads under short timelines.

> Aligned with Game Design, Development, Project Management, and Marketing on production status and coordinated asset needs.

Workflow &
Pipeline

> Developed an end-to-end production pipeline—covering concept design, final artwork, file delivery, and integration with the development team.

> Set up naming conventions, asset folder structures, feedback protocols, and delivery processes  for clarity and efficiency.

Art Production &
Asset Supervision

> Checked and cleared open questions of game design briefs.

> Developed style guides / design guidelines.

> Balanced live game content requests, marketing deliverables and dummy assets for testing.

> Scheduled, prioritized  and assigned tasks/workloads to artists.

> Reviewed and approved final artwork.

Fostering Teamspirit and mutual acceptance

Need of scaling the art team at Northworks from 3 to 9 artists.

> Challenge: integrating new hires (many from my previous teams) without alienating existing members.

Solution: organized onboarding workshops to:

> Define roles collaboratively.

> Set communication rules.

> Establish workflows and feedback process.

> Documented everything in a Art Team Wiki – agile, for optimization

Result: a close knit, collaborative, and motivated effective working team.

Production Marketing Initiatives

> Aimed at creating trust, visibility and emotional engagement.

> Bridge geographic distance between our production studio in Hamburg and headquarters in Munich.

> Influence the parent company in Munich positively by creative vision and actively showcasing progress.

> Maintain a sense of momentum between formal status reports.

Tactical Measures

> Limited 3D-printed models of hero spaceships as desk trophies for key stakeholders, decision-makers and VIPs.

> Visually striking screensavers featuring the latest hero ships and popular in-game assets.

> Regular gameplay sessions for hands-on testing, feedback, and celebrating milestones.

> Branded materials such as stickers, postcards, and posters distributed internally.

> Content for internal newsletters, such as project updates, concept art and production insights.

> Teaser trailers to build internal excitement.

Achievements