For this new edition in our Day in the Life series, join us as we delve deep into the world of Guilherme Batista, Art Director at Magic Media! Guilherme is responsible for not only managing his art teams but also defining the overall artistic vision for many of our projects. His skills are vital to ensuring our projects are on track with our client expectations and ensuring consistency with other departments’ work.

Art Director Responsibilities

As an Art Director, Guilherme is responsible for defining the overall look of any given game project he’s working on. For this, he must take into account its gameplay, mood, tone, themes, and target audience to ensure a level of consistency between these distinct aspects.

Additionally, he’s responsible for guiding his artists throughout a project to ensure they’re doing the best work possible, addressing any issues, and maintaining consistency across the board. He also works closely with other department leaders to ensure we’re aligned as one team and that the same level of high-quality work is delivered at every level across a project.

A Typical Day as an Art Director

Like many others, Guilherme starts his day by checking his messages from team members across the various timezones Magic Media has a presence. From here, Guilherme will check all of the team’s work in progress to ascertain what needs to be done next for the project overall. From here, he delivers feedback to each team member individually and works closely with them to ensure they understand the feedback, everything is clear, and they’re aligned on what needs to be done next.

Guilherme typically likes to provide feedback on an individual basis with every team member through back-and-forth conversations. He also engages with the team in group feedback sessions so that team members can help each other as well. Guilherme says that one of the biggest challenges of working remotely is keeping that sense of teamwork intact, and by holding these group sessions, the team feels closer than ever.

Project Work as an Art Director

Guilherme considers the role of art in games as a visual translation of the game’s core themes and moods, and that it needs to be believable for its setting, whether it’s dark fantasy or something more upbeat. Collaborations usually begin with brainstorming sessions and visual boards to get ideas out in the open. Crucially, as his and the team’s role is to translate ideas into a visual medium, client meetings happen frequently so that they can communicate their ideas.

Project limitations, whether they stem from a client’s vision or technical limitations, can be challenging as Guilherme says, but there’s nothing that can’t be overcome through creative problem-solving. There are always solutions to be found when the team puts their heads together, or better-working alternatives.

Flexibility is key according to Guilherme, especially as it pertains to creatively realizing a client’s projects while adhering to deadlines and milestone dates. Guilherme believes ultimately that it’s the limitations and doubts that are often part of the creative process that can bring out the best in people in lead to the most interesting and effective solutions.

At Magic Media, we’re veterans of the gaming, entertainment, and tech industries and provide dozens of expert services to bring your projects to life. Guilherme and the team provide full art services for gaming projects no matter their size and scope. Additionally, we offer full-cycle development, real-time VFX, and much more. Get in contact with Magic Meda today, and let’s create magic!