Creative Direction for Indies

In this session: Nicolas Pirot, lead technical artist at ZA/UM, on Creative Direction for Indies: Establishing and executing your creative vision.

Creative direction is a complicated thing. To have a clear vision of what your game is and what makes it special isn't easy, to deliver on that vision is much harder still.

In this talk, we'll be discussing how to refine and execute your creative direction, in ways that benefit the long-term stability of both your team and project.

Primarily aimed at small development teams working on their own IP, this talk will discuss creative methodology and production practices. Particularly useful for teams currently in preproduction, this talk can benefit teams in any stage of development.

Nicolas is the Lead Technical Artist at ZA/UM (Disco Elysium), and has been in games since graduating from DAE in 2017. As Technical artist he's experienced in both realistic and non-realistic artstyles, and over the years he's worked for several high-profile studios in the UK. Notable projects include the BAFTA-winning Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Rocksteady's recent Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. A long-time fan of cinematic immersion and historical fencing, he currently leads the Technical Art team on an unannounced ZA/UM project.