WHY I LOVE ART DIRECTION

I was born IMAGINING WORLDS, like so many other children. Those worlds raised me - & taught me the true MAGIC of storytelling.

My life’s mission is to imbue great stories with GREAT ART- To guide my team toward their best possible selves - versions of them that inject LOVE & HEART into every design, so that each player feels a little LIGHTER after playing than when they hit the start button.

Born half Nigerian & half European; my hair has taught me a lot about strong branding & memorability! (Hint hint, it can work for or against you..)

THE STORY BEHIND ME

Unfortunately my story started with enough different flavors of tragedy to provide plenty of reference! Hardship taught me what it meant to strive & survive - & eventually I worked hard enough to meet my angel: Rick Carter. He mentored me for a decade, & taught me to create cultures of ownership - where every teammate has freedom to inject their creativity & their own slices to own.. & so is motivated to do their best.

I went on to spend the first 7 years of my career in film, & was lucky enough to design the original script & world for Wicked - which was the foundation of the entire film (they wrote the final script based on me & Derek Gogol’s designs). Since then i’ve designed for many big titles like The Matrix 4, Bad Boys, Blue Beetle.. Working in film taught me coherent story & disciplined visual design, & I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

But nothing really comes close to working in the gaming industry, & collaborating with a team of close badasses.

The last 5 years of my life has been in games, undertaking the journey of storytelling & gameplay in a medium that I find is the HARDEST & the MOST REWARDING. There is nothing on this earth I love more than the complex game of creating iconic worlds in a performant, efficient way that works with our mechanics. To me, that’s far more interesting than telling a story all by itself; & I find player freedom to be a refreshing idea.

I constantly strive to be the kindest, most empathetic & honest version of myself I can be. When leading, it’s important to show vulnerability & own up to mistakes. (Those who admit they’re wrong are right more often!) - & to help create a culture where other people feel FREE TO PLAY & EXPERIMENT!