NC

In honesty, my beginning in the game industry was primarily for pragmatic reasons. I was working as a toy designer at first. Then I met a young artist who introduced me to the idea of game development, which I knew nothing about back then. At that time, it was the prospect of a pay raise that made the job attractive. (laugh) But once I got into the industry, I realized that I truly enjoyed the nature of the work and the opportunities to grow as an artist along multiple axes, which was very rewarding. Since then I’ve had numerous art leadership positions with various development studios and publishers.

I first joined Arenanet when the studio was still quite young. During this initial phase, our focus was more on developing game technology and in figuring out what type of game we wanted to make. We only had a few artists on board and game art had not been the first priority. But as the studio grew, we began to pay more attention to the art as well. To this end, my job was to attract and mentor young talent as well as identify potential senior talent, bring them on board and build a strong creative team.

More than anything, I focused on creating a culture that was inclusive and friendly toward artists, an environment that would foster creativity. By the time I left the studio, there were over 100 artists in the studio and Arenanet had gained recognition industry-wide as a powerhouse for game art.

My primary objective is to help ensure that NC’s games can be enjoyed by users globally. I am currently familiarizing myself with various projects that are under development and formulating my thoughts on possible directions to act upon in order to increase their resonance world-wide.

Specifically, I will be identifying certain areas where the game art of Korean games can be adapted and tailored to the sensibility of Western gamers. This is just one component that can be divided into multiple areas of actions. I will contribute in hands-on art work to help inspire and challenge teams, to raise the quality and originality of artwork, increasing its Wester appeal. I am looking forward to help create stories that users around the world can be moved by.

We need to shift our focus and attention from the surface to the substance. Rather than focusing too much on the art style, we should look more into the story that we are trying to tell in the game. For example, this includes identifying certain things and values that would move anyone emotionally, making sure that our stories are rich in portraying these values. Good storytelling that truly resonates goes beyond just style.

Deconstruction, critical analysis and challenging the status quo are essential. Expanding our games globally starts with identifying emotional experiences that transcend territorial and cultural boundaries in order to achieve global relevance.

Yes, I can speak forever on this subject. Artists naturally want to grow. They have the desire and drive for self-improvement encoded in their DNA.

My plan as Global Art Leader is to create a culture where artists can develop their talents and pursue their own artistic development path. We need to give them the opportunities to achieve their potential within the organization. In respect to talent retention, this type of art management would make artists feel recognized and be motivated to be with the company longer.

Effective talent management should be centered around empowerment and encouraging all artists to engage in creative dialogue regardless of their title, age, or role. We need an environment that appreciates critical thinking and freedom of creative expression, while promoting mutual respect.

My role as a leader is to point the team in the general direction with clarity, while giving individuals the opportunity and the information needed to use their own critical judgement and make their own decisions, big or small, along the way. We should not make artists feel that they are merely executing on something that’s already been decided, but rather make them trust their own judgement with confidence. I feel that this is a critical shift in culture that we need to encourage.

If in the past the pursuit of precision and fidelity has at times taken priority over storytelling. Going forward our attention must shift to the substance, the ideas.

Many people equate concept art with illustration. In my opinion, concept art is about ideas. Someone might lack some skills as an illustrator, but what is more valuable is the originality of the ideas. The more technology advances, the easier it becomes to achieve unprecedented fidelity. But the value of ideas comes from one’s ability to think creatively, truly understand the principles of design, and demonstrate critical thinking to deconstruct and analyze concepts. It is important for artists to be adaptive, to embrace change rather than resist it, to reinvent themselves periodically.

The ups and downs are part of our existence as artists. When I first started out as an art director for a game development company, I was in charge of leading a team of junior artists. None of us had a clear vision of where we were heading. By the time we had things somewhat figured out the company closed. The hardest part was to process in the reality that not just myself but the entire team was left without a job.

Life as an artist is a rollercoaster of emotions. While an unclear future and unpredictable situations can be stressful, often times it is the uncertainty that brings out the best in us. This is why the initial stage of projects can be challenging but exciting at the same time. The only solution that I have found that consistently gets me out of the low points is to work even harder through those periods. When something goes down, there has to be an up-side again.

As I get involved with new projects, I apply the lessons learned from one project to another, which leads to incremental quantitative accumulation over a period of time followed by sudden, more significant qualitative leaps.
I compare artists to lobsters. A lobsters will grow within its shell until it can’t grow anymore, then it sheds that shell and for a while finds itself vulnerable and exposed. But as time goes by, it gains a bigger protective layer. This cycle repeats throughout an artist’s life.

I want to make a difference. There are many exciting R&D efforts that are going on with NC, that haven’t been publicized outwards yet. Things are happening at blistering speed and I want to play an active role in reshaping the way we entertain our fans.