Creative Direction: Stephen Clements, David Lee, John Jakubowski
Copy: Justin Kramm, Keith Hostert
Microsoft/Xbox Game Marketing
In those old sun-drenched internet days of experiential flash microsites and rich media banners, I was lucky enough to land at AKQA on a creative team dedicated to marketing Microsoft and Xbox games. The team was innovative, rowdy, sharp as nails, and stuffed into a dark basement level overflowing with dogs and pizza boxes. For a young hungry designer like me, it was pure heaven. Over my years there I learned a massive amount—the art of creating a safe group brainstorm, how to translate loose ideas into compelling storyboards, and that nurturing trust and camaraderie with copywriters and developers would always make the work better. My joy at stretching from genre to genre (car racing! ninjas! dancing piñatas!) was the first spark that eventually led to my 10 year detour into designing game UI.