Concept Artist (Wardrobe/Accessories) - EA SPORTS FC

Important Note: This team works onsite at EA Vancouver (Burnaby office). Applicants are required to work onsite 3 days, Tuesday - Thursday every week. This is a 12-month contract with the possibility of longer term employment. 

EA SPORTS is one of the world's leading sports entertainment brands, known for top-selling video game franchises, award-winning interactive technology, and cross-platform digital experiences. EA SPORTS creates connected gaming experiences that bring the emotion of sports to life through industry-leading titles, including Madden NFL, EA SPORTS FC, NHL, NBA LIVE, and UFC.  

Concept art is the foundation of a game’s visual identity. It establishes the look, feel, and tone of a project, serving as a key reference for everyone involved in development. The Concept Artist’s role is to translate ideas into compelling visuals that drive the artistic vision forward. At EA SPORTS FC, Concept Artists play an important role in shaping the game's visual target. Their work serves as the visual building blocks for environments, characters, lighting, and props. Collaborating closely with the Art Team, they help visually interpret creative briefs, explore original ideas, and create artwork that determines the final style and mood of the project.

Responsibilities

• Communicate with Development Directors on tasks, scheduling and assignments; collaborate with Art Directors to hit visual targets; and support the Character Art team during production cycles.
• Working with the Concept Art Lead, gather reference and create Mood Boards for various garments, shoes, and accessories across multiple styles & fashion genres.
• Prepare and present multiple design roughs for directional approval, implement feedback and create detailed final garment and outfit concept art in a timely manner.
• Support 3D artists by delivering clear, well-structured visual guides that translate seamlessly into in-game assets.
• Stay up to date with industry trends and techniques, bringing fresh ideas and innovations to the team.

Required Qualifications

• A passion for fashion is a must as the main focus for this position will be to concept a multitude of player clothing items for an in-game vanity system. 
• Experience designing and concepting game characters in all phases, including rough sketches, refined lineart and full color renderings. Familiar with creating Directional
• Packages including turnarounds, detail shots of accessories, and material call-outs.
• Ability to reinterpret and render realistic real-world fashion garments including structural details like hems, seams, pockets, patterns, fit, and folds in a clear and accurate manner.
• Knowledge of realistic anatomy and the fundamentals of the human body, including core muscle groups and how they connect to the skeleton, proportion, weight and mass, figure posing and costuming. 
• Knowledge of clothing, fabric, materials and how they drape and fold around bodies.
• Ability to render various materials accurately, including lighting, weight and surfacing.
• Skilled in rendering and dynamically posing figures in motion, action and dramatic situations.
• Versatile and able to design and concept realistic-looking and stylized characters and costumes, both from imagination and from reference.
• Experience creating multiple pattern variations using color, texture and graphics.
• Solid awareness of posing figures, posture, facial expression, gesture and movement.
• Good graphic design & typography skills and the ability to create logos, tattoos, faux brand names and other stylized art treatments often found on clothing.

Nice to Have

• Basic knowledge of 3D workflows and the ability to integrate 3D greyblocks or models into concept development.
• Collaborative by nature and can work with Cine, VFX and other visual directors to determine a specific vision.
• Storyboard experience, including working knowledge of cinematography terms, shots and common techniques and terminology used when creating storyboards.
• The ability to read and interpret scripts, discuss cinematic team requirements and be a strong visual partner in storyboard creation.
• Skilled in creating concept key frames for animation, VFX, and motion graphics.

Software & Tools Proficiency

• Experience with industry-standard 2D digital painting (e.g., Photoshop, etc.)
• Familiar with 3D tools (e.g. Blender, Maya, Substance Designer, Marmoset etc.).
• Familiar with Miro, Slack and other common communication software.