Getting back on track

News:
Just a quick update so that no one thinks I’ve died or something. It’s been extremely hectic lately–new job, new apartment, and basically, trying to organize my life back into some semblance of normality. I wanted to wait and do a proper update, with exciting photos and all that, but it’s one of those situations if I don’t find fifteen minutes to update now, I’ll just keep putting it off until I felt like my life was back on track–that can take weeks more than it already took.

So the short version is, I just accepted a job offer from a casual game company in the Bay Area, and am now their games art director. It’s going to be interesting working on games that don’t require long production periods or cutting-edge machines to play, and targets a whole different segment of the market as opposed to the typical male teen to adult audience. I personally believe the casual game space has not reached its real potential yet–too many people are still thinking inside the box of what casual games can be. It’ll be interesting to help contribute to the growth of casual games.

Weblog:
Elena and I finally found an apartment we liked. It’s located close to downtown San Mateo (Bay Area, California), about 1,000 square feet, with two bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, and two baths. There are three Japanese styled sliding panes that separate the den from the living room, and that was one of the main reasons we picked the place–it would give me a lot of flexibility when I do studio photography at home. Basically, I get to remove an entire wall at will and open up the shooting space for more creative light and camera placement. Once we get settled, there will definitely be a stream of new photography coming, and I’m not talking about the casual shooting I’ve been doing so much of in the last year–it’ll be some pretty exciting studio photography.

Unpacking all of my crap from six years ago (when I packed up everything and put them in storage, and then went off to see the world, sort of) was a real shock. I knew I had a lot of crap, being a bit of a pack rat, but after two weeks of unpacking and still not finished, I must admit I have a problem. Admitting you have a problem is always the first step, right?

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The new job takes a bit getting used to. I’ve art directed before, both in games and in CG animation, but this is the first time I’ve been officially designated “senior management,” and have to attend more meetings than I think is normal. I’m probably the only guy in senior management who doesn’t have the title of VP, but because I oversee the art direction of all the games the company develops and publishes, I’m by default the head of a department, and that makes me senior management. When I was the creator/writer/director/art director at a CG animation studio, I was juggling a lot more responsibilities, including wearing the hat of the audio director, and even with all that going on, there were never so many meetings like now. I guess every company’s got it’s own culture. The meetings themselves are actually quite productive; no wheels are spun–everything is to the point, well planned, and efficiently executed. I’ve sort of walked into a burning building in a way though, since they haven’t had an art director for…ever, so I really had to go in there and rescue a lot of stuff that desperately needed an art director. It’s been pretty crazy, and I have a feeling it’ll only get worse before it gets better.