Roblox Art Director (Freelance)

Sawhorse Productions is a Los Angeles-based, award-winning full-service creative studio transforming ideas into unforgettable experiences through branded content, viral social moments, and interactive experiences. They collaborate with top brands like Walmart, Google, NBCUniversal, Fanatics, Toyota, Pepsi, and Alo to deliver innovative multi-platform content.

Recent projects include Roblox experiences like How To Train Your Dragon, Walmart Discovered (2024 ADDY Winner), Fenty Beauty Experience (2024 Webby Winner), and Lamborghini Lanzador Lab (2024 Telly Winner), as well as Gen AI projects like Coca-Cola Cappy.

Role Overview

Sawhorse Productions is seeking a bold, visually driven, and hands-on Roblox Art Director to define the creative vision for their branded experiences on Roblox. This role involves:

• Setting the visual direction for branded experiences on Roblox, ensuring they align with brand storytelling and platform culture.
• Leading a team of 3D artists, UI designers, and technical artists to deliver high-quality, optimized assets.
• Collaborating closely with clients, game designers, and producers to ensure work is both visually stunning and performant across all devices.
• Shaping the future of digital storytelling as Sawhorse expands its Interactive division across Roblox, Fortnite (UEFN), and emerging UGC platforms.

This is an hourly freelance position with expected availability during PST core hours, Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.

Requirements

• Visual Direction: Own and define the art direction for Sawhorse's branded Roblox experiences, from initial pitch to launch and live updates.
• Style Guides and Standards: Establish style guides, color scripts, asset specifications, and polycount/texture budgets to maintain consistency and production readiness.
• Pitch and Concept Development: Lead visual development for client pitches, creating mood boards, key art, concept sketches, and environment paintovers.
• Brand to Platform Translation: Translate brand guidelines and IP into Roblox-native visual languages that feel authentic to the community while staying true to partner brands.
• Art Team Leadership: Lead, mentor, and review the work of 3D artists, environment artists, UI designers, VFX artists, and animators, providing clear creative feedback.
• Art Pipeline Ownership: Build and manage art pipelines across Blender, Maya, Substance 3D Painter, and Roblox Studio, optimizing assets for in-engine delivery.
• Performance and Optimization: Partner with Technical Artists and Roblox engineers to balance visual ambition with performance across mobile, console, PC, and VR.
• UI and UX Direction: Oversee the look and feel of in-experience UI, HUDs, icons, shop interfaces, and onboarding flows.
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Collaborate with Game Designers, Producers, Creative Directors, and production/post teams to align art with gameplay and campaign goals.
• Client Presentations: Present creative direction, work-in-progress, and final art to clients and stakeholders, incorporating feedback while protecting the creative vision.
• Marketing and Launch Assets: Direct key art, experience thumbnails, icons, trailers, and social assets to drive discovery and engagement.
• Quality Control: Drive art reviews and sign-off checkpoints at every milestone to ensure high standards for craft, consistency, and on-time delivery.
• Trend and Platform Awareness: Stay ahead of Roblox platform updates, top-performing experiences, avatar/UGC trends, and emerging tools, including generative AI workflows.

Qualifications

• Experience: 5+ years as an Art Director, Lead Artist, or similar role in games, interactive media, or branded digital experiences, including 2+ years of hands-on work on Roblox.
• Portfolio: A strong portfolio demonstrating art direction on shipped games or branded experiences, with clear examples of Roblox work and range across multiple stylized art styles.
• Roblox Studio Proficiency: Deep working knowledge of Roblox Studio, including lighting, materials, MeshParts, SurfaceAppearance, and technical constraints.
• 3D and Design Tools: Proficiency in Blender or Maya, Substance 3D Painter, and Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator, with the ability to create or paint over assets.
• Art Fundamentals: Strong command of composition, color theory, lighting, shape language, and visual storytelling.
• Real-Time Pipeline Knowledge: Solid understanding of real-time art pipelines, including polycount budgets, UVs, texture atlasing, LODs, and performance optimization for mobile-first audiences.
• Team Leadership: Proven experience leading and mentoring art teams, including in-house and external contributors.
• Brand and Client Experience: Experience working with brands, IP holders, or agency partners, translating brand guidelines into game-ready visual systems.
• Communication: Excellent presentation and communication skills, able to articulate creative decisions to both technical and non-technical teams.
• Platform Fluency: Active, first-hand knowledge of the Roblox ecosystem, player culture, and what makes top experiences succeed visually.

Nice to Haves

• Experience with Fortnite Creative and UEFN, Minecraft, or other UGC gaming platforms.
• Background designing Roblox avatar items, accessories, or Marketplace UGC.
• Familiarity with generative AI tools like Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, or Stable Diffusion for concepting and look development.
• Experience with Unreal Engine 5 or Unity.
• Background in commercial production, animation, or agency art direction.
• Motion design or trailer editing skills in After Effects or Premiere Pro.