Art Director

Note: this is a senior role — we're looking for someone with prior art direction or visual development leadership experience. Topdeck Productions is a small indie studio in London building a party-based roguelite deckbuilder (STS × Darkest Dungeon): four heroes, one shared deck, one shared energy pool. Mechanics are locked and in playtesting. The visual identity is a blank page — no legacy art to inherit — and we're hiring someone to own it, not to execute someone else's vision. We want an identity that's ownable and adjacent to that STS × DD energy, not an imitation of either. The engagement: a paid 3–4 week visual identity discovery sprint — style direction explorations, a visual target, a capsule mockup, the seed of an art bible — with the option to grow into a fractional art direction retainer, directing our concept artist and future art hires. Budget: $5,000–9,000 USD for the sprint, depending on experience. Day rate for the ongoing role negotiable. Fully remote; some timezone overlap with the UK preferred but flexible. Who we're looking for: someone who has defined a game's look before — shipped credits where you set the direction, or a portfolio showing style exploration and visual development, not just finished illustration. And someone who genuinely plays and loves the deckbuilder genre. To apply: Send an email with your portfolio — ideally including direction-level work like style explorations, visual development, or art bibles.