My resume will tell you the story of a guy who managed to make a career out of his childhood dreams. Okay, sure I’m not the first comic book artist in space but I do get to be creative for a living. I have turned my love of giant robots and mid-century graphic design into a successful career with 15 years as a leader and creative director.
I’m a highly innovative and accomplished professional with vast experience in spearheading creative, brand, marketing, and strategy operations while navigating complex projects and programs within set time and budgetary constraints. Award-winning leader with a track record of navigating one of the largest global game launches as well as conceptualizing and transforming original ideas into powerful messages. History of establishing and strengthening brand identity, elevating print and character design, and executing storytelling to amplify creative outcomes. Possesses an innate ability to develop, coach, and lead diverse, multi-cultural teams to ensure business development and achievement of set goals. Articulate and refined communicator with the ability to establish strong professional relationships with all levels of management, stakeholders, creative teams, and agencies.
Please check out the rest of my portfolio (you’re here so why not click around a little bit and watch some videos) or if you want to talk about font formats or the ending of Xenogears please hit me up.
Skills:
Creative & Art Direction | Narrative & Game Design | Campaign Supervision | Process Improvement & Efficiency | Product Marketing | Storytelling | Product Development & Launches | Digital Marketing | Cross-functional Collaboration | User-centric Approaches | Project & Program Management | Stakeholder Engagement | Creative Brainstorming & Innovation
Experience:
Riot Games, League of Legends: Wild Rift and TFT – Oakland/Los Angeles, CA 2020 – 2024
Senior Managing Creative Director (2021 – 2024)
Navigated all aspects of creative direction for the global launch of League of Legends: Wild Rift and Team Fight Tactics (TFT) Mobile. Collaborated with international teams in LA, Mexico City, Singapore and Shanghai to coordinate and execute large-scale campaigns along with fostering seamless communication and synergy. Provided oversight to a multicultural team comprising eight Creative Directors and regional groups of copywriters, designers, and video editors in various locations across the US, Mexico, China, and Southeast Asia. Set goals and produced budgets, established guidelines and protocols to ensure smooth operations, and conducted research to identify and capture new business opportunities.
Spearheaded large-scale marketing initiatives and created detailed project schedules for global product launches while ensuring seamless execution from inception to completion and conducting thorough post-launch evaluations.
Secured groundbreaking 8M pre-orders and an impressive 4M additional downloads within the first two weeks through global development and implementation of a highly successful marketing strategy across seven countries.
Implemented and contributed to product-based initiatives, such as event design and gameplay development/balancing along with ensuring optimal user engagement and satisfaction.
Generated 100M+ activations through social channels by orchestrating highly successful Lunar New Year 2022 campaign.
Oversaw the implementation and release of Team Fight Tactics (TFT) Mobile in APAC regions.
Principal Creative Director (2020 – 2021)
Guided and coached emerging designers by offering valuable feedback to enhance collaboration and a streamlined workflow. Cultivated a dynamic and positive work environment to drive significant impact. Conceptualized and executed ideas, guidelines, and strategies for diverse creative projects along with ensuring successful completion. Created and maintained brand guidelines to ensure consistent visual representation across all creative outputs.
Coordinated and executed simultaneous product launches across North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East while providing superior support to regional teams.
Designed an integrated and targeted creative and marketing strategy for an extensive 18-month launch campaign.
Achieved over 50M installs at the successful launch of the global release of League of Legends: Wild Rift.
Directed the groundbreaking launch of League of Legends Mobile in China as the largest game launch in history, resulting in a record-breaking 80M+ downloads.
Attracted an impressive player base of over 20M+ at launch by supervising an engaging launch event.
Pocketgems – San Francisco, CA 2017 – 2020
Director of Creative
Managed both in-house and external teams and agencies for the creation of CGI trailers, print materials, and merchandise. Facilitated and guided collaborative idea generation sessions to foster creativity and innovation within a team environment. Developed internal marketing campaigns to translate objectives across business units into clear and motivating creative strategies. Synergized with marketing and sales departments in creating marketing plans, analyzing results, and identifying opportunities.
Led in-game creative for the renowned game company responsible for the groundbreaking titles War Dragons and the interactive storytelling app, Episode.
Established and oversaw the internal, diverse marketing department from built from scratch.
Commanded multiple product launches, including War Dragons: Atlas and Wild Beyond.
Nexon M – Oakland/Los Angeles, CA 2014 – 2017
Creative Director
Led cross-functional teams consisting of designers, writers, and marketers in diverse locations including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seoul, South Korea. Collaborated with multiple teams to produce new ideas for company branding, promotional campaigns, and marketing communications. Reviewed and approved all creative output and deliverables prior to presentation.
Partnered with both internal and external agencies to oversee the creation of CGI trailers, print designs, event promotions, and PR initiatives as well as managed press relations and secured TV exposure for the company.
Navigated art direction across various game titles while overseeing VFX, character design, UI/UX, and sound elements.
Released DomiNations on mobile generating significant revenue and gain a large player base.
Supercell – San Francisco, CA 2013 – 2014
Marketing and Video Artist
Produced and delivered concept art for various business creative needs. Partnered with branding concepts to maintain consistent feel and brand identity across all creative content. Assessed and drove improvements in processes, tools, and communication to increase productivity and overcome technical challenges.
Developed highly successful multi-million-dollar ad campaigns consisting of animated commercials, print ads, and mobile performance advertisements.
Created and executed marketing strategies for the successful launch of Boom Beach as the Lead Marketing Artist.
Transformed the performance advertising strategy for all Supercell products to maximizing visibility and impact.
Designed visually stunning artwork as the brand artist for popular mobile games Clash of Clans and Hay Day.
Additional Experience:
Creative Director, FunPlus – San Francisco, CA
Video Editor, Gamigo US, Inc. – San Francisco, CA
Motion Graphic and Video Designer, Yelp – San Francisco, CA
Choreography Artist, Telltale Games – San Rafael, CA
Associate Designer, Starz Entertainment – San Francisco, CA
Oakland, California 94605
GNKillion@gmail.com
+1-303-829-5273
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-killion/