2D Animator

Overview

Skyborne Games (Canada) is an established indie mobile game studio specializing in crafting cozy idle games for female players. Founded by developers from Riot Games, Electronic Arts, DreamWorks Animation in 2015, we are a lean and efficient team where every team member jumps in to collaborate on creating the best player experiences. Our ideal candidate is passionate about games and art and have a knack for concise storytelling through short animations.

We are looking for a 2D Animator to join the Adorable Garden team, where you will work closely with the art director and growth lead to create original 2D 3-15 sec animated shorts as well as in-game assets. While this role is primarily to create original content for our TikTok and Instagram channels, occasionally candidates will also be expected to assist in in-game 2D asset creation.

Candidates will start out as a full-time contractor for 3 months before transitioning to a full-time employee.

This role is remote in Canada only. Candidates willing to relocate to British Columbia are preferred, but not required.

Our Values

We like to keep things simple at Skyborne Games. These two core values guide each Skyborne team member.

• Mutual Respect: Making games is hard. Conflicts will arise. We resolve conflicts by respecting the views of each other and finding the best possible solutions.
• Continuous Learning: We afford each other space to try new things, fail and pick ourselves up!

Responsibilities

• Understand Adorable Garden’s audience to tailor art and visual experiences.
• Concept or storyboard a wide range of original ideas from a single theme or prompt.
• Iterate on storyboards based on feedback from the Game and Art director.
• Drive emotion through concise 3-5 sec animated loops.
• Concept + Illustrate + Animate loops such as the ones above or better.
• Tell compelling stories through 15 sec animations such as these.
• Brainstorm as a key member within a creative team.
• Create art assets in a cozy art style using exaggerated proportions.
• Illustrate in-game art assets in a pastel color palette.

Requirements

• Portfolio or demo reel showcasing work. Demonstrate a range in your animations.
• Strong sense of how to use animation to drive emotion.
• Innate understanding of trends for the female mobile audience.
• Strong design, color, composition, typography and ideation skills.
• Experience in illustrating characters, environments and game assets for hybrid casual games.
• Excellent knowledge of Photoshop, Clip Studio or equivalent.
• Team player - You listen deeply to others and communicate clearly.
• Adaptability - Good art requires feedback and iteration. You can balance the needs of other disciplines.
• Motivated - You’re hungry to learn and work diligently to improve your skills.

Preferred Requirements

• 1+ year or professional experience as an artist.
• Knowledge of Premiere Pro, After Effects and Unity.
• TikTok / Instagram with original 2D animated content with 50K+ views.

Why Skyborne?

• Be part of a small, fun and fast paced team.
• Directly contribute to the success of the team.
• Enjoy full transparency and open communication across all team members.
• Growth opportunities in a small but established studio.
• Work fully remote with flexible hours (core hours 10AM-3PM Pacific Time) and vacations.
• 2 week studio-wide vacation during Xmas.

Application Process

• Submit your resume, cover letter and link to your portfolio / demo reel to [email protected]
• Clearly state your current work authorization status in Canada.
• In your cover letter, list the last 3 mobile games you enjoyed in the past 2 years.