Role Models

 Who is my role-model?

My chosen artist in the games industry is Lauren Soanes. She is a game designer from California employed by Blizzard Entertainment and is responsible for a lot of the design work within cinematics and cosmetic design within the Overwatch Universe. She has worked on many projects for Overwatch while at blizzard including some of the cinematics and lore as well as the most recently added 'Dokiwatch' skin set and lore within the universe. 

Responsibilities of my games artist

My artist has multiple roles and responsibilities within their job role that vary across different areas, they are involved in many different aspects of creating the general universe of Overwatch from creating skins and more content for characters as well as making cinematics that delve into the different areas of the overwatch lore and explain things on a deeper more personal level. It is the artists role to ensure that when they are working on a character, the skins and cinematics stay true to the style and atmosphere of the games universe as well as staying true to the character they belong to. When creating new content for a character or expanding their lore and screentime it is an important responsibility to maintain a consistent character identity and ensure that because a character has changed their skin, the character is still recognizable. This goes for cinematics too. The way a character acts and behaves within their cinematic is a  key element to keeping a character recognizable. If an artist fails to keep new character content just as clear as the what came before it, then the character loses their identity. 

Technical for and durable skills involved within this role

In order to carry out Lauren's role, you would need to have good teamwork skills and be able to efficiently direct a team to work together to reach the same final goal. Keeping communications clear between members is an important necessity. Technically, you would also need to be able to navigate and use multiple software's in order to keep your team on track as well as ensure a high quality final product is being reached. Knowing your way around various software would ensure that the team have multiple options and a variety of features that you have access too to help collaborate with your team in quick and high quality cinematic and cosmetic production. 

How did they get where they are today?

From what I could find, Lauren got a BA in Cinema Studies and Creative writing at America University where she studied until 2020. She then moved to her first job in the industry as a Story Board Coordinator where she recorded notes during feedback periods and prepared shipment materials. She shortly advanced to production manager where she gained more responsibility  controlling the production schedule, supervised various areas of the department and handled the paperwork and communications with freelancers. Then she advanced on to associate producer and cinematic producer where she oversaw the general productions and called the shots on various decisions that needed to be made to reach an end result. She also became responsible for more physical production such as various tasks within Miro and Shotgrid. Finally she promoted to Game Producer where she became responsible for maintaining communications and roadmaps, overseeing character tech art and responsible for shipping prestige level cosmetics.

What practices of their routine can I take for myself?

I can take various skills from Lauren to utilise within my own work to ensure a smoother production towards an end goal. Her responsibility with communications is a particular skill that would be valuable within my own work flow to help me work with others to complete my own projects as well as aid me within a group project setting to help produce an end goal that is cohesive as a group effort. I also think that her media skills would be an important skill in order to ensure the work I am producing meets the desires of its targeted audience and I am able to promote and push forward my work into the areas it needs to be to help me build traction with my work as well as make new connections for future collaborations.

Do I see myself reflected within the industry?

As of right now, I do not see myself reflected within the games art industry and currently don't have any desire or passion to peruse a career working in a career within a games studio or anything that is similar. The constant flow of deadlines and management is so insanely stressful and already at a University level I really struggle and cannot keep up. In a professional work environment I cannot imagine this being any better. I also do not feel like my skill set and abilities are anywhere close enough to a level where I would be of any use in a game development setting. My opinions may change but as of right now, I do not enjoy studying this area at all and do not see a career for myself anywhere within it. 

Bibliography

Anon, Linkedin.com. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-soanes-0225137a/recent-activity/all/ [Accessed 18 May 2025].

Blizzard Entertainment, 2025. The art and style of Dokiwatch [online]. Overwatch. Available at: https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-gb/news/24198671/ [Accessed 18 May 2025].

Gray, R., 2024. Pride at Blizzard, we speak to LGBT Network Chair & Co-Chair [online]. Gayming Magazine. Available at: https://gaymingmag.com/2024/06/behind-the-blizzard-pride-merch-interview/ [Accessed 18 May 2025].

PlayOverwatch, Overwatch 2 spotlight [online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf5dPQ7YeE8&t=1739s [Accessed 18 May 2025].