📍 Job Overview
Job Title: Visual Designer (Contract)(Remote)
Company: Big Viking Games
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Job Type: Contract (3-6 months, possibility of renewal)
Category: Visual Design, Marketing Graphics, Game Art
Date Posted: 2025-06-13
Experience Level: Mid-Level (3+ Years)
Remote Status: Remote (Ontario, Canada only)
🎨 Role Summary
- Craft compelling visual design assets for mobile games and marketing channels, focusing on high-quality, production-ready graphics.
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams including Production, LiveOps, Product, UX/UI, and Marketing to deliver visual solutions.
- Conceptualize and execute graphic designs from initial wireframes/mockups through final deliverables, incorporating feedback and technical constraints.
- Develop and maintain cohesive visual design systems, including color palettes, typography, and iconography for brand consistency.
- Utilize expertise in Adobe Creative Suite (Animate CC, Illustrator, Photoshop) and rapidly learn new tools to optimize the visual design workflow.
🖼️ Primary Responsibilities
- Design and animate promotional materials, in-game UI elements (menus, HUDs, icons, typography), social graphics, banners, key art, and store assets.
- Execute end-to-end graphic design projects, quickly iterating based on sprint feedback and technical limitations to produce polished, final assets.
- Develop and maintain visual design guidelines, including color palettes, typography, and iconography, ensuring brand consistency across all products and channels.
- Estimate and complete visual design tasks efficiently within agile sprint velocities, proactively identifying and communicating potential scope or timeline risks.
- Actively participate in team retrospectives, brainstorming sessions, and sprint planning to contribute visual design expertise and apply feedback.
- Collaborate closely with content designers, game designers, producers, and engineers to deliver visual assets on time and within project budgets.
- Master the existing design toolset, specifically Adobe Animate CC, Illustrator, and Photoshop, and quickly learn new software or processes as required.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education: While not explicitly stated, a degree or diploma in Graphic Design, Visual Arts, Animation, or a related field is typically expected for a role of this level. Equivalent professional experience and a strong portfolio are highly valued.
Experience: Minimum of 3+ years of professional experience as a Visual Designer, specifically within games, interactive media, or digital products. A portfolio demonstrating a range of design, branding, and marketing graphics is essential.
Required Skills:
- Expert proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, including Adobe Animate (or equivalent animation software), Illustrator, and Photoshop.
- Demonstrated ability to produce polished, production-ready promotional and visual assets with minimal need for revisions.
- Strong conceptual design skills with the ability to independently conceive and execute high-quality graphics in diverse visual styles.
- Solid understanding and application of design fundamentals, including typography, color theory, composition, perspective, and branding principles.
- Working knowledge of animation fundamentals as they apply to UI elements and simple character/graphic motion.
- Experience working within agile methodologies (sprints, daily stand-ups, backlog grooming, reviews).
- Proven self-starter with excellent task management, organization, and proactive problem-solving abilities.
Preferred Skills:
- Basic proficiency in HTML/CSS for creating interactive prototypes or understanding web-based design applications.
- Familiarity with 3D tools such as Blender or Maya, including basic rigging knowledge for model preparation or tweaking.
- Experience utilizing AI-augmented design tools like MidJourney or DALL·E for ideation support and concept generation.
- Background in Free-to-Play (F2P) game development and a solid understanding of live-ops design requirements.
- Fluency with agile project management tools such as Jira and Confluence for collaboration and task tracking.
🎨 Portfolio & Creative Requirements
Portfolio Essentials:
- Showcase a diverse range of visual design work, including examples of game UI elements (menus, HUDs, icons), marketing graphics (banners, social media assets, key art), and branding projects.
- Include case studies that detail your design process, from initial concept and wireframing/mockups through iteration and final execution.
- Present high-quality visual representations of your work, demonstrating attention to detail, polish, and adherence to brand guidelines (if applicable).
- If possible, include examples of motion graphics or simple animations for UI or promotional materials.
Process Documentation:
- Detail your approach to visual design research and discovery, including gathering requirements and understanding target audiences.
- Illustrate your ideation and iteration methods, showing how you explore different visual concepts and refine designs based on feedback.
- Explain your validation and testing approaches, including how you ensure designs meet technical constraints and contribute to a positive user experience.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: As a remote contract role based in Ontario, Canada, and given the mid-level experience requirement (3+ years), a typical hourly rate for a Visual Designer in the Canadian gaming industry could range from CAD $40 to $70 per hour, depending on experience, portfolio strength, and negotiation. For a 3-6 month contract, this translates to an estimated project value of CAD $25,000 to $70,000+ for the initial term, assuming full-time hours (40 hours/week). This estimate is based on general market data for contract visual design roles in Ontario and may vary significantly.
Benefits: As a self-employed contractor, traditional employee benefits such as health insurance, paid time off, retirement plans, and other company-sponsored benefits are typically not provided. Contractors are responsible for managing their own taxes, benefits, and business expenses.
Working Hours: The role is described as a contract position, implying a need for consistent work delivery within project timelines. While remote work offers flexibility, it is generally expected that contractors can maintain a schedule that allows for effective collaboration with the core team, likely aligning with typical business hours in the Eastern Time Zone (Toronto).
🎯Team & Company Context
🏢 Company & Design Culture
Industry: Computer Games - Specifically focused on next-generation, live operations mobile and social games. This involves continuous content updates, feature releases, and player engagement strategies.
Company Size: Reportedly between 11-50 employees (LinkedIn data), classifying Big Viking Games as a small to medium-sized studio. This likely means designers have the opportunity to work on a variety of tasks and have a significant impact on the final product.
Founded: 2011 - Big Viking Games has a decade-plus history in the mobile and social gaming space, suggesting a stable company with established processes, yet potentially agile enough to adapt to market trends.
Team Structure:
- The Visual Designer reports to the Art Director, indicating a clear reporting line within the art department.
- The role involves close collaboration with various cross-functional teams including Production, LiveOps, Product, UX/UI, and Marketing, suggesting a collaborative and integrated work environment.
- Working alongside other "exceptional art and animation talent" implies a team of skilled creatives.
Methodology:
- The job description mentions working in "sprints" and participating in "daily stand-ups, backlog grooming, and reviews," indicating an Agile development methodology.
- The need for "minimal revisions" and "production-ready assets" suggests a focus on efficiency and quality within the design workflow.
- Emphasis on applying "team and player/community feedback" suggests a data-informed or user-centered approach to design iteration.
Company Website: https://www.bigvikinggames.com
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
Design Career Level: This position is defined as a mid-level Visual Designer role, requiring 3+ years of experience. This level typically involves taking ownership of significant design tasks, contributing to the design process with minimal supervision, and mentoring junior designers if applicable (though not explicitly stated for this contract role).
Reporting Structure: Reporting to the Art Director provides a clear path for creative guidance and feedback. This structure suggests the Art Director likely oversees the overall visual style and quality across projects, while the Visual Designer is responsible for executing specific assets and contributing to visual consistency.
Design Impact: As a Visual Designer in a game studio, your work directly impacts the player experience through in-game UI and the company's brand perception through marketing materials. The live-ops nature means your designs will be seen and interacted with by a large, active player base on an ongoing basis.
Growth Opportunities:
- While a contract role, successful performance could potentially lead to contract renewal or consideration for future full-time opportunities as the company grows.
- Gaining experience within a live-ops game environment is valuable and can lead to specialization in areas like UI/UX for live games, marketing art direction, or contributing to new game development.
- Working alongside experienced art and production teams provides opportunities for skill development and learning new techniques within the gaming industry.
🌐 Work Environment
Studio Type: Remote - The role is explicitly stated as a remote contract position, allowing the designer to work from anywhere within Ontario, Canada. This offers significant flexibility.
Office Location(s): While the company is headquartered in Toronto, the Visual Designer will work remotely. There may be opportunities for occasional in-person meetings or team events in Toronto, but the primary work mode is remote.
Design Workspace Context:
- Working remotely requires self-discipline, strong organizational skills, and the ability to create a productive home workspace.
- Collaboration will rely heavily on digital tools for communication, file sharing, and virtual meetings.
- The remote setup means the designer will need to be proactive in seeking feedback and staying connected with the team despite the physical distance.
Work Schedule: As a contractor, the schedule offers some flexibility, but alignment with the core team's working hours (likely Eastern Time) will be necessary for real-time collaboration, stand-ups, and meetings. The job description mentions working in "sprints," implying a structured workflow with defined deadlines. Full-time hours (approx. 40 hours/week) are likely expected to meet project velocity needs.
📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process
Design Interview Process:
- Initial screening of resume and portfolio to assess experience and visual design skills.
- Potential introductory call with HR or a hiring manager to discuss experience and fit.
- Interview(s) with the Art Director and potentially other team members (Producers, other Designers) to discuss portfolio projects, design process, technical skills, and collaboration style.
- A design challenge or take-home assignment may be required to assess problem-solving skills and ability to work within the company's style.
- Final interview to discuss cultural fit, expectations for the contract role, and answer any remaining questions.
Portfolio Review Tips:
- Tailor your portfolio to highlight visual design work relevant to mobile games, UI, and marketing graphics.
- For each project, clearly outline your role, the problem you were solving, your design process, and the final outcome.
- Include case studies that demonstrate your ability to work within constraints, iterate based on feedback, and deliver polished, production-ready assets.
- Ensure your portfolio is easy to navigate and visually appealing, showcasing your command of design fundamentals.
Challenge Preparation:
- If a design challenge is given, pay close attention to the brief and requested deliverables.
- Allocate sufficient time to complete the challenge, demonstrating your typical workflow and attention to detail.
- Be prepared to articulate your design decisions, process, and rationale during the interview.
ATS Keywords: Visual Design, Graphic Design, UI Design, Game Art, Marketing Graphics, Adobe Creative Suite, Photoshop, Illustrator, Animate CC, After Effects, InDesign, Typography, Color Theory, Composition, Branding, Motion Graphics, Animation, Agile, Sprint, LiveOps, Game Development, Mobile Games, Social Games, Production-Ready Assets, Design Systems, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Conceptual Design, Portfolio, Case Study, Remote Work, Contract.
🛠 Tools & Technology Stack
Primary Design Tools:
- Adobe Animate CC: Essential for creating animations for UI and promotional materials. Proficiency in character and graphic animation is key.
- Adobe Illustrator: Heavily used for creating vector graphics, icons, UI elements, and potentially some marketing assets. Strong command of vector illustration techniques is required.
- Adobe Photoshop: Crucial for image manipulation, creating textures, concept art support, and finalizing raster-based marketing graphics.
- Adobe After Effects (Preferred): Useful for more complex motion graphics and visual effects for marketing and promotional content.
- Adobe InDesign (Preferred): Potentially used for creating marketing collateral or presentations, though less central to core game asset creation.
Collaboration & Handoff:
- Jira (Preferred): Used for task management and tracking within the Agile development workflow.
- Confluence (Preferred): Likely used for documentation, knowledge sharing, and project details.
- Specific internal tools may be used for asset management and handoff to engineering.
Research & Testing:
- While not explicitly listed, tools for gathering player feedback or reviewing game analytics may be used by the team, and the Visual Designer may interact with data related to asset performance.
👥 Team Culture & Values
Design Values:
- "Making fans" is the core value, implying a focus on creating engaging and enjoyable visual experiences for players.
- "Continuous learning and fostering feedback" suggests a culture that values improvement and open communication within the design process.
- Mastering one's craft is encouraged, indicating a commitment to design excellence and skill development.
- Working with "skilled, enthusiastic, and collaborative Vikings" points to a team that values expertise, passion, and teamwork.
Collaboration Style:
- The role involves extensive cross-functional collaboration with Production, LiveOps, Product, UX/UI, and Marketing, requiring strong communication and interpersonal skills.
- Participation in retrospectives, brainstorming, and sprint planning indicates an inclusive and collaborative approach to problem-solving and design iteration.
- Applying "team and player/community feedback" highlights a collaborative feedback loop that influences design decisions.
⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities
Design Challenges:
- Quickly learning and adapting to the specific art styles and visual pipelines of Big Viking Games' flagship titles.
- Delivering polished, production-ready assets with minimal revisions under agile sprint timelines.
- Balancing creative visual design with technical constraints and performance requirements for mobile games.
- Staying updated on live-ops game design needs and creating visuals that support ongoing player engagement and monetization strategies.
Learning & Development Opportunities:
- Gaining specialized experience in visual design for live-ops mobile games, a valuable niche in the industry.
- Enhancing skills in specific game art styles and pipelines used by Big Viking Games.
- Improving collaboration skills by working closely with diverse teams in an agile environment.
💡 Interview Preparation
Design Process Questions:
- Be prepared to walk through your visual design process from concept to final asset, using examples from your portfolio. Highlight how you incorporate feedback and work within technical constraints.
- Discuss your experience working in an agile environment and how you manage tasks and deadlines within sprints.
- Explain how you approach collaborating with cross-functional teams (e.g., working with engineers on asset handoff, collaborating with marketing on promotional graphics).
Company Culture Questions:
- Research Big Viking Games' existing games and visual styles. Be prepared to discuss what you admire about their art direction and how your skills align.
- Ask questions about the design team structure, collaboration methods, and how visual design contributes to player engagement in their live games.
- Demonstrate enthusiasm for the gaming industry and specifically for creating visuals for a live-ops environment.
Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
- Select portfolio pieces that are most relevant to the role, showcasing your skills in game UI, marketing graphics, and animation.
- For each project, clearly explain the context, your role, the challenges you faced, and how you overcame them.
- Be ready to discuss the tools you used and your process for creating the assets.
- If you have examples of work that required minimal revisions or were delivered quickly, highlight those to demonstrate your efficiency.
📌 Application Steps
To apply for this design position:
- Submit your application through this link.
- Customize your design portfolio to emphasize your most relevant work in game UI, marketing graphics, and animation, providing clear case studies that outline your process.
- Optimize your resume to include relevant design-specific keywords, highlighting your proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite and experience in agile environments.
- Practice presenting your portfolio, focusing on articulating your design decisions and demonstrating your problem-solving skills, particularly for projects similar to those at Big Viking Games.
- Research Big Viking Games' existing games and understand their visual style and target audience to tailor your application and interview responses.