UI Artist

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UI Artist

Company: Moon Active

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Job Type: Contractor

Category: Game Design & Art

Date Posted: 2026-03-23T09:00:00

Experience Level: 2-5 Years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Design and implement visually appealing and intuitive user interfaces for a highly anticipated casual mobile game, ensuring a cohesive and engaging player experience.

• Drive the end-to-end conceptualization and execution of UI assets, from initial ideation to final implementation, adhering to the game's unique visual style and brand identity.

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including UX designers, engineers, and product managers, to integrate UI elements seamlessly with game features and optimize assets for diverse mobile devices.

• Develop and manage the implementation of engaging in-game events and content, enhancing player retention and overall game enjoyment.

• Continuously refine UI designs based on stakeholder feedback and playtesting results, demonstrating a commitment to iterative improvement and player-centric design.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the provided job title is "UI Artist," the detailed responsibilities and requirements strongly indicate a role focused on the design and execution of user interfaces within the gaming context. This is distinct from general UI/UX design and requires a specific understanding of game mechanics, player engagement loops, and the visual language of mobile games. The emphasis on "playful, intuitive cohesive look & feel" and "in-game events" further solidifies its place within the game art and design specialization.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Conceptualize, design, and execute a playful, intuitive, and cohesive visual identity and overall user experience for a new casual mobile game.

• Translate game design requirements and player feedback into compelling UI elements, including menus, buttons, icons, HUDs, and other interactive components.

• Collaborate with UX designers to ensure user flows are logical and efficient, and with game designers to align UI with gameplay mechanics and narrative.

• Optimize UI assets for performance, ensuring compatibility and excellent visual quality across a wide range of mobile devices, screen resolutions, and operating systems.

• Develop and implement engaging in-game events, special offers, and other dynamic content, ensuring their UI presentation is visually striking and easy to understand.

• Maintain visual consistency across all game screens and platforms, adhering to established style guides, color palettes, and typography standards.

• Conduct user testing and gather feedback from stakeholders, iterating on designs to continuously enhance the player experience and achieve design goals.

• Stay abreast of the latest trends and best practices in mobile game UI/UX design, incorporating innovative approaches where appropriate.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities listed are typical for a UI Artist in the gaming industry, emphasizing both creative execution and technical optimization. The need to "Create and own the implementation of fun, engaging in-game events" suggests a significant role in live operations support and content creation, which is a key aspect of many successful mobile games.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio demonstrating relevant skills and experience is paramount. A background in Graphic Design, Digital Art, Fine Arts, or a related field would be beneficial.

Experience: A minimum of 3 years of professional experience specifically in game UI design, with a proven track record of creating user interfaces for mobile games.

Required Skills:

• Proven experience in creating visually appealing and intuitive user interfaces for mobile games.

• Strong understanding of core game UI principles, including usability, accessibility, and engagement mechanics.

• Exceptional conceptualization and ideation abilities, with a talent for translating abstract ideas into concrete visual designs.

• Proficiency in creating detailed wireframes and mockups to communicate design concepts effectively.

• Excellent command of Adobe Photoshop for asset creation and manipulation.

• Strong understanding of typography, color theory, and composition.

• Ability to work effectively in a dynamic, fast-paced environment with tight deadlines.

• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams (UX, engineering, product management).

• Knowledge of mobile gaming platforms, including screen resolutions, aspect ratios, and device capabilities.

• Strong communication skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions and provide constructive feedback.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with vector graphics software like Adobe Illustrator.

• Familiarity with 3D modeling tools such as Blender for asset creation or visualization.

• Experience in designing UI for live-ops events and in-game promotions.

• Understanding of game development pipelines and asset integration processes.

• Experience with A/B testing UI elements to optimize player engagement.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "quick decision making within tight schedules" and the requirement for "quick sketching methods and the ability to create accurate wire frames" points towards a role that requires agility and rapid prototyping. The mention of "blender or other 3d tool (bonus)" suggests that while not strictly required, 3D skills are highly valued and can provide a competitive edge.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive online portfolio is mandatory and will be the primary basis for candidate evaluation.

• Showcase a minimum of 3-5 distinct projects, with a strong emphasis on mobile game UI design.

• Include case studies that detail the design process, from initial concept and wireframing through to final polished UI assets.

• Demonstrate the ability to create a cohesive visual style and user experience across various game screens and features.

• Highlight examples of UI elements designed for engagement, such as in-game events, promotions, or special offers.

Process Documentation:

• For each portfolio project, provide clear explanations of the design workflow, including:

  • Initial research and conceptualization phase.

  • Wireframing and prototyping methods used.

  • Asset creation tools and techniques employed.

  • Collaboration and feedback integration process.

  • Final asset delivery and optimization considerations for mobile platforms.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit instruction to attach a link to an online portfolio and the statement "We will only contact resumes with portfolio links" underscores its critical importance. Candidates should ensure their portfolios are well-organized, easy to navigate, and clearly showcase their UI design skills specifically within the gaming context, with a focus on mobile applications.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: As an independent contractor role, compensation will be negotiated based on experience, skills, and project scope. Based on industry benchmarks for experienced UI Artists in Barcelona, Spain, a competitive hourly rate or project-based fee would typically range from €30 to €50 per hour, or an equivalent monthly retainer.

Benefits:

• Contractor Engagement: Flexibility inherent in a contractor role.

• Dynamic Work Environment: Opportunity to work in an exceptional, innovative, and dynamic setting.

• Impactful Projects: Directly contribute to and build personalized product experiences for millions of players worldwide.

• Growth & Development: Benefit from tremendous growth and career advancement opportunities, with encouragement and support for learning exploration and career development.

• Global Reach: Work within a global, data-driven company with a unique product and a strong R&D center.

• Transparency & Communication: Experience a culture that promotes transparency and open employee communication.

Working Hours: While specific hours are not detailed, it is an on-site contractor role, suggesting a standard full-time work schedule (approximately 40 hours per week) during core business hours, with potential for flexibility depending on project needs and team agreements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The job lists "Contractor" as the employment type. Therefore, standard employee benefits like health insurance, paid time off, and retirement contributions are typically not included and would need to be managed by the contractor. The listed benefits are more aligned with the work environment and growth opportunities rather than traditional employee packages. Salary has been estimated based on typical contractor rates in Barcelona for a role of this nature and experience level.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Mobile Gaming / Technology. Moon Active operates at the intersection of entertainment and technology, developing highly engaging mobile games enjoyed by millions globally. This industry is characterized by rapid innovation, data-driven decision-making, and a strong focus on player engagement and monetization.

Company Size: Large. Moon Active is described as one of the world's top mobile game companies, indicating a significant employee base and global presence. This size often translates to established processes, dedicated departments for various functions (art, engineering, product, marketing), and opportunities for specialization.

Founded: Information not provided, but the company's status as a "top mobile game company" suggests a history of successful product development and market presence.

Team Structure:

• Cross-functional Collaboration: The UI Artist will work closely with UX designers, engineers, and product management, indicating a highly collaborative and integrated team structure.

• Art Team Specialization: The role is part of an "art team," suggesting a division of labor within creative functions, allowing for focused expertise.

• Data-Driven Environment: The company is described as "global data-driven," meaning decisions are informed by analytics and performance metrics, influencing design choices and iterations.

Methodology:

• Agile Development: The emphasis on working in a "dynamic environment" and "quick decision making within tight schedules" suggests an agile or iterative development methodology.

• Player-Centric Design: Responsibilities include iterating based on "feedback from stakeholders and playtesting," highlighting a commitment to user-centered design principles.

• Performance Optimization: A key aspect involves optimizing UI assets for "performance and compatibility across multiple devices," indicating a focus on technical excellence alongside aesthetics.

Company Website: http://www.moonactive.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Moon Active's reputation as a "top mobile game company" implies a highly competitive and performance-oriented environment. For a UI Artist, this means a strong emphasis on creating visually appealing interfaces that not only enhance the player experience but also contribute to key performance indicators like retention, engagement, and monetization.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Mid-Level Specialist. This role is positioned for an individual with 3+ years of specific experience in game UI design. It requires a blend of creative artistry and technical understanding, with significant autonomy in executing assigned tasks and contributing to design decisions.

Reporting Structure: The UI Artist will report to a lead within the art team and collaborate closely with product managers and UX designers. This structure allows for specialized guidance while fostering cross-functional teamwork.

Operations Impact: The UI Artist's work directly influences the player's perception and interaction with the game. High-quality UI design can significantly boost player engagement, retention rates, and ultimately, the game's commercial success. The role's contribution to "fun, engaging in-game events" directly impacts player activity and monetization opportunities.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization Advancement: Deepen expertise in mobile game UI design, potentially specializing in areas like live-ops UI, monetization UI, or character/item integration.

• Leadership Potential: As experience grows, opportunities may arise to mentor junior artists, lead UI design for specific game features, or transition into a Lead UI Artist or Art Director role.

• Skill Expansion: Develop proficiency in additional tools (e.g., motion graphics, 3D rendering) and gain a deeper understanding of UX principles, game design, and data analysis for informed design decisions.

• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Gain insights into game development, product management, and marketing strategies by working closely with these departments.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a contractor role, formal "career advancement" might look different. Growth often comes through extended contracts, opportunities on new projects, or gaining a reputation that leads to other high-profile contract roles. The emphasis on "tremendous growth and career advancement opportunities" listed in the benefits suggests that Moon Active may offer pathways for contractors to transition into full-time roles or take on more senior project responsibilities.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: On-site. The role is explicitly stated as "On-site" in Barcelona, Spain, indicating a traditional office-based work environment.

Office Location(s): Barcelona, Spain. This vibrant city offers a rich cultural experience and a growing tech and gaming scene.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Hub: The office environment likely fosters close collaboration, with dedicated spaces for team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and focused individual work.

• Creative Tools & Technology: Access to industry-standard design software (Photoshop, Illustrator) and potentially 3D tools, as well as the necessary hardware for creative production.

• Team Interaction: Regular opportunities to interact with art team members, UX designers, engineers, and product managers, facilitating knowledge sharing and real-time feedback.

Work Schedule: As an on-site contractor, the work schedule will likely align with standard business hours in Spain (e.g., Monday to Friday, approximately 40 hours per week). Flexibility may be possible depending on project demands and team agreements, but the core requirement is presence in the Barcelona office.

📝 Enhancement Note: Being on-site in Barcelona provides a significant advantage for networking within the local tech and gaming community. It also facilitates the immediate feedback loops crucial for iterative design processes in game development.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Review of resume and mandatory portfolio link. Candidates without a portfolio will likely be disqualified.

• Portfolio Review & Technical Interview: A deep dive into the candidate's portfolio, focusing on design process, problem-solving, and technical skills. This may involve discussing specific projects, challenges faced, and solutions implemented.

• Cross-functional Interviews: Interviews with UX designers, product managers, and potentially other artists or engineers to assess collaboration skills, communication, and cultural fit.

• Creative Challenge (Potential): A short, timed design exercise or case study related to UI design for a mobile game might be given to assess immediate problem-solving and design thinking under pressure.

• Final Interview: Potentially with a hiring manager or senior team lead to discuss overall fit, expectations, and logistics.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Selectively: Showcase your best work, focusing on mobile game UI. Quality over quantity.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, your process, and the outcome. Use visuals to support your narrative.

• Demonstrate Process: Include wireframes, sketches, iterations, and final polished assets to show your thought process.

• Highlight Collaboration: If possible, mention how you collaborated with other disciplines (e.g., UX, engineering).

• Mobile Focus: Ensure your examples are relevant to mobile platforms, considering different screen sizes and user interactions.

• Professional Presentation: Ensure your portfolio website is clean, well-organized, and easy to navigate.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Constraints: If given a creative challenge, quickly grasp the project's goals, target audience, and any technical limitations.

• Prioritize Core Elements: Focus on delivering the essential UI components and flows required by the brief.

• Think Visually: Sketch out ideas rapidly and translate them into basic wireframes or mockups.

• Articulate Your Decisions: Be prepared to explain the rationale behind your design choices.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a portfolio is paramount. Candidates should treat their portfolio as a primary application document and be ready to present and defend their work in detail during interviews. The "quick decision making" requirement suggests that interviewers will be looking for candidates who can think on their feet and justify their design choices efficiently.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Adobe Photoshop: Essential for all UI asset creation, manipulation, and optimization. Expect to use it for creating icons, buttons, backgrounds, menus, and other graphical elements.

• Adobe Illustrator: Highly beneficial for creating scalable vector graphics, logos, and icons that maintain crispness across various resolutions.

• Blender (or other 3D tools): A bonus skill, potentially used for creating 3D elements that can be incorporated into UI designs, mockups, or for visualizing UI in a 3D game environment.

Analytics & Reporting:

CRM & Automation:

• Not directly applicable to the UI Artist role, as this typically falls under sales or marketing operations. However, understanding how UI elements contribute to user acquisition and retention funnels is relevant.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in Photoshop is non-negotiable. The mention of Blender as a bonus indicates a desire for artists who can bring a more modern, potentially 3D-enhanced aesthetic to the game's interface, which is increasingly common in high-fidelity mobile games.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Creativity & Innovation: A strong emphasis on generating novel and engaging design solutions that push the boundaries of mobile game UI.

• Collaboration & Teamwork: Fostering an environment where designers, engineers, and product managers work in synergy to achieve common goals.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilizing player data and analytics to inform design choices and validate creative concepts.

• Player-Centricity: A commitment to understanding and prioritizing the player experience in all design decisions.

• Efficiency & Performance: Striving for high-quality, performant assets that optimize loading times and ensure smooth gameplay across various devices.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Expect a highly collaborative environment where UI artists work hand-in-hand with UX designers, product managers, and engineers throughout the development lifecycle.

• Iterative Feedback Loop: A culture of continuous feedback and iteration, encouraging open communication and constructive criticism to refine designs.

• Knowledge Sharing: Opportunities to share insights, best practices, and inspiration with fellow artists and designers.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's values emphasize both creative output and analytical rigor. For a UI Artist, this means being able to create visually stunning designs while also understanding how those designs perform from a data and player engagement perspective.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Aesthetics and Performance: Creating visually rich and engaging UI while ensuring it remains performant and compatible across a wide range of mobile devices with varying capabilities.

• Rapid Iteration Cycles: Working within tight schedules and a dynamic development environment that requires quick decision-making and design adjustments based on feedback and testing.

• Maintaining Visual Consistency: Ensuring a unified and coherent visual style across all UI elements, features, and in-game events, especially in a large and complex game.

• Adapting to Evolving Trends: Staying current with the rapidly changing landscape of mobile game UI/UX design and integrating new trends and technologies effectively.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Tool Proficiency: Opportunity to master advanced features within Photoshop, Illustrator, and potentially explore new 3D or motion graphics software.

• Game Design Acumen: Deeper understanding of game mechanics, player psychology, and monetization strategies through close collaboration with game designers and product teams.

• Live Operations Experience: Gaining valuable experience in designing UI for live-ops events, which is a critical component of sustained mobile game success.

• Industry Exposure: Working with a leading mobile game company provides exposure to industry-leading practices, technologies, and trends.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "tremendous growth and career advancement opportunities" mentioned in the benefits section are particularly relevant here. As a contractor, demonstrating adaptability and a proactive approach to overcoming these challenges can lead to longer-term engagements or opportunities for more senior project involvement.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Portfolio Walkthrough: Be prepared to walk through your portfolio project by project, explaining your design process, challenges, and solutions. Emphasize your role and contributions.

• Design Philosophy: Articulate your approach to creating user-friendly, engaging, and visually appealing mobile game UI. How do you balance aesthetics with functionality?

• Problem-Solving Scenarios: Be ready to discuss how you would approach designing UI for specific game features or events (e.g., a new in-game store, a limited-time event interface).

• Tool Proficiency: Be prepared to discuss your experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, and any 3D tools, and how you leverage them in your workflow.

Company & Culture Questions:

• Moon Active's Games: Research Moon Active's existing games and identify elements of their UI/UX that you admire or believe could be improved.

• Team Collaboration: Discuss your experience working with cross-functional teams and how you manage feedback and disagreements.

• Data-Driven Design: How do you incorporate data and player feedback into your design process?

• Passion for Games: Explain your personal passion for gaming and what excites you about working in the mobile game industry.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Focus on Process: Don't just show finished screens; explain the journey. Include sketches, wireframes, and iterative designs.

• Quantify Impact (if possible): If you have data on how your UI designs affected engagement or other metrics, be prepared to share it.

• Tailor to the Role: Highlight projects that are most relevant to casual mobile games and UI design.

• Be Concise and Clear: Present your work logically and avoid jargon where possible, or explain it clearly.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview will heavily rely on assessing your portfolio and your ability to articulate your design thinking. Be ready to discuss not just what you designed, but why you designed it that way, and how it serves the player and the business goals of the game.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this UI Artist position:

• Submit your application through the Comeet application link provided.

• Crucially, ensure your resume includes a direct, accessible link to your online portfolio. Resumes without portfolio links will not be considered.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight specific examples of mobile game UI design, focusing on casual games and demonstrating your ability to create playful, intuitive interfaces. Include case studies that detail your design process and problem-solving skills.

• Resume Optimization: Craft your resume to clearly articulate your 3+ years of experience in game UI design, highlighting key skills such as Photoshop, Illustrator, conceptualization, and cross-functional collaboration. Use keywords from the job description naturally.

• Interview Preparation: Practice discussing your portfolio projects in detail, prepare answers for common UI design and game industry questions, and research Moon Active's existing games to demonstrate your understanding of their portfolio.

• Company Research: Familiarize yourself with Moon Active's company culture, values, and their position in the global mobile gaming market. Understand their data-driven approach and commitment to player experience.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.