2k Games

Art Director - Core

2k Games$155K — $230K *
Media
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years in art direction, visual design, branding, or creative leadership, ideally in gaming or entertainment.
  • Portfolio showcasing top-notch visual craft across brand identity and campaign development.
  • Expertise in translating strategic ideas into engaging visual systems.
  • Experience managing brand identities across various campaigns or products.
  • Strong communication skills for presenting and rationalizing creative concepts to cross-functional teams.
  • Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite; knowledge of motion design or 3D workflows is an added advantage.
  • Deep insight into typography, color, composition, and visual storytelling.

Responsibilities

  • Define and enhance visual identities for 2K franchises and their marketing campaigns.
  • Collaborate with Creative Strategists to craft compelling visual directions from brand positioning.
  • Establish the creative tone and visual language for new franchises and campaigns.
  • Create presentations, mood boards, and exploratory visuals that align with strategic creative directions.
  • Guide the visual development of marketing campaigns from concept through final execution.
  • Review and provide feedback on creative work to ensure quality and strategic alignment.
  • Maintain brand guidelines and visual systems for consistency across all projects.

Benefits

  • Medical, financial, and other comprehensive benefits packages available to regular roles.
  • Opportunity for bonuses and equity awards as part of compensation.
  • Hybrid work model offering flexibility with 3 days onsite in California.
Full Job Description


2K is looking for a talented and passionate Art Director to join our Creative Strategy team, supporting a portfolio of world-class Core titles.

This role will help define and elevate the visual expression of some of 2K's biggest franchises from early positioning and brand identity through campaign execution. Working closely with Creative Strategists, Brand, Product Marketing, development studios, and external agency partners, you'll help establish the creative tone, visual language, and marketing identity that bring each franchise to life.

As part of the Creative Strategy team, you'll partner with strategists from the earliest stages of development, helping transform strategic thinking into compelling visual identities, creative territories, and campaign directions. You'll contribute to franchise positioning by creating visual explorations, brand systems, and testing materials that help shape creative direction long before campaigns enter production.

We're looking for someone who combines exceptional visual craft with strong conceptual thinking, a passion for games and gaming culture, and the ability to build compelling brand identities that scale across franchises, campaigns, and channels.

This is a hybrid position working onsite 3 days a week out of the Novato, CA or Los Angeles, CA office location.

What You Will Do
  • Define and evolve visual identities for 2K franchises and marketing campaigns across a portfolio of Core titles.
  • Partner with Creative Strategists to translate brand positioning into compelling visual directions, creative territories, and franchise identities.
  • Help establish the creative tone, visual language, and overall marketing expression for new franchises, products, and campaigns.
  • Develop original concepts, mood boards, visual explorations, presentation materials, and creative territories that communicate strategic opportunities and inspire creative development.
  • Create early creative concepts and testing materials that support positioning research, audience testing, and creative validation.
  • Lead the visual development of integrated marketing campaigns from early concept through final execution.
  • Collaborate closely with Product Marketing, Brand, development studios, Creative Services, production teams, and external agencies to ensure creative consistency and excellence throughout the creative process.
  • Review creative work throughout development, providing clear, constructive feedback that elevates quality while maintaining alignment to the original strategic vision.
  • Develop and maintain brand guidelines, style guides, creative toolkits, and visual systems that ensure consistency across campaigns and franchises.
  • Ensure all creative work reflects the highest standards of quality, product accuracy, and cultural relevance.
  • Manage multiple projects simultaneously while balancing creative excellence with timelines, production realities, and business priorities.
  • Stay current on design, entertainment, gaming, and cultural trends to continually raise the creative standard across 2K's publishing organization.
  • Proactively contribute ideas that improve creative processes, workflows, and collaboration across teams.

What Will Make You a Great Fit
  • 8+ years of experience in art direction, visual design, branding, or creative leadership, preferably within gaming, entertainment, advertising, or consumer brands.
  • An exceptional portfolio demonstrating world-class visual craft across brand identity, campaign development, and integrated marketing.
  • Strong conceptual thinking with the ability to translate strategic ideas into compelling visual systems and creative experiences.
  • Experience developing and evolving brand identities across multiple campaigns, products, or entertainment properties.
  • Excellent presentation, communication, and storytelling skills with the ability to articulate creative rationale to cross-functional partners and senior stakeholders.
  • Experience collaborating with strategists, marketers, designers, writers, producers, developers, and external creative partners.
  • Deep understanding of typography, composition, color, photography, motion, and visual storytelling.
  • Expert proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign). Experience with motion design, 3D workflows, or Unreal Engine is a plus.
  • Passion for games, gaming culture, entertainment, and visual storytelling.
  • Highly collaborative, curious, and open-minded, with a desire to explore new ideas while elevating the work of those around you.
  • Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment, balancing multiple priorities while maintaining exceptional creative standards.
  • A willingness to roll up your sleeves and help solve creative challenges wherever they're needed.

The pay range for this position in California at the start of employment is expected to be between $155,600 and $230,300 per year. However, base pay offered is based on market location and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for employees in regular roles may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, provided that temporary or intern roles will not be eligible for many of these payments or benefits. Details of participation in compensation and benefit plans (if applicable) will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an "at-will position" and the company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

#LI-Hybrid

About 2k Games

2K Games is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. The company was founded in January 2005 by Take-Two Interactive, and is best known for publishing the NBA 2K series of basketball games. Other popular franchises published by 2K Games include the Borderlands series, the BioShock series, and the Mafia series. The company has also published several licensed games based on popular movies and TV shows, such as The Walking Dead and WWE.
Learn more about 2k Games
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500 employees
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