Game and Narrative Design
What do you want to play?
Ian M Smith is an experienced and empathetic game designer with an emphasis in cross-disciplinary collaboration and a passion for crafting games and narratives that delight and inspire the player. Ian is an exceptional communicator with a keen eye for detail, strong organizational skills, and a knack for finding the fun.
In addition, Ian is also an adept creative writer, graphic designer, and software developer - a diverse set of skills that allow Ian to bring a unique and holistic perspective to game creation.
Experience
Game Design Manager
DoubleDown Interactive
2021 - 2023
Managed a fully remote game design team with a focus on rapid pre-production design. Lead cross-disciplinary and international creative teams including Art, UX, Game Design, and Copywriting. Worked with the Product team to identify areas of business opportunity and pitch relevant games.
Senior Game Designer
DoubleDown Interactive
2019 - 2021
Developed tools and structures to streamline content creation consistency and efficiency. Lead Game Designer and narrative designer on “Spinning in Space” Slots based Adventure game. Created narrative structure, established formatting and documentation conventions, wrote majority of scripts for main quest, supervised all other game copy.
Senior Producer
IGT
2017 - 2018
Owned content pipeline, coordinating a six-month development cycle to deliver biweekly releases. Served as the central point of communication between designers, developers, artists, marketing, and legal. Coordinated with representation from licensed brands including Wheel of Fortune and The Voice. Created original jackpot and daily challenge slot features.
Producer
DoubleDown Interactive
2016 - 2027
Coordinated translation of slot games from land to social casino, including selecting appropriate models, strategizing how to adapt or recreate art packages for mobile devices, and project management for content creation teams. Received “Big Win” Employee recognition award.
Mobile Developer
DoubleDown Interactive
2013 - 2016
Full stack web development with a focus on a JavaScript webview app. Delivered game content that maximized visual quality while ensuring compatibility for older devices. Established training procedures for incoming developers. Primary point of contact between Art and Design teams.
Graphic Designer
Visage Creative
2011 - 2013
Contributed design and copy to a wide variety of print and web visual marketing pieces. Extensive use of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator for asset creation and manipulation. Wrote web and social media copy for a diverse collection of clients, each in a brand appropriate voice.
Expertise
Skills
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Holistic Systems Design
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Worldbuilding
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Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
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Narrative Design
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Humble Leadership
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Creative Problem Solving
Tools
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Unreal Blueprint Prototyping
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Unity / C#
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Python
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Atlassian Jira / Confluence
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Adobe Creative Suite
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Excel Wizardry