Meet the Team: Ben Ruiz

Hi! I’m Ben, and like I mentioned in the Jetpack Brontosaurus post, I’m the Art Director here at Flashbang. It’s my job to make sure that anyone involved with art is on the same page when it’s time to crack down on a project. I try to use open communication to ensure that everyone feels like they’re contributing artistically while maintaining a cohesive aesthetic. It’s a tough job, but I love it. Especially since I’m an artist first and foremost, and due to the nature of the small studio environment I still spend a lot of time doing production work. This could mean anything from concept art, 3d modeling, texturing, animation, or level design, to any of the other specialized disciplines that go hand in hand with game art.

My relevant backstory! I became a part of the team at the end of 2007 when work on Off-Road Velociraptor Safari had just begun. At the time, there was no full-time artists so I took the reigns. Adam was working as a contractor at the time, and he had already made a jeep and some raptors, so I basically worked around what he had already done and that’s where it all begun. If you want some more technical details on the production of OVRS, check out the dev-log I made on my personal site. It’s technical! But the point is that this was the game I used to not only learn Unity, but to embed myself in the Flashbang family.

I’d like to use the Blurst.com blog space mainly to share insight into the dark, dank, and moist art harvesting that goes on here everyday at Flashbang. I’m of the open source mentality, so if there’s something I can share that I think will be useful to someone else, you’ll see it here from me. And if there’s anything I think Blurst users NEED to see that is related to games, art, or game art…I’ll throw that down, too.

The most important thing about what we do here is that our development process is flexible and organic. If you see something you like or don’t like, let me know! I’ve always been surprised with the amount of useful feedback I’ve gotten throughout my years of doing art, and even more surprised with what you can apply to future projects. In any case, It’s important to me that I have an open dialogue with the people that play our games, so share your thoughts! I might shuffle you over to a team member with a more appropriate response to your feedback, but I still want to hear it!

xoxo