As we celebrate our first official attendance at Gamescom, August is all about shining a spotlight on the amazing talents behind “Stumble Guys.”
Introducing Ana Maio, the lead concept character artist for “Stumble Guys.” She's at the forefront of crafting skins and 2D assets, infusing creativity into every detail and drawing inspiration from our fans to create the skins they adore.
Say “hello” to Ana.
Tell us a little about yourself and your journey at Scopely.
Hi! I am the lead concept character artist at “Stumble Guys.” Although I originally joined the team in Barcelona, I am now based in Portugal. I joined Scopely through Omnidrone over a year ago, and I can't wait to see where this adventure will take me.
What are you currently working on and how does your work impact the company?
At present I am leading the concept and 2D team in “Stumble Guys.” in creating some exciting new skins and 2D assets for the game (all top secret 😊). This is not only super fun to do, as you can run wild with your imagination most of the time, but it is also so rewarding when you see the players’ reactions to the new skins you have developed. Seeing all of the awesome fan art pouring in, some original ideas and just the amount of enthusiasm we can generate in the fan base to the point where they start to create their own art is amazing.
What does diversity in gaming mean to you?
Diversity is essential to the creation of games that are forever games, or games that can shape a generation. The more diverse the team behind it is, the richer and more poignant the game will be. That allows us to truly reach out to everyone's idea of "normal" and resonate with that.
Which Scopely culture tenet resonates most with you?
ITERATE TO GREATNESS & EMBRACE THE ADVENTURE. I believe it is a close call between these two tenets. Only through stepping outside of your comfort zone can you push yourself and make amazing discoveries or mistakes, and this only happens when you embrace the adventure and truly go for it. Obviously, this means you might not get that truly amazing discovery or mistake at the first try, and as such you will need to be resilient - iterate, fail, try again until you do achieve greatness.
What advice would you give to someone working in your field?
Be curious: Constantly learn from your peers and teammates, don't settle and always question what else. As Rashmi Bansal once wrote and Steve Jobs quoted, "Stay hungry, stay foolish."
Be kind and invested: Do not assume things and always thrive for great communication between everyone in your team, that does usually lead to excellence. Take the time to learn who you work with, that is halfway to a better working relationship.
What's the last good movie you watched?
Recently I watched" Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse" and it was a visual masterpiece. Although in terms of narrative, it was left open and the audience was left without such a satisfied feeling as you had in the first one, visually speaking this movie was a living canvas. It took the groundbreaking visuals from the first and pushed them even further. Not only did they mix 2D and 3D art beautifully, but they used color, brush strokes and movement as an additional storyteller and that for me was extraordinary.
Are you interested in becoming a Scopelean like Ana? Apply for one of our open roles: scopely.com/join-us