the Art of 5th cell book
It's finally out! the projects I've worked on during my time at 5th cell is recapped in this awesome artbook published by Udon, which you can buy from Amazon and local bookstores. From the early days of making mobile titles like Mini Poccha and Seal team 6, to DS titles like Drawn to life and Scribblenauts. From just doing mobile splash screens and marketing images, to character designing and art directing, this book shows it all.
The experience working at 5th cell has been a life changing one. I've been super fortunate to have worked on these games and really thank Jeremiah Slaczka and Joe Tringali for allowing me to be part of them.
The origin story of how I joined 5th cell was an interesting one. Once upon a time, when the videogame magazines of the past, EGM, GamePro, GameFan, had fan art sections. I was an aspiring artist, wanting to get my art noticed I would frequently submit to them As soon as the internet was introduced, and people were posting their fan art online... I too gravitated towards the internet in sharing my work. It was on the Gaming Intelligence Agency website that Jeremiah noticed me and decided to reach out. It was around 1997-98, we were still in high school. I believe I was in grade 10-11? I don't really remember but It was definitely when I first started to use Photoshop, version 4! - with only 1 undo. He asked me if I wanted to work on a fan game, based on FFVI, and at the time, I was a huuuuuuuge fan of the game, so any thing to do with final fantasy.. I would probably just agree to. So we started to work on his fan version of the game, FFVI chronicles for a couple of months. Meanwhile, he met Joe on some forum I think. and got together to try and create their first mobile game. The needed some art for splash screens and whatnot, and asked me if I could do some. I jumped at the opportunity because there was nothing else for me at the time, besides doing homework and playing games. So the thought of me creating some art for ANY game was a thrill, It was also an excuse to draw, which was a big plus.
It was amidst these few mobile games that 5thcell was born. The projects got bigger and bigger, and they needed more and more work. As the company grew over time, my art and portfolio grew. I had worked in TV animation, broadcasting, and advertising. It was during my time in TV animation, after coming back from LA studying illustration, that Jeremiah approached me to ask if I wanted to work full time with them. My heart was ready for a change, but my mind was telling me that I still needed to get my degree before anything else. So I told Jeremiah it'll be another year before that can happen. They waited. Thank god. haha. As soon as I did graduate, I reached out to them and they gladly said yes. without a 2nd thought, I packed my bags and made my way down south to the Emerald City.
And here we are ,the projects all in this book :)