Why I Changed Teams...

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After long consideration, I came to the conclusion that the work I was doing was not up to the expectations I set for myself. The sort of work I want to do is more of a lead art role, however, due to the scope of the project The Hut is working on, it became more and more evident that there was not enough work to go around a 4 person team. The role I was assigned was strongly related to public relations, and marketing and branding, which was not what I imagined for myself. Besides this, the team seemed to have a lot of tension which I believe to have been caused by too many people working on one small project. Conflicts relating to basic decisions seem to arise frequently, and the stress of arguments made me grow distant and less enthused with the project. Therefore, I decided that it was in my best interest, and in the best interest of the team to leave and work on a separate project. Hopefully, my departure will allow The Hut to continue smoothly, and will also increase my desire to work. 

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Shortly after leaving The Hut, I was approached by Jessica Murray with an invitation to help her work on her game Jazz and Azul. The invitation included the position as a co-designer and lead artist. I strongly believe that I will have a larger role to play with this project, and will be able to express my skills more usefully. 

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What is Jazz and Azul...

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Jazz and Azul is a co-operative adventure game which follows the story of two young children living in a segregated society. The game is built off of research into racial segregation of African Americans in the 1950s/ 1960s America. Two societies are divided by a wall which separates a rich, luxurious and prosperous group from an industrialist, hardened and poor group. Both playable characters are on either side of the wall and are only aware of one another through communicating via telephones. These two protagonists eventually decide to try and find the end of the wall and go off the adventure of their life. Along their journey, they will witness segregation first hand and will have to overcome obstacles to continue pushing forward.

 

My Role in this new project:

 

Due to my two years of experience in branding and marketing as an option module, I feel comfortable with helping promote and sell the product we are creating. However, besides marketing, my primary role will be to create assets for the game, lead the art direction and co-design puzzles and level designs with Jessica. I am really excited to move on to a project I support and can fully endorse, and look forward to bringing the research and lessons I have learnt whilst working with The Hut to this new experience. 

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Essential Experience:

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For players to witness the issues of segregation and overcome it through co-operation.

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