We didn't start a search. We made a call. Role filled in 6 days.

A gaming studio with exceptionally high design standards needed an Art Lead. The talent pool for this kind of role is small, and the bar is rarely cleared. We didn't post the role. We went straight to the right person.

Outcome

Hired

offer accepted

Timeline

6 days

brief to offer

1 hired

Candidates presented

Industry

Gaming

the challenge

Art Lead

Skill isn't enough. Vision has to match too.

Visuals are what pull players into a game world. The Art Lead is the person who builds that world and leads the team that brings it to life. It's a role that carries both creative and managerial weight, and getting it wrong affects the entire product. Technical ability gets you in the room, but it doesn't get you the role. The studio needed someone whose creative sensibility and aesthetic vision genuinely aligned with theirs, not just someone capable, but someone whose instincts pointed in the same direction. That kind of alignment is nearly impossible to assess from a CV or a job post. And the people who have it are almost never actively looking.

Vision alignment over credentials

Portfolio quality and design case performance weren't the only filters. The studio was looking for a creative sensibility that matched their own, which narrows the pool far more than technical requirements alone.

Aware of AI, not defined by it

The studio needed someone who keeps up with how AI is reshaping game art and visual workflows, but leads with their own creative vision rather than leaning on tools as a substitute for it. That balance is increasingly rare to find.

A passive talent pool

The people who combine strong craft with the right creative vision for a specific studio are rarely on the market. A job post doesn't reach them.

how we ran it

Our approach.

We didn't run a search. We already knew who was right for this role.

We stay close to the gaming and creative industries, which means we build relationships with strong talent before roles exist. In this case, we had already met this candidate, understood their work and working style, and knew their caliber. When the Art Lead role came in, we went straight to them.

The candidate trusted our read on the opportunity. The client trusted our read on the candidate. That mutual confidence is what made a 6-day fill possible.

outcome

Result

faq

common questions

Do you map talent before roles come in? If we brought you a role today, would you already have the right people in your network?

Often, yes. We continuously map talent in the sectors we focus on, which means for certain roles and profiles we can move immediately rather than starting a search from zero. It depends on the role, but the first thing we do when a new mandate comes in is check what we already have. In many cases, the answer is already there.

Can you do this for other creative or technical roles in gaming?

Yes. We work across creative and technical roles in gaming and adjacent industries. If you have a role that's been hard to fill through conventional channels, it's worth a conversation. The network we've built often reaches people that job postings don't.

success story