User Interface Artist
OVERVIEW
When I joined Madden NFL as a UI Artist, I stepped into a live-service content machine—one that shipped new art daily, weekly, and seasonally. My job was to bring NFL stories to life through visuals that felt fresh, emotionally resonant, and unmistakably Madden. Over time, the role became much more than producing assets; it became about building systems, elevating quality standards, strengthening team collaboration, and shaping the visual identity of Ultimate Team during a pivotal era of its growth.
The Challenge
Ultimate Team required an enormous volume of custom artwork, each piece needing to feel meaningful, recognizable, and connected to the real-world NFL story it represented.
The challenges were clear:
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Massive content bandwidth
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Manual asset workflows (cutting players by pen tool…)
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Constant deadlines
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Escalating player expectations
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The need for brand alignment across modes
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Inconsistent visual systems for messaging and content programs
To succeed, we needed to not just create art; we needed to transform how we worked.
My Role
I owned daily and weekly content drops, seasonal programs, and major releases. I collaborated closely with content designers to understand the narrative behind each drop: who the player was, why they mattered, what emotion we wanted the user to feel.
Day-to-day, I:
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Designed logos, backgrounds, and motion-friendly assets
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Produced all in-game visuals for programs (packs, items, uniforms, stadium elements, etc.)
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Cut, treated, and integrated player art manually
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Developed visual alignment between DLC content and Madden’s core UI
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Created documentation and best practices to streamline future workflows
• • Partnered with designers to refine storytelling and elevate meaning in visuals
Date
July 2016 – January 2018
Products
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Madden NFL 17
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Madden NFL 18
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Madden NFL 19
Platforms
PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3
Xbox One, Xbox 360
Skills
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User interface Art
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Visual Design
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Branding
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Logo Design
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Design Systems
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Styleguide Development
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Workflow Optimization
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Cross-Functional Collaboration
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Downloadable Content Creation
WHAT I DID
Created Art That Told Stories
Every content drop carried a narrative—celebrating legends, responding to real NFL events, launching seasonal themes, or expanding player fantasies.
I worked hand-in-hand with designers to understand the story, then built visuals that enhanced it.
Programs included:
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Zero Chill
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Most Feared
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Super Bowl
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Draft
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Weekly and daily content drops
The rarer or more anticipated the content, the more it needed to feel special through color, texture, composition, and motion-awareness.
Built Strong Creative Systems & Alignment
As the team grew, the lack of visual consistency created friction and rework.
I helped introduce systems such as:
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Design patterns for DLC that aligned with core UI
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Best practices for asset creation
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Naming conventions and file organization
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Style guidelines for major content programs
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A visual system for Madden 18’s dynamic messaging
These systems reduced cognitive load for players and churn for artists—helping users instantly understand what type of message they were seeing, and helping our team work faster.
Collaborated Closely as a High-Speed Team
Our art team started with just three people.
Because content shipped constantly, collaboration had to be both fast and meaningful.
We established rituals:
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Brainstorming and concept alignment
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Quick design rounds
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Clear feedback cycles
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Early agreement on visual direction to avoid late pivots
We fostered a culture full of humor, camaraderie, and informal collaboration that made the pace sustainable and even energizing. That culture became one of our greatest strengths.
Innovated on Ultimate Team’s Visual Identity
I brought a strong passion for logo design, helping define more consistent styles without losing individuality across programs.
One of our most impactful achievements was the Ultimate Team item border redesign, which:
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reorganized information more clearly,
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introduced colored borders that matched program identity, and
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elevated visual immersion across the entire mode.
It improved usability, recognizability, and emotional impact—especially during pack openings.
IMPACT
Product Impact
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Stronger brand alignment across content and core UI
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Faster, more intuitive user recognition of content type
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Clearer messaging through new visual systems
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Major improvements to usability through the redesigned item borders
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Higher-quality visual identity across seasonal and flagship programs
Player Impact
Players repeatedly praised the art online—often calling it the best MUT visuals they’d ever seen.
Their real-time Reddit feedback became a sounding board for understanding expectations, catching confusion, and sometimes even having a little fun with community reactions.
Team Impact
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Scaled the art team with systems that enabled speed and quality
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Reduced rework and improved creative alignment
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Supported designers with stronger visual storytelling
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Helped create one of the most collaborative and positive teams in the studio
My Growth
This role gave me hands-on experience with high-volume live service content and shaped the empathetic leadership style I use today.
Being an individual contributor taught me the realities of craft, deadlines, limitations, and creative problem-solving—experience that now helps me mentor and guide others from a place of true understanding.