Jeff Murchie
Jeff is a Senior Concept Artist and Toy Designer at Ayata Interactive Media (AIM) with fifteen years’ experience working in the game industry as a Senior Conceptual Artist and Manager. He has designed many of the Skylanders Action figures, the #1 selling action figures property from initial concept to final in-store product.
He comes with a deep knowledge of the game and product design pipeline from start to finish. Extensive experience working on a variety of games including Toys-to-Life, FPS, MMO, Action Adventure and Puzzle genres. He is highly creative with the ability to establish unique style guides and work within the guidelines of established intellectual properties while still maintaining innovation. He has a proven track record of supporting concept art and illustration needs for various projects across all entertainment genres. His past projects include: DreamWorks Animation, Activision / Toys for Bob, Velan Studios, Telltale Games, and Innerspace VR.
He has created character toy concepts for Skylanders: the #1 bestselling action figure, created and directed prototype development and visualized them in Keyshot, a rendering program to help simulate real world materials before mass production. His past expertise include: Developed pitch material to present game and toy concepts to Activision Executives for discussion and approval. Directed the visual language and maintained the style guide for Skylanders: Trap Team and Skylanders: Imaginators. Reviewed and edited outsourced art projects including marketing art and pantone paint selection and application. Created concepts for Skylanders: Trap Team's "Doom Raider" villains which were so well received that an entire villain toy line was created for the sequel, "Skylanders: Imaginations." Established character concepts for Toys for Bob’s "Skylanders: Trap Team" and the next upcoming Skylanders adventure.
Skylander was a video game (Xbox & PS4) and a toy product in the category of “Toys to life”. The toys had a RFID chip that interacted with the online game on TV. This action figure made the entire experience interactive and came to life on TV screen. Skylander was the #1 action figure that broke all records when it was launched and made $4B overall with toys bringing $250M. Skylander took 2 years to develop the video game and the toy line with Acitivison as the original studio.
He was instrumental in identifying key factors to get kids interested in the game. Boys (6-12 years) were the target range and he drove key findings in identifying what they would be attracted to, in spite of older siblings playing Call of Duty. He ended up making Skylanders more exciting to drive size and scale of action figures. He has hands on experience in overseas working with multiple factories in China (Merton, Weebo, Berway and TMD) to oversee toy production and maintain a high quality bar while finding creative ways to save on manufacturing costs.His past experience include 2D environment and concept artist for the puzzle game ADERA, which was published by Microsoft. He has also created UI art assets and Prop concepts for Lord of the Rings Online. He has also designed creatures, characters, armor, and marketing assets for “Lord of the Rings Online.” Conceptualized avatar armor sets for “Dungeons and Dragons Online.” He has also established the character art style for the MMO codenamed “Project Copernicus”, where he worked on Project Copernicus from the ground up conceptualizing a new IP visual style from scratch. As Lead Concept Artist, he has created the bulk of character, armor, costume and weapon designs. He has also managed artists, interns, and kept the development pipeline fluid while maintaining a high quality bar. He has worked with a team of artists to create various concepts for characters, creatures and environmental assets for the acclaimed FPS RPG “Borderlands.”
