What Does It Really Mean to Lead Art Production on a Massive AAA Game?

Introduction

On a massive AAA game, leading art production is not only about judging visual quality.

Someone has to keep multiple disciplines working toward the same vision, make sure important feedback reaches every team, and notice production risks before they become expensive problems.

Peter Olofsson Hermanrud has shipped 20+ titles during his career at studios including Bungie, DICE, and Guerrilla Games. His experience spans hands-on art production, discipline leadership, art direction, and work with large internal and external teams.

We spoke with Peter about what this responsibility really involves, why some people are trusted with an entire AAA art production, and what teams at this scale need from the person leading them.

Main Topic:

• Art Direction
• AAA Game Development
• Art Production Leadership
• Art Team Management
• Production Risk Management
• External Art Teams
• Game Art Outsourcing

Interview

With Peter Olofsson Hermanrud, Former Bungie Art Director with 25+ Years of Experience Across Destiny, Battlefield, and Killzone

Q: What does it really mean to lead art production across a massive AAA game?

On Destiny Rising, you directed art development across seven disciplines and oversaw the quality of more than 1,000 art assets in collaboration with external developer NetEase.

What did leading art at that scale actually look like from day to day?

As an Art Director, the day can change depending on the short- and long-term goals of the project. But on a typical day, we would start with a cross-disciplinary sync with Creative, Production, Narrative, and Design to understand what everyone was working on and identify any collaborations or dependencies for the day.

Next, I would review the art submissions that needed my input or direction. I would hold the work against an art style guide that was continuously developed together with the discipline leads. The guide included art standards and guidelines that were unique to the Destiny universe and helped maintain a consistent visual quality across the project.

After the art reviews, we would have multiple cross-disciplinary meetings to discuss larger, more holistic issues. For example, we might discuss how we approached the FTUE (First-Time User Experience), cosmetics, or other areas where multiple disciplines needed to work together to create a cohesive experience.

In the afternoon, we would often have playtests where we reviewed what had been implemented in the game and provided constructive feedback. Because we were collaborating with NetEase, which was in a different time zone, we would also have evening check-in meetings to discuss development topics and keep both teams aligned.

The common thread throughout the day was maintaining visibility and making sure the teams had clear direction, identifying problems early, and keeping the different disciplines aligned around the same vision.

How was responsibility divided between the Creative Director, Art Director, and individual discipline leads?

On Destiny Rising, the Creative Director was responsible for the high-level creative decisions around how the game was played and presented, working closely with Design and other disciplines to define the overall player experience. The Creative Director would guide areas such as the FTUE, game modes, monetization, and how the different parts of the game came together.

The Art Director’s responsibility was to translate that creative vision into a cohesive visual direction across the entire game. I worked closely with the Creative Director and all of the art discipline leads to establish the visual goals, maintain the overall quality bar, and make sure the different disciplines were working toward the same vision.

The discipline leads were responsible for their specific areas of art. They guided their teams, made day-to-day decisions within their discipline, and ensured the work met both their discipline’s quality standards and the broader visual direction of the project.

The Art Director also had a broader cross-disciplinary responsibility. Together with the Creative Director and discipline leads, we worked across Animation, VFX, Narrative, Sound, and UI/UX to make sure all of those elements supported the visual direction and ultimately created a cohesive experience for the player.

What needed your direct attention, and what had to be handled through documentation, review systems, and trusted leads?

My direct attention was focused on daily art reviews, cross-discipline collaboration, risk assessments, and maintaining alignment with external studios. Those were the areas where my involvement could have the greatest impact on the overall creative direction and production.

Day-to-day art creation and deliveries were handled by the discipline leads, who used the established documentation, including the brand guide and art style guide, to guide their teams and maintain consistency.

The goal was to make sure the leads had the clarity, tools, and authority to make decisions within their disciplines, while I could focus on the bigger picture, identify risks early, and make sure the overall vision stayed aligned across the project.

Which part of the role is most often misunderstood, even by experienced artists?

One thing that is often misunderstood is that the role of an Art Director can be very different depending on the project and studio. Some Art Directors are very hands-on and spend a lot of time creating assets, while others are more focused on servant leadership—helping, guiding, and empowering their teams. Some may operate closer to a Creative Director, while others may have a background and focus that is closer to concept art.

For me, being an Art Director is just as much about building relationships as it is about defining the artistic vision. You need to have strong, trusting relationships with the different leadership groups and disciplines. That trust makes it possible to have honest conversations, solve problems early, and keep everyone aligned around the same creative vision.

Q: Can a leader support the team and still be uncompromising about quality?

Sometimes you have to reject work from talented people, challenge a lead’s decision, or ask a team to redo something they are proud of.

Yes, that happens constantly. Most of the time, it can be resolved by explaining the reasoning behind the decision and how it fits into the bigger picture. Artists often work within a specific discipline and may not have full visibility into the broader creative goals or constraints of the project. It’s the Art Director’s responsibility to establish that bigger picture and set clear expectations upfront, which helps prevent these situations from happening too often.

When you do have to challenge someone’s work or ask them to take something in a different direction, I think it’s important to make sure they understand why. It’s not about dismissing their work, it’s about making sure everyone is working toward the same creative vision.

How do you protect the quality of the game and the direction set by creative leadership without making people feel that you are fighting against them?

In my experience, it all comes down to transparency and alignment within the creative leadership team. During pre-production, it’s important to have open discussions, understand each other’s viewpoints, and establish clear creative boundaries and expectations. If everyone is aligned on the vision and understands what is important, it becomes much easier to protect that vision during production without making people feel like they are constantly being challenged.

Once you’re in production, I also think it’s important to be disciplined about when you make changes. Constantly pivoting or changing direction can be damaging to both morale and scope. The goal isn’t to fight against the team, but to give them a clear direction, support them in executing it, and step in when something genuinely needs to change.

Where is the line between being demanding and damaging trust within the team?

That line is very dependent on the experience levels and personalities on the team. I believe the best way to avoid crossing it is to make sure everyone clearly understands the overall vision, goals, priorities, and deliverables for the game through good planning and documentation.

As an Art Director, you want to establish clear guidelines and a strong creative framework that gives artists the freedom to be creative within it. You shouldn’t have to micromanage every asset or decision. Not only is that very time-consuming, but it can also be detrimental to the team’s sense of ownership and creativity.

I think the key is being demanding about the things that matter most, while giving the team enough trust and freedom to figure out how to get there.

Have you ever realized that you pushed someone too hard, or waited too long to have a difficult conversation?

Yes, and that’s one of the reasons I think regular one-on-ones, team reviews, and even casual conversations with the team give you opportunities to check in and understand how people are doing.

I’ve always found it much easier to communicate honestly and address issues as soon as you notice them. Small issues tend to grow over time if they aren’t addressed, and sometimes the person may not even realize there is an issue until you bring it up. In those cases, they often appreciate the feedback because it gives them an opportunity to adjust and improve.

It also works both ways. Sometimes a conversation reveals that there’s an issue I wasn’t aware of, and my role is to listen, understand what’s happening, and figure out how I can better support the person or the team.

Q: Why is the Art Director expected to see problems before anyone else?

A team may overlook critical feedback from the Creative Director and continue working in the wrong direction. A deadline may already be at risk while everyone still believes the work is on track.

Why is noticing these problems early one of the main reasons senior leadership trusts someone with an entire art production?

Of course, an issue that goes unnoticed for too long can become catastrophic for a project and have a major impact on production, scope, or schedule. That’s why it’s so important to have someone with enough production experience to recognize potential problems early, before they become difficult or expensive to solve.

Strong visibility into the work, supported by consistent daily or weekly syncs, helps keep you connected to both the team and the project. It’s important to understand not only what the team is producing, but also how they are producing it and where potential risks are starting to emerge.

Ultimately, I think senior leadership trusts an Art Director with an entire art production because they know that person will see potential problems early, communicate them, and take action before they turn into larger production issues.

How do you maintain enough visibility across multiple teams to catch what individual artists and leads may not see?

Daily or weekly check-ins, asset tracking, regular reviews, and playtests are all great ways to maintain visibility and catch when something is starting to move in the wrong direction.

But just having processes in place isn’t enough. The Art Director and leads also need to build enough trust with individual artists that they feel comfortable showing work in progress. It’s much easier to course-correct when something is still being developed than when an asset is considered final.

I try to create an environment where showing early or unfinished work is encouraged. That gives the leads and Art Director a chance to provide feedback early, while there is still time to make meaningful changes, and it gives artists the confidence to experiment without feeling like every piece of work has to be perfect before they show it.

When a risk reaches the Creative Director, should the Art Director already have possible solutions?

In my experience, these situations often happen when there is a pivot from the original design for one reason or another. When that happens, the Creative Director and Art Director need to work together to understand the impact and develop a plan to mitigate the production risk and avoid unnecessary delays.

Ideally, the Art Director should come to that conversation with a good understanding of the problem and some potential solutions. Sometimes that can mean reusing or repurposing existing assets, adjusting the scope, or changing the order of production to minimize the impact.

The goal isn’t necessarily for the Art Director to have the perfect solution before involving the Creative Director. It’s about bringing enough understanding of the problem and possible options to the conversation so you can make a good decision together.

Q: What should senior leadership put in place as a game grows into AAA-scale production?

A production model that works with a smaller team may begin to break as more disciplines, leads, assets, approvals, and external teams are added.

What usually fails first when a studio tries to scale too quickly?

What I have seen is that one of the first things that can fail is the production model itself, particularly when it comes to the financial side of scaling. A structure that works well with a smaller team can become increasingly expensive and difficult to manage as you add more disciplines, leads, assets, approvals, and external teams.

I’ve been at companies that grew too quickly and eventually had to scale back because the cost of the project and the size of the organization had become difficult to sustain. As a studio grows, it’s very easy to keep adding features, disciplines, and external support without fully considering the long-term production cost and complexity.

I think it’s important to be conservative when scaling and make sure the scope, team size, and budget grow together. Adding resources should help the project become more efficient and achievable, rather than simply creating an opportunity to make the project bigger.

Which roles, review processes, documentation, and lines of responsibility need to exist before the team grows?

It depends on the starting scale of the project, but in most cases I would want each major discipline to have a lead who can help translate the high-level vision from the Art Director into something actionable for their team, while still giving the artists room to bring their own creativity to the work.

From a documentation standpoint, I would recommend having a few key pieces in place: a high-level brand guide that defines what the game is and what it stands for, an art style guide that establishes the visual standards across disciplines, and a production plan that covers both short- and long-term goals.

There should also be clear daily and weekly review processes, supported by an asset-tracking or production-management system. Most importantly, everyone should understand who is responsible for what, how decisions are made, and where work goes for review and approval.

Having these structures in place early makes it much easier to scale the team without losing creative direction or creating unnecessary confusion as more people and disciplines are added.

What qualities should leadership look for in the person responsible for holding that art production together?

Leadership, enthusiasm, and calmness under pressure.

You need someone who can see potential problems early, plan accordingly, and make adjustments when things don’t go as planned. They need to be able to pivot quickly without losing sight of the overall vision, while also bringing energy and enthusiasm to the team.

Just as importantly, they need to stay calm when things get difficult. Production is never going to go exactly according to plan, and the person holding the art production together needs to give the team confidence and help them navigate those challenges.

Ultimately, you need someone who can lead the team through the ups and downs of development and, most importantly, get the project across the finish line.

What support does that person need from senior leadership to succeed?

They need support, resources, and trust from senior leadership. Senior leadership can see the project from a different angle and often has a broader perspective on the business, schedule, and overall goals.

The Art Director needs to know that they have the resources and backing to execute the vision, but also have leadership available when larger decisions or difficult trade-offs need to be made. Having that support creates a stronger partnership and allows the Art Director to focus on leading the team and delivering the best possible game.

Q: What does an external art team need to bring to a project at the scale of Destiny Rising or Battlefield?

Strong artists and a good portfolio may be enough to win the first task, but not enough to become a team the Art Director can truly rely on.

Which qualities matter most when an external team is working on an AAA production?

Consistency is the key word for me. I need to be able to rely on an external team to deliver on time and at the expected quality bar. Strong artistic talent is important, but if the team isn’t consistent in its delivery or quality, it becomes very difficult to plan production around them.

With external teams, especially when you’re dealing with different time zones and varying levels of resources, redoing assets to bring them up to the required quality bar can become extremely time-consuming. The same is true when production mistakes keep being repeated instead of being addressed at the source.

I look for a team that can take feedback, learn from it, and consistently improve. Once you can trust a team to deliver reliably and maintain the quality bar, they become a true production partner rather than simply a resource.

How should that team handle feedback, changing priorities, production risks, and decisions that are not fully covered by the brief?

The most important thing is having an open line of communication. An external team should feel comfortable asking questions when something isn’t clear, raising production risks early, and communicating when priorities or circumstances change rather than making assumptions.

I also think regular face-to-face syncs are very valuable. Having a weekly meeting where all parties can be transparent about how production is going creates an opportunity to discuss feedback, changing priorities, and any issues that may not be covered by the original brief.

The goal is to create enough trust and alignment that the external team feels like an extension of the internal team. That way, when something unexpected comes up, you can work through it together rather than discovering the problem when it’s too late.

What makes you feel that an external team can take real responsibility instead of waiting to be managed at every step?

When they are proactive and transparent. I want an external team to raise questions, identify potential problems, and suggest solutions rather than waiting to be told what to do at every step.

The best-case scenario is when an external team feels like they are truly part of the company and integrated with the internal teams. That level of ownership comes from building a strong relationship based on trust, transparency, and mutual respect.

When you establish that relationship, the external team is much more likely to take responsibility for the work and feel accountable for the success of the project, rather than simply completing tasks that have been assigned to them.

For Art Directors

How can Art Directors protect themselves from exhaustion before it begins affecting the team?

AAA productions can continue for years, and the team needs a leader who remains fair, available, and dependable throughout that time.

Which warning signs should Art Directors watch for in themselves?

One of the biggest warning signs is when an Art Director is constantly “putting out fires” or dealing with a million small issues without having the time or space to be proactive.

In my experience, that often means the Art Director hasn’t been able to build enough trust with their leads and senior artists to delegate effectively. Instead of empowering the team, they start taking on too much of the work themselves and become a bottleneck for the entire production.

That approach may work for a short period of time, but it isn’t sustainable over a long production. An Art Director needs to recognize when they are becoming too involved in the day-to-day details and step back, delegate, and make sure the right people have ownership.

If you find yourself constantly reacting instead of leading, that’s a warning sign that something needs to change and it’s better to address it early.

How can they protect their own stability without becoming distant from the team or less demanding about the needs of the project?

An Art Director needs to establish clear processes and boundaries for how they guide the art teams, but they also need to build a team they can trust. Having strong, trusted leads who can proactively identify and solve issues is essential to maintaining that balance.

It’s the Art Director’s responsibility to give those leads the trust and authority to run their disciplines, while also creating an environment where they are transparent about challenges and know when to bring something to the Art Director.

You can’t be involved in every decision, especially on a long AAA production. The goal is to empower the leads to own their areas while staying connected through regular check-ins and reviews. That allows the Art Director to remain available and demanding about the things that matter most without becoming a bottleneck or burning out.

For Young Artists

Which small production habits can quietly damage trust in a talented artist?

Young artists naturally focus on the visible quality of their work. But chaotic folders, inconsistent naming, broken asset structures, missed feedback, or poor communication can create problems far beyond a single asset.

Which habits frustrate leads and teammates more than young artists usually realize?

When you’re new to game development, it can be difficult to understand the bigger picture of creating a game. A very common issue I see with newer artists is becoming hyper-focused on small details that players may never notice, while spending too much valuable time polishing a single asset.

Experienced artists understand how to balance quality with time and production constraints. They look at how much time they have for each asset and make sure they are maintaining a consistent quality bar across the entire game rather than over-investing in one piece of work.

Communication is also a big part of this. If you’re running into a problem, unsure about feedback, or realize you’re going to miss a deadline, it’s much better to communicate that early rather than trying to solve everything on your own.

The goal isn’t to care less about quality. It’s learning where that quality matters most and understanding how your work fits into the bigger picture of the game.

What makes you see someone not only as talented, but as someone who can be trusted on a large production?

Talent can only get you so far. To be trusted on a large production, you need to be able to communicate well, consistently deliver high-quality work on time, understand and support the overall vision, and bring enthusiasm and a positive attitude to the team.

For me, trust is built through consistency. When I know I can rely on someone to deliver, communicate when there are challenges, take feedback, and understand how their work fits into the bigger picture, I can give them more ownership and responsibility.

That’s when someone moves from being a talented artist to being someone I can truly rely on.