Ben Curtis Email & Phone Number

London Area, United Kingdom

Responsible for line managing the team whilst defining and monitoring the design workflow from pitching, to core mechanics through to UI/UX and standards of quality. Early on, I led the creation of a design system for both VR and web-based interfaces. I am responsible for the team’s professional development and growth through training and evolution of standards. This includes defining specialisms and skills matrices with growth pathways for design sub-roles.As a member of the Development Leadership Team, I guide and shape best practices and project supervision. Working with our commercial teams, I frequently lead creative conception and pitching of new projects, and take ownership for defining and proposing new internal initiatives.I still get to roll my sleeves up, and led design as the sole direct contributor for our day one Apple Vision Pro product.

London Area, United Kingdom

Contract role to conceptualise and deliver an immersive skills training and career development platform for 16-24 year olds.

London Area, United Kingdom

Served as the first product designer in the startup, interfacing between the clinical and product teams to deliver automated virtual therapies. Implemented a user research and collaborative design process and tools, utilising Lean and other design methods. Internal projects focused on training the Art team in spatial design and improving the prototyping approach using Unity and Visual Scripting, and providing direction for exploration and validation of new product concepts.

City Of Bristol, England, United Kingdom

Hired as a games specialist to lead creation of a suite of games products for Shaun the Sheep: The Movie. Retained as a specialist games and VR project creative lead. Central to Aardman’s VR and AR or new technology projects, leading teams often exceeding 20 people and representing Aardman as a speaker at industry events.Key projects included:Shear Speed: Exceeded KPI targets twentyfold, achieving over 10 million downloads, top 10 ‘All games downloads’ positions in 11 countries and no. 1 kids game in 109 countries.We Wait: An early VR narrative experience based on interviews with migrants at the peak of the refugee crisis. Winner, Best VR Experience at the Broadcast Digital Awards, Nominee, Best VR Experience at Sheffield Doc Fest, Nominee, Best VR Experience at the Global Unity Awards.Is Anna OK?: A fusion of interactive storytelling and immersive journalism, resulting in a painterly VR narrative experience designed for two participants to experience simultaneously or one person consecutively. Nominee, Best VR Experience at Sheffield Doc Fest, Nominee, Best Multi-person VR Experience at RaindanceSustainable Shaun: A large scale HTML5 game using Aardman’s IP to promote sustainability as the flagship element of Bristol Green Capital’s schools programme. Winner of the ‘Best Game with a Purpose’ TIGA AwardDeveloped design skills for children’s products through establishing a relationship with Disney, creatively conceiving and winning pitches for 3 HTML5 games culminating in the highly successful My Fashion Roadshow. Playtime with Pantosaurus for the NSPCC, a game designed to teach children how to remain safe from sexual abuse.Roald Dahl’s Twit or Miss. A challenging project with numerous stakeholders and an innovative game design. The product was successful exceeding KPI targets and achieving coverage in publications such as The Guardian and The Drum.

City Of Bristol, England, United Kingdom

Initially editorial and game design lead on a game for the CBeebies show Andy’s Prehistoric Park, later involved in concept and prototype development for a range of ideas involving VR, AR, Magic Leap, interactive flat and 360 live action.

City Of Bristol, England, United Kingdom

Hired in the first Producer role at the company as the preferred candidate despite having no experience in the games industry. Quickly picked up game design processes while identifying areas for improvement in workflow. Took on extra responsibility for sound design and audio production.Implemented new working processes and project tracking systems and led the transition towards an agile methodology.Led Pesky gNATs for University of Bristol; a Unity 3D game of a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy course with a companion app, successfully pitched, funded, and delivered on time and budget at £200k. Winner of the ‘Good Award’ at the Sparkies.Produced Salvaged; an in-house production exploring a world-first game design concept.Managed production and infrastructure for a Kickstarter campaign including a project video, a teaser trailer, motion graphics assets, A US shell company, page content designs and the game itself.

City Of Bristol, England, United Kingdom

Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Developed a 2-man side project into an 8-strong office with tens of thousands of supporters from members of the public, journalists, economists and academics to elected officials.Gained support amongst several influential economic think tanks, Labour and Conservative MP’s, established academics and high-ranking staff within the Treasury and the Bank of England. The proposals are now official Green Party Policy.Hosted a conference and workshops for 150, produced several hours of animated educational content, contributed to various publications, and wrote a proposal to the Independent Commission on Banking.Oversaw website and social media strategy, a bookshop, a regular blog with several authors, 5000 supporters, over 200,000 YouTube views, and 100,000 Twitter mentions. Spoke at many events across the UK, ranging from Treasury meetings and panel discussions at Oxford University, to presentations aimed at climate change activists interested in banking.