Art Direction

From pre-production to full production.

I offer pre-production and production art direction services ranging from building, guiding, supervising, and mentoring teams. This includes defining visual style guides and production pipelines to maintain consistency across different artists and departments, as well as character design development, artist briefings, and creative supervision throughout the entire process.

One example is SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide.

Art direction

Define visual style guidelines;
Hire and mentor the team;
Brief and supervise the team;
Improve cross-department communication;
Support narrative and game design development.

Take a look at the case study below, or use the links on the side to explore additional case studies.

Official Announcement Trailer featuring David Hasselhoff

SpongeBob: Titans of the Tide

Art direction

Led the visual direction of the project, overseeing color scripts, character design, environments, and overall atmosphere. Collaborated closely with game design and narrative teams to ensure visual coherence with gameplay and story.

Key contributions:

Defined visual style guides and pipelines to maintain consistency across teams.
Mentored artists and conducted regular visual reviews.
Created in-engine level examples to translate artistic intent into production-ready solutions.
Supported story and game design with visual storytelling tools and documentation.

Communication Goals

Analyzing the key communication elements before developing any visual is one of the fundamental parts of my work. Creating clear documentation helps explain to both partners such as THQ Nordic and the internal team what the objectives are and what message we want to communicate.

Example: The first rule is understanding that no more than three layers of communication should exist within a single image. Too many elements create confusion and the message will not be perceived clearly by the audience.

It is also important to assign different visual weights to these three layers and clearly define what each one represents.

In this case, the concept was built around two cultures colliding, two different worlds in conflict with one another. SpongeBob and Patrick stand in the middle, trying to mediate the clash and suggesting that the only way forward is to accept diversity.

Communication Layers by Gaetano Leonardi.

Illustration Example by Gaetano Leonardi.

Example – Art by Gaetano Leonardi.

The Importance of a Consistent Language

Game Design as a Language for the Player

I introduced these simple principles within the art department to improve collaboration and communication with the design team.

Players should learn how the game works progressively, and the visual language must remain as consistent as the gameplay design itself.

Example: If we want to introduce collapsing platforms, they should be presented gradually and always maintain the same visual identity throughout the game. This way, once the player becomes familiar with that pattern, they will immediately understand that a similar platform encountered later will collapse.

By teaching the player step by step how different platform types behave, we can later combine their attributes to create more complex mechanics. For example: moving platforms that also collapse, or collapsing platforms that the player can dig through.

The key is always to introduce these mechanics gradually and communicate them clearly through a consistent visual language.

Visual Design Comics

Game Design through Visualization

Using the method of drawing game design ideas on paper helps visualize potential issues early and significantly improves team communication.

The drawings don’t need to be beautiful, clarity is what matters. The goal is to show what needs to happen in the game, prevent misunderstandings, identify problems before they arise in the engine, and align everyone around a shared vision before coding even begins.

Example – Art by Gaetano Leonardi.

Color Keys – Art by MArianna Robustelli.
Art direction by Gaetano Leonardi.

Examples of color and shape climax curves used to guide the team — Visual exploration by Gaetano Leonardi.

Colors

Color Key direction

I oversaw the color key direction, with artwork by Arianna Robustelli.

Color is not merely an aesthetic choice, it is a powerful tool that supports direction and reinforces communication. Through contrasts in saturation, luminance, and complementary hues, color helps guide the audience’s perception and emotional response.

When I talk about contrast and storytelling, here are a few concrete examples:
we begin with very warm colors at the start of the adventure on the beach (calm, comfort, joy), then descend into the darkness of the jungle to face the first boss (adventure, mystery, spectral presences).

Or take the underground sections: intentionally gray, quiet, almost monotonous, to convey stillness and suspension… until the player emerges outside, where everything explodes into chaos, fire, and color. A true visual BOOM.

Once established, this visual language must remain consistent throughout the film, especially in subsequent magical moments, to preserve coherence and reinforce storytelling.

Example of collaboration between art direction and artist — final artwork by Arianna Robustelli.

Environment & Architectures

Architectural Historical Research

A thorough study of the geographical area, archaeology, and the typical architecture was conducted and organized in a clear and comprehensive way, allowing the artists to work efficiently and with strong historical grounding.

Thanks to this research, multiple design proposals were later developed, and layouts were created to optimize each level, both from a production efficiency standpoint and an aesthetic perspective.

Architectural Historical Research

Epic shot Sketch Example – Art by Gaetano Leonardi.

Epic Shot – Art by Arianna Robustelli.

Back and Forth

Collaboration is the Key

By working and interacting closely, the art director and the artist can evolve both the visual design and the ideas behind a concept.

This process works only when there is mutual respect within the team and, above all, an open mind, the willingness to listen, exchange perspectives, and continuously improve the work together.

Sketch Example to inspire artists – Art by Gaetano Leonardi.

Example of collaboration between art direction and artist — final artwork by Arianna Robustelli.

Vegetation and Environmental Research – Art by Arianna Robustelli; Art Direction by Gaetano Leonardi.

Flora and Minerals Research for the Environment

In-Depth Research to Brief the Art Team

An extensive study of SpongeBob vegetation was conducted and prepared for the artists, providing detailed references and examples of each plant & rock formation native of the IP.

Multiple design variations were developed, and the environment was carefully analyzed and planned for every level to ensure accuracy, consistency, and visual coherence.

Vegetation and Environmental Research
Art by Arianna Robustelli;
Art Direction by Gaetano Leonardi.

Characters

Character design Supervising

I also developed several early character sketches during the pre-production phase.

These materials were primarily created to brief the artists for the next stage of development.

Character Design by Nunzio Cafagna;
Colors & Shading by Anastasia Kutsenko;
Art direction by Gaetano Leonardi.

Sketches for Artist Briefing by Gaetano Leonardi.

Sketches for Artist Briefing by Gaetano Leonardi.

Character Design by Nunzio Cafagna; Colors & Shading by Anastasia Kutsenko; Art direction by Gaetano Leonardi.

Sculpting x videogame

3D Character design

After identifying a production bottleneck in the 3D character department, particularly in translating designs from 2D to 3D, I introduced a method commonly used in animation and the video game industry: rapid sculpting blockouts.

This approach proved highly effective, allowing us to optimize the production pipeline and approve eight character blockouts in less than a week.

Example of rapid Sculpting by Gaetano Leonardi

Sculpting – 3D Design by Ernst Nobis (Pink Background) and Stefano Critelli (Dark Grey Background).

Example of Comi-Style Synopsis by Gaetano Leonardi

Comic-Style Synopsis

By quickly writing short story synopses and transforming them into a 9-panel comic format that fits on a printed A4 page, you can gain a fast and clear overview of possible narrative directions before moving into full script development.

These quick visual synopses allow the director to make early decisions, explore different story paths, test pacing, evaluate emotional beats, and gather feedback from other team members.

They serve as a lightweight and efficient tool to validate ideas before writers expand them into a full screenplay.

SpongeBob is the property of Nickelodeon.