JOHN ROMERO CREATIVE

Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile

Activision/Solid State Studios
UI Artist | 2022-2024

Apps utilized for this project:

The Mission: Deliver a high-fidelity AAA mobile experience with seamless cross-progression between Mobile, PC, and Console. I spearheaded UI systems for Live Ops, Commerce, and Social workstreams, ensuring "Call of Duty" quality across a massive global device ecosystem.

Core Workstreams

Live Ops & Events: Designed and implemented dynamic UI for weekly reward tracks and engagement features.
The Keep (Gacha): Developed the final layout and motion transitions for the game’s primary randomized reward system.
Commerce & Store: Engineered the UI integration for bundle offerings, unifying mainline console assets with mobile-specific content.
Social & Front-End: Optimized UX flows for party invites, messaging channels, and player connectivity.

Key Technical Achievements 1. Scalable UI Architecture

Challenge: Designing high-fidelity layouts that remain functional and compelling across an "infinite" variety of mobile screen ratios, from 4:3 tablets to 21:9 ultra-widescreen devices.

Solution: Developed a robust, fluid UI system in Figma utilizing auto-layouts and modular components. I ensured every mockup survived a rigorous "stress test" across three core aspect ratios (16:9, 21:9, and 4:3) before passing to engineering, resulting in zero visual regressions across the global Android and iOS ecosystem.

2. Hybrid Web-Tech Implementation

Challenge: Delivering a AAA-quality "Events" experience within a restricted, non-native "Web-View" container that lacked 3D support.

Solution: Engineered a visual workaround using high-fidelity 2D bitmaps and custom CSS animations to simulate depth and motion. This "Web-Tech" approach allowed the team to push live updates and balance changes instantly without requiring a full App Store binary update—critical for maintaining Live Ops agility.

3. Technical Pipeline Mastery

Challenge: Navigating a high-pressure production environment with complex version control and proprietary engine constraints.

Solution: Managed the end-to-end technical pipeline, moving assets from Figma prototypes directly into the game via the LUA/LUI framework. I took full ownership of version control via Perforce (P4V) and successfully navigated Swarm code reviews to ensure all commits were stable and production-ready.

1. Requirements/Kickoff

2. Research/Discovery

3. Concepting/Prototyping

4. High-Fidelity Mockups

5. User Testing Feedback/Iteration

6. Implementation/Handoff

7. QA/Iteration

8. Documentation/Retrospective

Tech Stack & Tooling

Design: Figma, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects).
Technical: LUA/LUI Framework, HTML5/CSS3, Blender 3D.
Production: Perforce (P4V), Helix, JIRA, MidJourney (AI-assisted workflows).

Bonus Mission: Black Ops 6 Selected by the Black Ops 6 team to produce cinematic "Tracer Pack" bundle artwork, delivering high-impact marketing assets that met the rigorous visual standards of a mainline Call of Duty launch.

Challenge: Producing multiple "movie-poster" quality assets within an aggressive pre-launch window while ensuring AI-generated elements seamlessly matched the franchise's established hyper-realistic art direction.

Solution: Engineered a hybrid pipeline using Blender 3D for anatomically accurate character posing and MidJourney AI for atmospheric backgrounds. By unifying these elements through extensive Photoshop post-processing, I delivered four completed pieces.

War Commander

KIXEYE, Inc.
Senior UI Artist | 2016-2020

Apps utilized for this project:

The Mission: Overhaul the visual identity and user experience for a flagship live-ops strategy title with a global player base of 90,000 MAU. I led the transition from a legacy weathered aesthetic to a modern, high-fidelity military interface, significantly extending the product's lifecycle through consistent, high-impact visual updates.

Core Workstreams

System-Wide UI Facelift: Conceptualized and executed a total visual modernization of core gameplay HUDs and menus.
Event Branding & Creative Produced high-detail title logos and promotional banners for monthly cadence events, utilizing a "movie poster" aesthetic to drive engagement.
3D Art & Iconography: Leveraged Maya 3D and Photoshop to create optimized, eye-popping bitmap assets and UI components.
Technical Implementation: Acted as a bridge between art and engineering, directly editing ActionScript 3 (AS3) classes and managing asset pipelines.

Key Technical Achievements 1. Legacy System Revitalization

Challenge: Updating a mature, complex browser-based game without disrupting existing player mental models or technical performance.

Solution: I successfully "resurrected" and completed a dormant UI overhaul, replacing dated elements with clean, coherent, and war-themed graphics. This modernized the player experience while maintaining the high-density information required for expert-level strategy.

2. Integrated Art & Code Pipeline

Challenge: Managing assets for a Flash-based (ActionScript 3) environment that required tight optimization and direct code integration.

Solution: I managed the full-stack art pipeline — from Maya 3D modeling and Photoshop optimization to embedding assets in SWF files via Adobe Animate. My ability to make direct adjustments to AS3 classes in the IntelliJ IDE allowed for faster iteration and closer collaboration with the engineering team.

3. Narrative-Driven Event Branding

Challenge: Creating high-impact visual identities for frequent live-ops events to maintain "whale" interest and player retention.

Solution: I pushed the boundaries of conventional UI by creating "Smoke and Shadow" or "Final Reckoning" promotional banners that felt like cinematic experiences. I combined 3D character posing with high-end digital painting to create immersive entry points for monthly events.

Tech Stack & Environment

Design & 3D: Maya 3D, Photoshop, Adobe Animate (Flash/ActionScript 3).
Technical & IDE: IntelliJ IDE, ActionScript 3 (AS3).
Production: Cornerstone SVN (Version Control), Crucible/Fisheye (Code Review), JIRA.

Additional Imagery

BeeBorgs

Creak Games
Principal UX/UI Designer | 2015-2016

Apps utilized for this project:

The Mission: Served as the sole design lead for an original mobile word-puzzle IP. I owned the end-to-end product lifecycle, from initial wireframing and brand identity to final Unity implementation, delivering a shippable product to the iOS and Android stores within a strict six-month development window. Core Workstreams

Full-Spectrum Design Ownership: Responsible for the entire visual language, including UX wireframing, high-fidelity UI, character design, and environmental backgrounds.
0-to-1 Product Launch: Collaborated in a lean, agile environment with a two-person engineering team to move from concept to global release in 180 days.
3D Art & Iconography: Leveraged Maya 3D and Photoshop to create optimized, eye-popping bitmap assets and UI components.
Unity Implementation: Directly integrated core UI components and animations within Unity, reducing engineering overhead and ensuring pixel-perfect visual fidelity.

Key Technical Achievements 1. Rapid Prototyping & Iteration

Challenge: Establishing a compelling gameplay loop and visual style for a new IP with minimal turnaround time.

Solution: Leveraged a streamlined pipeline using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create high-fidelity prototypes that served as the definitive source of truth for the development team. This enabled us to hold highly efficient weekly stakeholder reviews and maintain a rapid bi-weekly sprint cadence.

2. Cross-Functional "Lead" Mindset

Challenge: Operating as the sole creative voice within a small engineering-heavy team.

Solution: I acted as both Designer and Product Manager, translating high-level goals into actionable JIRA tasks and maintaining daily Slack communications to unblock engineering. My role was to ensure that every visual element, from the character "Borg" to the in-game shop, served the core goal of player retention and ease of use.

3. Performance-Optimized Asset Pipelines

Challenge: Creating a vibrant, animated world that remained performant across a wide range of mobile hardware.

Solution: Engineered a modular asset library (UI kits) that allowed for rapid screen construction and minimal memory footprint. By directly implementing UI in Unity, I was able to optimize draw calls and ensure smooth transitions between game states.

Tech Stack & Environment

Engine: Unity (Direct UI Implementation).
Design: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator.
Communication: Slack, Video-conferencing (Remote-first workflow).

VTuber Karaoke App

Self-Developed
2021

Apps utilized for this project:

Are you familiar with "v-tubing"? It's a new form of live-streaming while controlling a 3D avatar using VR and face tracking equipment. Love for karaoke and VR brings us this match made in heaven! A personal and dear project that truly showcases all of my skills in one app, from UI to 3D modeling to code writing. So many ways this application can be further explored!

Click here for an in-depth case study of this cool VR app!

Stackin' Sats

Self-Developed
2020

Apps utilized for this project:

I am the sole developer of a simple, yet addictive Bitcoin cryptocurrency-themed stacking game targeted for Android and iOS devices.

This game was built in Unity using C# Language and all artwork was created in Adobe Photoshop and Blender 3D.

Sushi Critters

Self-Developed
2016

Apps utilized for this project:

I am the sole designer and developer for my personal project Sushi Critters, a fun and whimsical looking match-3 puzzle game developed with the SpriteKit Framework in XCode targeted for iOS mobile devices.

I myself enjoy Candy Crush and other games like it, so it was decided I should take a crack at creating my own.

This project is currently undergoing a port from SpriteKit to Unity C# for cross-platform availability to include Android mobile devices.

Interactive Figma UX/UI Prototype

Click to pop open a prototype of the general UX/UI for Sushi Critters.

BORLA Hear The Power iPad App

Red Guitar Advertising/BORLA Exhaust
2008

Apps utilized for this project:

The Borla Exhaust "Hear the Power" iPad app was specifically developed to be used at trade shows and events, allowing booth visitors to experience the distinct sounds of their patented exhaust systems heard in various situations, installed on specially selected vehicles.

Eventually, "Hear the Power" was made available to the public and is currently available to download from the Apple App Store.

Tasks performed for this project: Entire application concept mockups, final graphics, entire project code and complete end-user experience.

AST Alternative Energy - H2MAX Pods

Apps utilized for this project:

I was contracted to animate a 2-minute video demonstrating AST's massive hydrogen-toting H2MAX Pods in a creative way.

Because of the dynamic requirements needed to exhibit the various features of the pods, cylinders, transport frames and trucks, it was decided 3D animation would be the best fit. This was a perfect opportunity to utilize my years of Flash animation experience, but in a 3D environment.

I particularly enjoyed figuring out how to transition back and forth from basic isometric views to more dynamic "pop out the screen" angles and perspectives. I met with AST's creative director on a weekly basis to see this project finished within about 1.5 months.

Software used: Blender 3D, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects

ExakTime Digital Timeclock

Apps utilized for this project:

ExakTime, makers of the wireless JobClock Hornet employee time clock, contacted me to animate a second video for their business. ExakTime wanted to create a humurous but informative cartoon video that portrays the benefits of ExakTime's easy-to-use line of time tracking products.

I initially met with their marketing team and in-house illustrator to discuss their vision and storyboard for the cartoon. I was provided with all the illustrated art and the voice over. It was up to me to source the sound effects from iStockphoto.com. During production of the video, I had met with their team 2 more times to review progress. The video was put together during the course of four weeks. ExakTime uploaded the final piece to Vimeo for sharing and promotional purposes.

Software used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Flash Professional

Spellista for Google Glass

Apps utilized for this project:

In 2013 I was contracted as an illustrator/animator for Glu Mobile's Google Glass game Spellista.

I was tasked with creating simple, yet interesting background animations for each of the five stages featured in the game. I was excited to work on this project as it gave me the opportunity to put to use my illustration, coloring, shading and animation skills all at once.

Adobe Photoshop and Spine were used to provide Glu with the animated assets.

LINE Stickers

Apps utilized for this project:

I have created a complete set of 40 full-color English/Japanese stickers titled "John Loves Satomi" that have been approved for sale in the Sticker Shop for the popular messaging app LINE.

LINE sets fairly strict guidelines for the creation of stickers, however my stickers were approved no problem the first time I submitted, even after reading many stories online from other creators about their stickers being rejected multiple times over the course of weeks or months.

I am proud to display this project here on my portfolio as it highlights my attention and adherence to guidelines while at the same time lightly boasting my level of proficiency in my second language, Japanese! よろしくお願いします！

You can find these stickers available to download here: John Loves Satomi - LINE Creator's Stickers

BORLA Exhaust Vehicle Wraps

Apps utilized for this project:

Borla regularly contacts me to provide vehicle wrap designs for various company vehicles and sponsored race cars and trucks, most notably their company semi truck and their Borla-sponsored NASCAR racecar.