I’m Tanner Ellison, an Art Director and 3D Art Lead based in Seattle with over 15 years of experience crafting immersive worlds across games, film/television, virtual reality, and experimental interactive experiences. My expertise spans creative leadership, visual storytelling, and hands-on production — from concept and modeling to in-engine lighting, materials, set/level building, and final polish.
Most recently, I served as Weapon Team Art Director and Art Lead on Shrapnel, a near-future multiplayer FPS where I helped define the games visual identity, cosmetic item strategy, and developed art pipelines across internal and global teams. Before that, I spent nearly five years with HBO's interactive division, earning a Primetime Emmy for my work with Westworld and collaborating directly with showrunners and directors to bring iconic IPs to life in new mediums.
My strengths lie in aesthetic ownership, cross-discipline collaboration, and mentoring teams through high-stakes creative development. I thrive at the intersection of design, narrative worldbuilding, and technical execution — with an eye for bold visual direction and systems that scale.
Outside the studio, I host Seek & Destroy on KEXP, a long-running metal radio show on KEXP 90.3 FM Seattle & 92.7 FM San Francisco, and shoot concert and landscape photography around the world. I’m endlessly curious, deeply collaborative, and always pushing for meaningful, artful work.