James Widener

Art Director & Visual Designer

Everything starts with an idea. You can have all the training and technical skills in the world, but there is no replacement for original thought and creativity. Vision and creativity are why some of the most popular songs ever created had only three chords, while highly trained classical musicians remain widely unknown. Without creative conceptual thinking, everything created is merely a reflection and repetition of something else.

Since graduating with a Bachelor’s in Digital Art and Design from Full Sail University in 2010, I’ve helped deliver creative concepts and strategies across broadcast, digital, and physical mediums. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been making and tinkering with things. My love for art and music has always come second to my interest in strategy games during my youth. Art direction is peculiar in that, while it requires creativity, it also demands a strategic and diplomatic approach. I believe that playing abstract strategy games shaped my thinking and made me a much more effective visual designer.

When I am not working, I am either slinging arrows or chasing whitetail in the deer woods. If you’d like to connect for a potential project, please feel free to reach out anytime!