Torson_Nathaniel_Resume_Deluxe

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Emperor Marcus Aurelius, 121 -180 AD
HI THERE!
My name is Nathaniel and I am extremely interested in
working for YOU!
Over the next few pages, I’m going to tell you a little
bit about myself, show you a few of the different projects
I’ve worked on and, hopefully, by the end, you’ll see that
I am the man for the job.
In short, I am a 16 year veteran of the Multi-media
industry and a professional Game Designer and Artist with a number of published works to my credit.
I have done layout and graphic design for commercial print products, books, boxed sets and both
analog and digital games, spent a number of years as a web designer and am an accomplished
writer. I’ve worked with video and audio, and administered and taught multi-media design at the post-
secondary level.
The most important thing you should know about me, however, is that I am extremely passionate
about my work. It is not simply what I do, it is what I am. For me, to live is to design, whatever the
subject or medium. Even when I’m not actively working at design, I’m thinking about it and relating
everything to it.
But design is not just passion and pursuit. A good designer must have a
broad knowledge base, with a wide experience in a number of subjects
in order to provide the largest potential mental palette from which to
create new and innovative works. In addition, they must be willing
to delve deeply into new areas of knowledge when required,
to ‘Look to the essence of the thing,’ as Marcus Aurelius
suggested, so that the design resonates with the subject.
My broad experiential base covers an expansive range
of topics and experiences. From science to art, politics,
philosophy, history and pop culture, I possess a large store of
knowledge from which I draw inspiration. More importantly, I am
ever curious, constantly in pursuit of new knowledge, and a bit
of a futurist, looking forward to divine what new possibilities might
present themselves in the near future.
In all, when you hire me, you don’t just hire an employee. You get
a designer. An artist. A thinker. An innovator. A person who
will enhance your organization in ways above and
beyond the simple application of imagery to product.
“Look to the essence of a thing, whether
it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of
interpretation.”
NATHANIEL SEBASTIAN TORSON
CONTACT INFO
(972) 358 - 8014
1428 DRAKE LN., LEWISVILLE, TX 75077
NATHANIEL@JABBERWOCKY-MEDIA.COM
WWW.JABBERWOCKY-MEDIA.COM

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I have a wide and varied skill set that covers
everything from original vector art to raster
manipulation, print layout, web design and
animation, as well as other peripheral skills and
talents.
SOFTWARE
I use a wide variety of programs in Adobe CC
for most of my design work, and Microsoft Word
and Excel for writing and mechanical design. I
spent many years programming in HTML, CSS
and XML, and recently designed a mobile app
in LUA. I am currently learning Unity/C#.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Along with general graphic design and layout
for print and web, I am a vector artist and have
created a number of original logos for clients. I
also work in interface design.
GAME DESIGN
I am a game designer, with a number of
published works and professional projects in
production. I have designed digital, analog and
hybrid games. I studied game design as part of
my graduate degree and have given lectures on
the subject.
SOUND DESIGN
I have experience producing, directing,
recording and editing audio dramas and
music. I also studied psychoacoustics and
environmental sound design in graduate school.
VIDEO PRODUCTION
My video and film experience includes scripting,
directing, producing, recording and editing.
WRITING AND COPY-EDITING
I have worked as a technical writer, copy-editor,
technical editor and have written screenplays
and game design documents. I have a several
published works and writing credits to my name.
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
Along with work in educational game design,
I have created curricula and syllabi for multi-
media and interactive design programs.
RESEARCH
I have worked as a Research Assistant and
have experience in thoroughly studying a
subject, analyzing data and then breaking down
and/or abstracting the information for use in
various projects.
Current areas of interest: Game research,
education technology research, innovation
research.
MANAGEMENT
I have worked as an Assistant Manager,
Department Head, Creative Director and
Producer, and have experience organizing and
leading projects.
SKILLS, EXPERIENCE & AREAS OF STUDY
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
BA - RADIO, TELEVISION AND FILM
DECEMBER 1999
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS
MFA - ARTS & TECHNOLOGY
DECEMBER 2013
MULTIMEDIA & GAME DESIGNER
NATHANIELSEBASTIANTORSON

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SKILLSTORM/ISTATION
Dallas, Texas
April 2015- September 2015
Manager: Gabriel Greenwood
Technical Editor/Creator: I took a 6 month contract
position with Istation to help in the development of
the Technical Editing department. During that time,
I wrote technical scripts for the product, worked on
QA assignments, designed scripting software and
innovated new scripting procedures.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS
Richardson, Texas
November 2011- Jan 2013
Manager: Dr. Marge Zeilke
Research Assistant: I worked as a Game Designer,
Sound Designer and Writer on a medical game
research grant for Baylor. This involved research and
data collection, creation of a game design document,
interface design, writing branching dialogue and
recording, editing and mapping ambient sound.
JABBERWOCKY PRODUCTIONS
Lewisville, TX
May. 2008 – Present
Graphic & Web Design: I started my own company
which focused on freelance multi-media and web
design. I also produced a large number of published
game materials including Barbarians of the Aftermath
and several items for the Doctor Who Role-Playing
Game, including the core boxed set and the industry
award winning Time Traveller’s Companion.
WEBCETERA
Flower Mound, Texas
March 2007- May 2008
Manager: Brian Shepler
EZLynx Web Lead Designer: I created the EZLynx
Agency Web product for Webcetera. This involved
creating a page generation script in the company’s
proprietary scripting language, writing the XML/XSD
standards and creating the template, configuration
and multimedia content for the individual sites.
I also organized the sales process and established
design procedures for the product as well as
designing management tools for keeping track of
contracts, design forms and the design progress.
A Flash sales tool was also in progress before the
product line was canceled.
In addition to my main duties, I was also responsible
for general marketing material such as fliers,
postcards, logo design, etc. and served as the
company graphics/marketing department as well.
ATI ENTERPRISES
Dallas, Texas
May 2006 – March 2007
Manager: Michael Ackerman
Graphics Department Head: I was the Department
Head and Lead Instructor for the Graphics
Department at ATI. I taught the entire Adobe Creative
suite as well as Flash and Digital Pre-press. I
was responsible for organizing and running the
department and I built, upgraded and maintained all
the computers, both PC and Macintosh, for the Labs.
GAMES WORKSHOP
Grapevine, Texas
November 2003 – May. 2006
Manager: Mike Neill.
Assistant Manager: I built, painted and sold table-top
war game models, terrain and materials for Games
Workshop Ltd., a worldwide producer of table-top
games. I also designed specific marketing and game
material for the Grapevine Mills store and helped run
the store.
HBS SYSTEMS
Richardson, Texas
August 2000 – Feb. 2002
Manager: Warren Rhodes.
Graphic Design/ Marketing: Designed and
produced, from start to finish, magazine ads, trade
show displays, mailers, brochures, web content,
presentations, software graphics and any other form
of media needed by the company.
WORK HISTORY

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PORTFOLIO
Over the years I have completed a large number of projects and the following pages will highlight a
smaller selection of the most recent of those. The images in each section are hyperlinked and will
provide you with a more detailed PDF sample of the project in question when clicked.
Obviously, this portfolio is for review purposes only. The contents within may not be distributed
unless the recipient in question is using the material to assess my qualifications as a candidate for
the position to which I am applying. I retain the rights to all the material presented in this portfolio,
and the act of providing a link to said material does not imply any transition of those rights to any
other party.
BARBARIANS OF THE AFTERMATH
Jabberwocky Productions
Cubicle 7 Publishing
This 176 page full-colour book was
released in September of 2009 in PDF
format and then in May of 2010 in
hardback.
This was a one-man project. I was
responsible for the game design,
writing, layout, certain pieces of
original interior art and also restored
and formatted a large number of old pulp
magazine covers for use as interior illustrations. I
am particularly proud of the cover illustration, which I
created in Adobe Illustrator.
It was popular enough that Cubicle 7 picked up the
rights to print and distribute the book in 2010 and it sold
at Gencon that year. As of today, BotA still sells in its digital format.
DOCTOR WHO: ADVENTURES IN TIME AND SPACE
I was commisioned by Cubicle 7 to
create the 11th Doctor Edition of
their popular RPG (which I helped
design).
While the writing and design was a
team effort, I was responsible for
the actual boxed product. I did the
layout and formatting of the books,
cards, character mats, pretty much
everything except the box itself.
This version of the game won a Gold
Ennie for Best Family Game in 2013.

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THE TIME TRAVELLERS COMPANION
After completing the 11th Doctor Boxed set, I was tasked with writing
and designing this supplement for the game. Initially designed to be a
boxed set with three smaller softcover books and a variety of cards and
other materials, the decision was made some ways into the production
to reformat the project as a single, hardback volume.
Again, almost all the work on this project was my responsibility. I did
the game design, layout, graphic design and spent a great many hours
screen capturing and retouching images from 50 years of episodes from
this venerable series. It was truly a labor of love.
The book won a Silver Ennie for Best Supplement in 2013 and has
recieved 5 star reviews across the board. Reviewers have described the
book as ‘...a book that feels bigger on the inside than it is on the outside’
and ‘ A Timey-Wimey Bradshaws.’
ASSORTED WRITING AND COPY-EDITING
While working on the 11th Doctor Boxed
Set and the Time Travellers Companion,
I also worked as a writer and editor on
Aliens & Creatures, Defending the Earth
and The First Doctor Sourcebook.
My largest chunk of writing includes the
back third of Aliens & Creatures, including
the mechanics for player character alien
races, generating new worlds and new
species and write ups on three different
alien worlds.
I have also written sections on Villains and
Adventures for the, as of yet unreleased,
Gamemaster’s Guide.
LOGO & CHARACTER DESIGN
Various
I really enjoy working on small self-contained designs like Logos and have
created a fair few for a variety of companies, especially when it involves
creating or re-imagining a new iconic character or mascot for the brand.
When creating a new logo, I work mainly in Adobe Illustrator. Business
cards are then built in Photoshop.

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WEB, INTERFACE & ICON DESIGN
Various
I spent many years building websites for a
variety of companies and, in the late 2000’s,
started creating interfaces for games and apps.
My favorite aspect of web and interface design
is creating icons because, like logos, I enjoy
the challenege of creating meaning in a small
self-contained space. Icons are the ultimate
expression of ideographic language and imbued
symbolic meaning and that fascinates me.
QUARTERBACK BLITZ
My graduate thesis was to take one of
the most complex sports in existence
and abstract it down into a playable,
yet highly accurate simulation that
would not only appeal to sports fans
and general gamers but have enough
detail and fidelity to function as a
teaching tool for prospective players
and coaches.
The initial prototype earned me a
MFA and was seriously considered
for production by Topps, the premier
company for sports cards and collectibles.
The only thing preventing its sale was that
the game was too much of a simulation. I
have spent the last couple of years further
refining the design and it is nearing completion.
BARBARIANS OF HEAVY METAL
Around 2013 I came up with a new IP to use in a variety of formats. A combination of Dystopian
Science Fiction, Heavy Metal Music, and Giant Robot Combat, it is my love letter to the eighties.
There are currently two projects circling this IP: the digital role-playing game and the card game.
The digital RPG was the subject of a Kickstarter in 2013, but it failed to meet its funding goal.
The card game, which includes
4 decks and about 400 cards, is
currently under production and is
being prepared for a Kickstarter
sometime in 2016.
The sample deck provided by
clicking the picture on the left
contains all the cards needed for a
single player.

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AUDIO PRODUCTION
One of the reasons I went into Radio, Television and Film is the all-
encompassing and abiding love I have for classic radio, from The
Shadow to Fibber McGee & Molly, a love which I picked up from my
grandfather. I remember many a lazy Sunday in his garage, listening
to the sounds of a bygone era while he tinkered on his many projects. I
even remember trying to make my own ‘radio-shows’ by talking into an
old Shure cassette recorder at the age of 8.
This inspired a number of projects at UTD, including an interactive
audio drama project, and a fully dramatized audio play that I co-wrote,
produced, directed, engineered and even acted in: The Improbable
Adventures of Dylan Darby. Click the image for an excerpt...
VIDEO PRODUCTION & LECTURES
While at UNT, my main interests revolved around Radio and Television, with
an emphasis on script-writing. I worked for the local television station and
produced a series of segments for the university color program, NT Scene,
for which I won an award for Best Series of Segments.
These days, my videography and editing skills are mainly directed at creating
instructional or documentary style lecture pieces for educational purposes,
with the occasional game trailer or demo video.
The linked item is an introductary video for a series on Interactive Storytelling
Games. I chose to go with a Ken Burns style of presentation.
FOR GLORY!
Tthis is a table-top boardgame based on the very popular RPG Barbarians of
Lemuria. The game play is centered around the basic idea of playing out an entire
RPG campaign over the space of a couple of hours.
The game is designed to be expanded with addtional cards and modes of play that
take the characters from adventurers, to leaders of armies, to kings.
The game is complete, it simply needs updated art and a production house to take it
the rest of the way. In the meantime, a demo version is available as a free download
on DrivethruRPG.net (and you can download it by clicking the picture to the left).
OTHER STUFF
I have more examples of multi-media work, as well as design documents,
scripts, Excel worksheets, etc.. If you would like to see anything in
particular, including physical examples of any of the items shown above, just
let me know when you call, and I will bring them with me to the interview.

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