I am extremely passionate about game and level design! One of my favorite elements of design is crafting immersive spaces, that help to tell compelling and impactful story. I have always loved stories and I cannot remember a time when storytelling wasn’t a major part of my life or who I am.
Originally destined to go down the animation and VFX path, I completed a Ba in Animation and VFX at Falmouth University and then spent some time working as a Production Assistant in the VFX industry. Wanting to transition back into a more artistic role I undertook a Masters in 3D Computer Animation at Bournemouth University, were we covered techniques and roles for games as well as 3D animation. When the world was suddenly thrown into lockdown in 2020 I was in the middle of working on a personal research project, looking at visual storytelling techniques in video games. This project, in combination with the increased time spent at home, lead me to re-discovering my childhood love of video games. I brought a PS4, and played through some of the best narrative games to come out in recent years: The Last of Us, The Tomb Raider, Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn and Journey, and thus starting a lifetime love with video games and their amazing capability for visual storytelling.
Rediscovering this love for games led me to initially go down the environment art route and after the completing my degree at Bournemouth I started applying for jobs at games studios. While doing so I came across a job advert for a graduate level designer role at Ubisoft Leamington. I wasn’t aware that a role dedicated to the designing and building the game levels and focusing on the player experience existed in games. Level Design instantly sounded like a perfect fit for me, I had always loved the initial designing stage of environments, with the way that players interacted and experienced a space being of more interest to me than creating the finished art.
With a new aim of working in games as a Level Designer, but lacking the knowledge or game design experience to do so, I applied to Falmouth University to study a Masters in Game Design. While waiting for the course to start I complete the CGMA Level Design for Games course to give myself a strong foundation and understanding of level design techniques for studying at a Masters level. The CGMA course confirmed that I had made the correct choice with applying to Falmouth and while there I specialised in Level design, completing a Masters Research Project into the use of Cognitive Mapping as a tool to guide players in a non-intrusive way.
As a Level Designer, I love creating fulfilling player experience, designing immersive and impactful spaces and moments that stay with players. My previous knowledge in composition, color theory and narrative has been really helpful in my work and I currently working at Ubisoft Leamington as a Junior Level Designer on a brand new unannounced AAA IP.
A dedicated coffee drinker, with a love of storytelling; when I’m is not creating levels, playing games or writing about games and level design, I can be found exploring with my dog Millican.
Fern Griffiths 