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I’m Corey Barba, an Art Director and Visual Development specialist with over a decade of experience shaping distinctive visuals for animation, games, publishing, toys, and education. I love turning complex ideas into clear, engaging visuals across 2D illustration, animation, and design for digital, print, and on-set environments. I’ve led teams at DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Zynga, and Scholastic, building collaborative pipelines that balance artistic craft with production efficiency. I thrive on cross-disciplinary collaboration, constructive feedback, and mentoring artists to grow their skills and take ownership of their work.…I’m Corey Barba, an Art Director and Visual Development specialist with over a decade of experience shaping distinctive visuals for animation, games, publishing, toys, and education. I love turning complex ideas into clear, engaging visuals across 2D illustration, animation, and design for digital, print, and on-set environments. I’ve led teams at DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Zynga, and Scholastic, building collaborative pipelines that balance artistic craft with production efficiency. I thrive on cross-disciplinary collaboration, constructive feedback, and mentoring artists to grow their skills and take ownership of their work.

Corey Barba

Art Director, Concept Artist, Illustrator, +7

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I’m Corey Barba, an Art Director and Visual Development specialist with over a decade of experience shaping distinctive visuals for animation, games, publishing, toys, and education. I love turning complex ideas into clear, engaging visuals across 2D illustration, animation, and design for digital, print, and on-set environments. I’ve led teams at DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Zynga, and Scholastic, building collaborative pipelines that balance artistic craft with production efficiency. I thrive on cross-disciplinary collaboration, constructive feedback, and mentoring artists to grow their skills and take ownership of their work.…I’m Corey Barba, an Art Director and Visual Development specialist with over a decade of experience shaping distinctive visuals for animation, games, publishing, toys, and education. I love turning complex ideas into clear, engaging visuals across 2D illustration, animation, and design for digital, print, and on-set environments. I’ve led teams at DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Zynga, and Scholastic, building collaborative pipelines that balance artistic craft with production efficiency. I thrive on cross-disciplinary collaboration, constructive feedback, and mentoring artists to grow their skills and take ownership of their work.

Available to hire

I’m Corey Barba, an Art Director and Visual Development specialist with over a decade of experience shaping distinctive visuals for animation, games, publishing, toys, and education. I love turning complex ideas into clear, engaging visuals across 2D illustration, animation, and design for digital, print, and on-set environments.

I’ve led teams at DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Zynga, and Scholastic, building collaborative pipelines that balance artistic craft with production efficiency. I thrive on cross-disciplinary collaboration, constructive feedback, and mentoring artists to grow their skills and take ownership of their work.

Skills

Experience Level

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Toon Boom Storyboard Pro

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Intermediate

Intermediate

Intermediate

Work Experience

Art Director at Sketchy

April 1, 2021 - Present

Lead visual development and art direction for narrative-driven educational content; defined visual tone and style; mentored artists; streamlined art pipelines and cross-department collaboration.

Visual Development Artist at DreamWorks Animation

May 1, 2018 - December 1, 2021

Contributed to visual development across characters, props, and color styling for series including Trolls Topia, Archibald’s Next Big Thing, and Captain Underpants; produced exploratory and production-support artwork to inform story and world-building; supported downstream departments with clear design intent; created physical assets for mixed-media sequences.

Freelance Character Designer at Nickelodeon Animation

July 1, 2020 - January 1, 2021

Developed character designs and turnaround expanding established visual style while maintaining on-model consistency; created expressive poses and variations to support story, performance, and production needs; collaborated with production teams to ensure designs translated clearly to animation.

Senior Artist at Zynga Games

September 1, 2011 - June 1, 2016

Designed characters, environments, and assets for stylized game worlds including FarmVille, Bubble Safari, and Ninja Kingdom; contributed to cinematic storyboards and visual direction for in-game narratives; partnered with outsourced teams to maintain visual consistency and quality.

Freelance Illustrator and Cartoonist at Self-Employed

January 1, 1996 - Present

Create narrative-driven illustration and comics for major publishers including Scholastic, MAD Magazine, SpongeBob Comics, and Simpsons Comics; collaborated with editors and creative teams to deliver clear, engaging visual storytelling across styles and formats.

Illustrator & Cartoonist at Soft Bright Engine

January 1, 2018 - Present

Produced illustration, character design, animation, and visual development for publishing; contributed art assets to Scholastic titles (Captain Underpants, Dog Man, Goosebumps) and associated properties; wrote and illustrated comics for licensed properties; directed and animated a 4-minute original short film; designed characters, props and assets for toy companies.

Character Designer at Nickelodeon Animation

July 1, 2020 - January 31, 2021

Created character designs, expressions and poses for animated series Middlemost Post, Archibald’s Next Big Thing; maintained on-model consistency and supported storytelling and performances.

Art Director at Game Cloud Studios

December 1, 2016 - February 1, 2018

Sole art director for Tap and Field, a mobile game project; owned the full visual direction from concept through production, aligning art with gameplay and production goals.

Art Director at GameCloud Studios

December 1, 2016 - February 1, 2018

Sole Art Director for Tap and Field, a mobile game project, owning the full visual and experiential direction from concept through advanced production. Defined and executed all aspects of game art, including characters, environments, UI, animation, and overall visual style. Designed core gameplay visuals and animations using Spine, ensuring clarity, responsiveness, and consistency across the experience. Collaborated closely with the producer and engineer to align visual direction with gameplay mechanics, technical constraints, and production goals. Established visual standards, workflows, and asset pipelines to support efficient iteration and scalability. Created expressive, character-driven designs that defined the tone and personality of the game.