John Lomax

John Lomax

Art Lead / Art Director

17+ years of leadership experience demonstrating versatility across gaming, social VR, and enterprise software. Multi-disciplinary across environment art, look development, lighting, technical art, shader writing, art direction, and UX/UI. Highly effective as a senior IC, art director, and outsource lead. Strong collaborator, bridging internal teams and third-party partners seamlessly. Experienced in leveraging AI to accelerate visual exploration, iteration, and communication.

Spring, Texas · Open to Remote / Hybrid
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Years across games, VR & live entertainment
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Shipped titles — VR, mobile, console, PC
A selection — see full history in Experience ↓

About

I am a multidisciplinary lead artist and problem-solver who builds immersive worlds, and thrives wherever art, technology, and cross-functional teams meet. I'm an art lead and world builder with 17+ years across games, VR, and live entertainment. I've led art direction and environment teams, including a founding role at a first-party VR game studio, guiding artists to deliver cohesive, story-driven experiences, and I work across the full craft of world-building: environment art, look development, lighting, technical art, and UX/UI.

Over my career I've shipped 10+ titles spanning AAA, indie, and award-nominated games, across Xbox, PlayStation, VR headsets, iOS/Android, Nintendo Wii U, and PC, at studios including Meta, Wargaming, Warner Bros., and Zynga. Work I've contributed to has earned multiple Apple Editor's Choice awards and honors at the D.I.C.E. Awards.

What I do best

  • Art Direction & World BuildingSetting and holding the visual bar for immersive, real-time worlds.
  • Multidisciplinary CraftUX/UI Design, look development, lighting, technical art, video editing, and more.
  • Technical Art & PipelinesBuilding cross-platform production pipelines and optimizing for demanding hardware.
  • Leading & DirectingMentoring artists, growing teams, and directing external and outsourcing studio partners.
  • AI-Augmented ProductionPairing traditional craft with emerging AI tools to accelerate exploration, iteration, and communication while raising quality.

My focus goes beyond the visuals. I care as much about the people making the work as the work itself, great worlds come from healthy, collaborative teams, and I'm driven to help both thrive. Equally at home as a hands-on senior artist or an art director/lead, I'm always learning new tools and pushing what real-time art can be.

Experience

Lead Artist Recent
2021 — 2026 · 5 yrs
Meta · Remote (CST)

Founding member and head of art at Ouro Interactive (Oculus Studios / Meta Reality Labs) — art lead on multiple top-performing first-party titles across VR and mobile, from prototype through launch.

  • Built immersive 3D worlds — working multidisciplinary across environment art, look development, lighting, technical art, and UX/UI to take projects from concept to launch.
  • Co-created original worlds that helped pioneer new rendering and asset-import technology on the platform.
  • Primary art point-of-contact for engineering and product design — first-stop feedback partner on engine-level tools and Horizon's in-world UI (menus, system interfaces).
  • Art-directed external and partner studios on IP-based worlds; owned marketing asset delivery (trailers, key art, loading screens).
  • Mentored artists and designers, and helped grow the team through hiring and onboarding.
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Lead Artist
2020 — 2021 · 1 yr
Facebook · Remote (CST)

Built real-time 3D environments across Oculus Venues and Reality Labs' live-VR programming, bringing concerts, live sports, and premieres into VR on Quest.

  • Built and optimized immersive 3D environments for live VR events on Quest, working within standalone-headset performance limits.
  • Contributed early worlds to Meta Horizon Worlds, the company's social VR platform.
  • Created VR worlds for the company's highest levels of leadership — including internal and external fireside chats — and for events used by director- and VP-level leaders.
  • Produced high-fidelity worlds for tech demos and proof-of-concept prototypes that helped validate new immersive experiences.
  • Partnered with Design and Engineering to protect creative vision while holding runtime performance.
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UX/UI Designer
2019 — 2020
ExxonMobil (via Aquent) · Spring, TX

Designed wireframes, high-fidelity mockups, and interactive prototypes for mobile and desktop enterprise applications.

  • Planned and ran user interviews and usability testing, translating findings into concrete design decisions.
  • Presented and rationalized design direction to product teams and stakeholders, aligning cross-functional partners.
  • Designed UI micro-interactions and animations to clarify and polish core workflows.
  • Owned design execution end to end — from wireframe through final asset delivery to engineering.
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Senior Environment Artist
2014 — 2019 · 5 yrs
Wargaming.net · Chicago, IL

Built and shipped 15+ published multiplayer maps for World of Tanks (Core, Mercenaries / Modern Armor) on Xbox and PlayStation — owning terrain, foliage, loading screens, lighting, look dev, animation, atmosphere, and modeling.

  • Took environments from early blockout through completion, managing deliverables against milestone deadlines.
  • Converted World of Tanks PC maps to Xbox 360 and Xbox HD targets, adapting art for cross-generation console hardware.
  • Optimized environments to fit strict current/last-gen console memory footprints; managed level streaming and per-hardware asset allocation.
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Senior Environment Artist
2010 — 2014 · 4 yrs
Phosphor Studios · Chicago, IL

Shipped and led environment art across mobile, console, and PC titles at an Unreal Engine studio known for bringing console-grade fidelity to mobile — owning environments end to end (layout, set dressing, lighting) and contributing props, UI, and cinematics across multiple published games.

  • Contributed props, weapons, UI / inventory design, app icon, and cinematics on The Dark Meadow — an early Unreal Engine 3 mobile title nominated for AIAS Mobile Game of the Year (2012).
  • Owned level layout, design, and dressing; took environments from blockout to completion.
  • Managed environment deliverables for milestones and DLC content production across post-launch updates.
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Graphic Designer
2010 — 2011 · 1 yr
Domani Studios · Chicago, IL

Produced motion graphics, 3D, and promotional video for client work at Domani Studios, a digital agency — spanning mobile app look development and rendered visuals.

  • Created motion graphics for client campaigns and promotional material.
  • Modeled, textured, and rendered 3D assets for digital deliverables.
  • Developed look and visual direction for mobile apps.
  • Edited promotional video content for client deliverables.
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Environment Artist
2010 — 2011 · 1 yr
InContext Solutions · Chicago, IL

Built interior and exterior 3D environments in Unity for web-based virtual-store research at InContext Solutions — creating retail spaces and props used to study shopper behavior.

  • Created interior and exterior environments for Unity web-based virtual-store research.
  • Modeled in-store props to populate retail interiors.
  • Handled lighting and animation across the environments.
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Environment Artist / Project Strategy
2008 — 2009 · 1 yr
Midway Games · Chicago, IL

Contributed across environment art, cinematics, and technical R&D at Midway Games — modeling props and environment pieces, editing cinematic video, and building the studio's asset database so teams could reuse archived game assets across projects.

  • Modeled props and environment pieces for game projects.
  • Edited cinematic video sequences.
  • Contributed to technical R&D, exploring new tools and pipeline approaches.
  • Supported building and maintaining the studio's asset database — archiving assets from shipped games and structuring them so teams could access them for unannounced and cross-project use.
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Skills

Real-Time 3D Art

BlenderUnreal EngineUnityMaya3DS MaxZBrushSubstance PainterSubstance DesignerSubstance StagerWorld MachineSpeedTreeMeta Horizon Worlds

UX/UI & Visual Design

FigmaAdobe XDPhotoshopIllustratorInVisionWireframingRapid PrototypingInteraction DesignUsability TestingBrand Identity

Art Direction & Leadership

Art DirectionCross-Functional LeadershipDRI / Pod LeadershipVisual IdentityStyle GuidesExternal Vendor Mgmt2P Studio ManagementMentorshipOnboarding

Technical Art & Pipelines

Pipeline ArchitectureShader WritingAsset Import WorkflowsPerformance OptimizationCross-Platform ShippingLevel StreamingCollision SystemsLight Baking

Production & Platforms

VR / Meta QuestMobile · iOS / AndroidConsole · Xbox / PSPCLive Broadcast / EventLive-Ops & Seasonal ReskinsMarketing Asset DeliverySpatial / Lobby Design

AI-Augmented Workflow

ClaudeClaude DesignGeminiManusVizcomVS CodeConcept IdeationLook Dev IterationShader PrototypingContext Engineering

Software

Selected tools shown

Selected Work

Keynote

Work featured in Meta Connect 2023 keynote

Art lead on Meta Horizon Worlds' first-ever asset import world, highlighted by CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Impact

Top-performing games and entertainment spaces on Meta Horizon Worlds

Art lead across the platform's #1-ranked titles and its most-visited hubs.

Live Event

Twitch Winter Gathering — Chat's Choice Awards presented by Meta Quest

Art-led and technically implemented the 1M+ live-viewer VR show, built end-to-end in two weeks in direct partnership with Twitch.

Direction

External Studio Art Direction — Arvore, Media Monks, Playside

Managed and art-directed Arvore's 2P studio partnership on behalf of Horizon Worlds. Served as art / technical consultant to Meta Reality Labs entertainment vendors (Media Monks, Playside) on IP-based worlds, directing a team of artists.

Migration

Art lead — Venues → Meta Horizon Worlds migration

Owned the migration of the platform's flagship live-entertainment hub and sustained both Venues and Horizon Venues post-launch with seasonal reskins and live-ops.

Event

Facebook Connect 2021 — John Carmack live Q&A

Lead artist for developer-session environments for Q&A with Meta Consulting CTO John Carmack.

Award

D.I.C.E. Awards — The Dark Meadow & Horn (Phosphor Studios)

Contributed to titles honored at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (D.I.C.E.) Awards; The Dark Meadow nominated for AIAS Mobile Game of the Year (2012).

Award

Apple Editor's Choice Awards (Phosphor Studios)

Environment artist on Phosphor titles recognized with Apple Editor's Choice Awards, from Horn to The Dark Meadow.

Published Games & Experiences

Meta Horizon Worlds
Meta Connect 2022
Facebook Connect 2021
Twitch Chat's Choice Awards
Super Rumble
Super Strike Arena
Foo Fighters × Meta
Post Malone in Horizon
Horizon Worlds
Oculus Venues
Horizon Venues Hub
Meta Square
World of Tanks: Modern Armor
World of Tanks Xbox 360
Game Party Champions
Gears of War 3: RAAM's Shadow
Man of Steel (Mobile)
The Dark Meadow
Horn
WARP
TNA Impact
The Nether

Hover to pause

More work catalogued across Environments, VR, and UX/UI galleries

Recommendations

Betsy DeHontDirector, Reality Labs Art Department · Meta
"I managed John Lomax directly while he worked on Horizon. During that time, John consistently demonstrated strong technical proficiency, particularly in building high-quality work within an emerging proprietary toolset. He brought genuine enthusiasm and belief in the team's mission, which translated into the care he put into everything he delivered. He was frequently entrusted with high-profile deliverables such as assets for public-facing events and executive demonstrations, and he consistently and reliably delivered under tight timelines and pressure."
Jeff LinCreative AI Director · Meta
"John is the type of developer that shows extreme ownership. There was no task beneath John, and if it made the product better and our users happier, John would pick up the loose ball and take it across the finish line. His worldbuilding and environment craft are top notch… I'd love to work with John again, am a huge fan of him as an artist, a developer, and a human being, and will always be an advocate in his corner."
Travis HernandezLearning Platform Specialist · Google
"John Lomax is a passionate, talented artist with an immense dedication to success. John and I started at Phosphor together and tackled a variety of AAA and premium mobile products across different genres and platforms. No matter the tasks assigned to him, John delivers top quality work, and is always looking for ways to improve. He's one of the hardest working colleagues I've known, and puts in exceptional effort to deliver exemplary assets for his team."
Andrew J HuraArt Director · Wargaming Chicago-Baltimore
"I have had the pleasure of working with John for the past five years. Over this time, the growth witnessed in artistry, technical skills and leadership has been incredible and the team is that much better for it… His attention to detail while maintaining and meeting deadlines efficiently helped push the standards of what the entire team should strive towards and helped promote continued growth and improvement for the team."

Let's talk.