Art Director at Tolan

Tolan is an Embodied Companion — a cute AI alien you talk with naturally, like a friend. Tolans have their own personality and preferences, and over time form memories about you, your life, and your shared friendship. We're an experienced team that previously founded Even, acquired for $300M in 2022. Tolan is backed by the designers and founders behind Instagram, Retro, Behance, Vimeo, and Notion. Our team works hard, with an emphasis on autonomy and ownership. We're building together in-person in downtown SF. THE ROLE We're hiring an Art Director to define and own the visual identity of Tolan's world. You'll establish the aesthetic vision for our 3D interactive companion, then bring it to life — from early concept through production. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Define and document the visual style of Tolan's world — color, shape language, lighting, and character design — so others can execute it consistently. - Produce concept art, style frames, or 3D work yourself that establishes the standard for the team. - Collaborate closely with Creative, Engineering, and Production — talking pipelines with tech artists and vibes with designers. - Use user feedback and data to inform visual decisions and understand how people respond to your work. WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR - Experienced art director. You have 5+ years owning art direction on shipped interactive or 3D products, ideally games or real-time experiences. - Style builder. You can define a visual style from scratch and document it so others can execute. - Cross-functional collaborator. You thrive working closely with creative, engineering, and production. - Emotionally driven. You care about personality and emotion in your work — the best visual direction makes you feel something. - Strong portfolio. You have a body of work that shows range, taste, and a point of view — not just technical competence. - User-curious. You understand that great art direction serves users and use data to inform design decisions. BONUS POINTS IF YOU: - Have worked on character-driven products where personality and expressiveness matter. - Have art directed across multiple disciplines — character, environment, UI, VFX. - Have a background in stylized, not photorealistic, art direction.