Let’s work together
Hello! 👋 I’m Dean, and I’m looking for opportunities to put my skills to use in a part-time or flexible capacity.
Why not 5 days a week?
I have a passion for Sydney, and a passion for independent developers struggling to make a living here. My goal over the next 12 months is to find sustainable ways to support game & interactive content development in Sydney and NSW.
To sustainably achieve this I need to keep days free each week.
It is an unfortunate reality that many employers (who are excited to innovate elsewhere!) have a strong bias toward 5 day a week, full time staff. As more data emerges that suggests we should rethink the way we work, that will change.
Until then, please consider bringing my skills and experience into your team and organisation, and support me in building a more sustainable industry in Sydney.
We have a bright future if …
You are an independent developer who needs assistance or advice with:
PC and iOS point-and-click adventure game, to be released in 2018.
Working as lead designer with Semaphore Lab.
DESIGN | NARRATIVE | PRODUCTION | ETC
It was a great pleasure to remotely mentor a small team - in a part of the world with little support for creative industries - working on their first commercial release. I took on disparate responsibilities but my impact is most felt in the design, visuals and narrative, fleshing out an hours long interactive story in collaboration with the studio director and an additional writer.
Design (game and level design, UX design, organisational design, documentation),
Production (team organisation, scoping, Agile workflow),
Community development & management,
Or you could just use someone on your side with a decade of experience in games, and technology startups.
WE ARE AN IDEAL MATCH if you’re working in Unity.
I am particularly passionate independent games and the people making them. If you need help, speak to me! Let’s work together, and know that you're also facilitating me to pursue ways to improve our industry.
If this is you, send me an email at dean.longmore@gmail.com or DM me on Twitter!
You are a organisation outside of games, AND:
You recognise the power of games to impact us and their value beyond entertainment. Contact me, share a little more about what you’re trying to achieve, and lets find a way to:
An educational offering for kindergartens and their teachers. Developed by Prosper Education Limited (2017)
LEARNING DESIGN | TEAM DEVELOPMENT | CURRICULUM DESIGN
A really exciting product with a vision of making teachers', students' and parents' lives better. I was lucky enough to join the team at a stage where the strategy was underdeveloped, my impact can best be seen in the quality and creativity of "storybook" content, development of the curriculum, and decision to produce a digital teacher platform. Personally it was wonderful to work with such a talented team, have the opportunity to develop employees
Development is ongoing, available for iOS and PC.
Bring me into your organisation (I have experience building teams, driving change within organisations),
Consult, create documentation, or deliver knowledge to your existing team,
If you have a project in mind and don’t have capacity for a team in-house, let me help make it a reality.
WE ARE AN IDEAL MATCH if your business involves education or change for good.
I am interested in being part of organisations that are interested in doing new things and working in new ways. I also work with the talented concept & technical artist Ayla Meridian, between the two of us we are capable of end-to-end development of digital content (from UX & conceptualisation, including user research and stakeholder engagement, through to implementation, final art and publishing). Whether you would like to produce interactive content with your existing team, or prefer to take it out-of-house, please be in touch.
If you have a project in mind, or just want to know how games can impact your business, send me an email at dean.longmore@gmail.com
You are games studio looking to hire:
PC and console open world survival, exploration experience, released to early access in 2016.
Working as lead designer with Semaphore Lab.
DESIGN | PRODUCTION
Another great experience with a tenacious, young and talented team. My time on the project was spent developing workflows, documenting mechanics, conceptualising weapons, vehicles, resources, clothing and other materials. This was my first engagement working heavily in economy design and it was a lot of fun to create intelligent systems from scratch that allowed for flexibility in the economy, while keeping values consistent and minimising the design overhead for any changes or additions.
Mid / Senior Design (game and level design, UX design, organisational design),
Mid / Senior Production (team organisation, scoping, Agile workflow),
Mid Business Development (stakeholder engagement, pitch content creation, market strategy),
Social media / community management (including user engagement, researching, feedback & testing)
WE ARE AN IDEAL MATCH if you have a healthy company culture, and an interest in bringing in knowledge from outside of ‘games’ (such as UX design, Agile workflow, growth mindset, design thinking).
Know that I am looking for part-time opportunities, but full time commitment. I may not be in the studio 5 days a week, but when I am, I am present and committed. I don’t want to be your contractor or consultant, I want to be integrated into your (ideally, cross-discipline) team.
Please reach out if you’re hiring at a game studio and open to part-time or flexible employment. I’ve had success in the past undertaking leadership key roles while on a part-time basis. It is by no means not a challenge, but it is possible.
If your studio is looking to bring in new talent, send me an email at dean.longmore@gmail.com or DM me on Twitter!
Regardless of who you are, I’m glad you’re here. If you want to work with a passionate, competent and experienced games & product developer, please reach out.
dean.longmore@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/deanllongmore/
Some more words on how I’m trying to help Sydney games developers
So far I’ve done a lot of exploration, met a lot of new people 👋, and have had many insightful conversations. This exploration has led me to gaps in support that I believe can be addressed for three intersecting groups: Independent & aspiring developers, studios & traditional employers, and companies outside of game development who have a need for digital practitioners.
In brief:
Aspiring developers need additional opportunities for skill training, to develop portfolios and a history of work - local employers do not consider recent graduates as job ready,
Traditional game employers need more background about candidates when hiring early career developers - this is high risk and there is a lack of certainty around candidate quality,
Companies outside of game development lack access to the talent pool, and lack the in-house ability to vet early career candidates effectively.
Initial focus has been on building community and connecting Sydney developers, both in person through meet ups & online via a Discord server focused specifically on Sydney & NSW game developers. I’m branding these efforts under the moniker games with wings. Follow along at Twitter. My goal is to find a sustainable way to support these groups and resolve these issues, and I believe this is the best, clearest path towards strengthening the Sydney and NSW interactive industries.
Keep me in mind, be in touch. I am trying to do good things and open to any support or advice you have for me 💖
Dean.