Ana Maria De Jesus, video game designer

Graduating from the Mastère Spécialisé Designer d'expérience interactive et ludique - Cnam-Enjmin / GOBELINS Paris in 2015, Ana Maria de Jesus began her career as an interactive designer.

An artist accustomed to managing creative teams, as well as an art director, UI/UX designer and teacher, she produced "Sâdhanâ", a first mobile game in 2020, and is now working on a second game project.

Just after leaving school, I responded to a call for projects from Arte that ranged from VR to mobile games. At the time, I was very interested in the consumer side of mobile games, and felt that there was a great demand for them, but that the offer wasn't demanding enough.

My game project, " Sâdhanâ " , was selected and produced by Arte, and released 4 years later, in 2020. The game is rather philosophical, following the journey of an Indian archer who struggles against his own demons to achieve supreme wisdom.

After that, I wanted to complete my profile as a creative specialist in video games, so I trained in traditional animation and game engines for a year. At the same time, I continued to work, giving courses in game design and UI/UX. I also did a bit of art direction for indie studios.

Then, I worked for a year atICAN as educational director. I'm also a member of the CNC commission for video games.

I'm currently working on " New World ", my second personal game.

The project was created as part of a residency organized by the French Embassy in New Zealand. The aim was toproduce a graphic prototype.

"New World" is a card and strategy game that tackles ecological issues, and challenges you to manage the resources that ensure the survival of all living beings.

Players must manage their resources and brave the dangers to make a very primitive world evolve into a viable, flourishing universe.

I now need to develop the project further and find the funding to be able to move on to the production phase.

"New World" Ana Maria de Jesus

For the moment, freelancing is the compromise I've found so that I can continue to work on my own projects, which also feeds my teaching activity. But I'm not ruling out the possibility of joining a studio.

I've been working and teaching UX in designer and game designer training courses for over five years now. The video game, as a UX design object, is one of the most complete and complex there is, because it mobilizes many fields of design.

For me, it's an essential field for any artist, designer or engineer. If we want to do it right, we have to think in terms of the user's constraints, which is quite simply essential.

"Sâdhanâ" - Ana Maria de Jesus 

We were able to take part in the ENJIMN diploma presentations and Games conferences , which also gave us the opportunity to talk to the diploma jury.

It was a very interesting experience. On this occasion, the whole IDE group spent a few days talking to each other, and we spent many a night playing Loup de Thiercelieu together.

Today's video game market is complex and increasingly competitive, so we need to remain open to possibilities. The IDE master's program is sufficiently diverse to be of interest.