Tiny Speck

Tiny Speck is a small company building something enormous. We take pleasure in the exercise of our craft. We are trying to make something beautiful: make art, make money and make people happy all at the same time.

• Visual / UI Designer
  Have strong branding chops and a proclivity for pixel perfection? Want to work from a strong established visual vocabulary while shaping and expanding it for the future? Have a love for the web and a penchant for designing it? Embrace the title ‘generalist’ proudly? This, friend, is a job for you.
  More info Apply for this position...

  Location

  Vancouver, BC or San Francisco, CA

  Details

  This is primarily a web design and game interface design position with some overall responsibility for the overall look (branding/identity) of Tiny Speck & Glitch sprinkled on top.
   
  You’ll be working with our interaction designer to design the chrome of the game itself as well as the all of the associated components on the website. We would most highly welcome a generalist who is as comfortable writing some HTML/CSS as designing a visual wonder of an interface for using a blender (in the game, of course). Plus, you should have a head well planted on your shoulders — we’ll expect you to work with said interaction designer to solve complex interface problems that arise.
   
  Proficiency in Illustrator and Photoshop is required. Experience with HTML/CSS and a good understanding of web standards is a must. Abilities with JavaScript/ActionScript and video or audio production software are all pluses. Excellent taste and solid design sense is assumed.  Experience in game development is a positive but is not a requirement for the right candidate.
   
  Specific responsibilities include:
  

  • Tackle the overall branding of the website and game, maintaining a consistency of style within the visual vocabulary of the game.
  • Design and help implement all aspects of the web client (html/css/js/php).
  • Design the chrome for the Flash-based game client. You will work with Flash engineers to see your designs into production.

  Ideally, you can also:
  

  • Develop marketing materials in whatever media they’re required.
  • Create simple animations to illustrate in-game actions.
  • Work with a team on developing video content in support of the game.
  • Help partners maintain consistent branding when working with Tiny Speck.

  This is a full-time position, based in Vancouver or San Francisco. We prefer to hire as senior as we can and believe in fitting the role to the person. Compensation is competitive and includes equity.
   
  About Tiny Speck
  Tiny Speck was founded in 2009 by four of the original members of the Flickr team. We are now more than thirty, plus assorted artists from all over the world. We are backed by ourselves and some of the most clever and insightful investors around. Our principal offices are in San Francisco and Vancouver.
   
  This is a huge opportunity: you'll be working with one of the world's best teams in web software development in a company with strong financial backing, an amazing product, excellent prospects and the chance to have a huge impact. We have a history of changing the way things are done and we'll do that again
   
• Senior Game Designer
  We are building an entirely new kind of game and are looking for an experienced game designer to help take the play to the next level. Glitch is nearing the end of beta but will be in active development for many years to come. You'll be joining a well-funded company with an outstanding team, a collaborative & supportive culture, an excellent toolset & technological platform and a passionate & engaged community at the very early stages of making something the world has never seen before.
  More info Apply for this position...

  Location

  Vancouver, BC, Canada

  Details

  Do you love the idea of crafting new kinds of game-play for a complex world where player action can have unanticipated cultural, economic, and ecological implications by design? Do you think God is in the details? Are you crazy about fun? We are too, and we are looking for an experienced game designer to come help us build a truly different kind of MMO.  You will be working with some of the greatest technical and creative talents in the world.
   
  Responsibilities will extend across a broad range of design areas:
  

  • the progression game (levels, skills, resources & balancing)
  • moment-to-moment fun (core mechanics, short loops & primary interfaces)
  • system-level generativity to support emergent social behavior and player creativity, particularly for the elder game
  • complementary games for iOS/Android (outside of the main MMO)
  • single and multiplayer quest design, including minigames & sports

   
  The primary deliverables of this role will be detailed specifications and success will require an appreciation of both the systemic constraints and the opportunities of our particular technological approach. Experience and inclination should lead you to prefer a "prototype & iterate" approach to finding the fun.
   
  All candidates should meet the following requirements:
  

  • minimum of 4 years of game design experience, ideally with some portion of that on an MMO
  • deep experience in online communities (as a participant if not a moderator or creator, as long as you were paying attention)
  • ability to document designs with a degree of clarity, thoroughness & rigor that makes people gasp
  • demonstrated leadership ability in a team environment, maintaining the vision while working with illustrators, animators, UI designers & programmers to make it happen

   
  PLEASE NOTE the following specific instructions for your cover letter: we need to be able to get an idea of what you've done so include links or attachment which give examples of your work (finished games, design docs, post-mortems, essays & presentations) and spend a moment to explain the highlights. Philosophical alignment is also important to us  —along with the ability to communicate well!— so please take a moment to articulate what is important to you as game designer. 
   
  This is a full-time position, based in Vancouver, BC. We prefer to hire as senior as we can and believe in fitting the role to the person. Compensation is competitive and includes equity.
   
  About Tiny Speck 
  Tiny Speck was founded in 2009 by four of the original members of the Flickr team. We are now more than thirty, plus assorted artists from all over the world. We are backed by ourselves and some of the most clever and insightful investors around. Our principal offices are in San Francisco and Vancouver.
   
  This is a huge opportunity: you'll be working with one of the world's best teams in web software development in a company with strong financial backing, an amazing product, excellent prospects and the chance to have a huge impact. We have a history of changing the way things are done and we'll do that again.
   
• Interaction / User Experience Designer
  The right person for this job will have the chops to handle the full gamut of design: responsibilities include the game client UI (in-game interactions, menus, game chrome and information display) and the website (interfaces to the game, profile & account management, avatar customization, payments and support).
  
  You should feel conformable designing a new in-game chat interface in the same week that you're optimizing the interface our customer service reps use to handle billing inquiries.
  More info Apply for this position...

  Location

  Vancouver, BC or San Francisco, CA, CA, United States

  Details

  Working with engineers and game designers, you will take designs from conception to the wireframe/spec phase and then all of the way through production. This is a far-ranging design role that will ask you to wear many hats.
   
  Proficiency in standard design tools is required. Solid experience with HTML/CSS and a thorough understanding of web standards is a must. An ability to code and experience with video or audio production software are all pluses. Excellent taste and solid design sense is assumed.  Ideally you have experience in game development but this is not a requirement for the right candidate.
   
  Specific responsibilities include:
  

  • Design and help implement all aspects of the web site (html/css/js/php). This includes the sign up flow, profile management, and many aspects of the game UI that are not built into the Flash-based game client.
  • Design in-game interactions and interfaces to support new features (e.g. How does an avatar react when picking up a bottle of butterfly lotion? How does the elevator in an apartment building operate?)
  • Design the chrome for the Flash-based game client. You will work with Flash engineers to see your designs into production.
  • Conduct basic user research tasks.
  • Concept new features and help define them.

  
  Ideally, you can also:
  

  • Take a leadership role in creating a product that people fall in love with.
    
  • Create simple animations to illustrate in-game actions.
  • Play a role in the overall branding of the game.
  • Potentially manage a team of designers as the group grows.

  This is a full-time position, based in Vancouver or San Francisco. We prefer to hire as senior as we can and believe in fitting the role to the person. Compensation is competitive and includes equity.
   
  About Tiny Speck
  Tiny Speck was founded in 2009 by four of the original members of the Flickr team. We are now more than thirty, plus assorted artists from all over the world. We are backed by ourselves and some of the most clever and insightful investors around. Our principal offices are in San Francisco and Vancouver.
   
  This is a huge opportunity: you'll be working with one of the world's best teams in web software development in a company with strong financial backing, an amazing product, excellent prospects and the chance to have a huge impact. We have a history of changing the way things are done and we'll do that again.
   
• Don't see your job here?
  If you think you're supremely talented and need to work with us at Glitch, send us your information anyway. You just never know.