About Me

Hey! I’m Ned Hugar, a senior 2D animator and VFX artist with over a decade of experience in the mobile games industry. I’ve worked across a wide range of titles—from quirky indies to big studio productions—bringing characters, worlds, and UI to life through expressive animation and visual polish.

I’ve served as Art Lead on dozens of shipped slots games, directing animation, VFX, and visual design across fast-paced production cycles. At Big Fish Games, I also helped shape UI and UX for mobile titles and led the team-wide integration of Spine, creating training materials and onboarding new animators. I even hold a U.S. patent for a novel slots mechanic, reflecting my love of combining visual storytelling with gameplay innovation.

Over the years, I’ve worn a lot of hats: animator, illustrator, VFX artist, character designer, pipeline wrangler, team mentor. I thrive in collaborative environments, especially where art, design, and engineering intersect. Whether I’m animating a card-battling warlock or designing a buttery-smooth UI interaction, I’m always looking for ways to make the player experience more vibrant, intuitive, and fun.

Outside of work, I’m passionate about narrative design, sequential art, and beekeeping. I’m always up for a new creative challenge—or a good conversation about visual metaphors and game feel.

Let’s make something cool together!