Costin Benescu, Designer in Vejle, Denmark
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Costin Benescu

Bio

Costin is a senior designer and artist with almost two decades of experience in gaming, toy design, UI, UX, branding, marketing art, and more. He balances a focus on details with a big-picture understanding, easily aligning with leadership strategies. Costin shows a solid foundation in academic design and art education and a curiosity for new AI, VR, and 3D tools, offering flexibility that can fit any client, pipeline, or creative challenge.

Portfolio

Work Experience

Art Director, Design Director, Phygital Artist, NFT Designer, UX/UI Designer, 3D Illustrator

2021 - PRESENT
Alien Ape Star ApS
  • Promoted the koii.network Atomic NFTs leaderboard platform as a brand ambassador and helped them with web UI/UX design for their platform. I also started working with virtual reality sculpting to develop Atomic NFTs to promote their platform.
  • Built brand identities with style guides, including colors and typography, language and tone, logo versions, brand elements, 3D illustrations, and UX/UI designs, keeping true to the brand consistency of two tech start-ups, in crypto and AI gaming.
  • Produced a presentation design that helped an AI-based Swedish game studio attract millions of euros in investments.
  • Organized hands-on creative workshops that empowered the public to get in touch with their artistic side.
  • Helped shortlist an amazing group of street artists to kickstart the first Street Art Festival in Vejle, Denmark.
Technologies: Figma, Blender, NFT Design, Non-fungible Tokens (NFT), App UI, App UX, UX Design, Game UI Design, Web UI Design, Digital Art, Technical Drawing, Technical Illustration, Crypto, Web App Design, 2D Animation, 2D Motion Graphics, Animated GIFs, Rendering, 3D Modeling, 3D Rendering, 3D Character Modeling, 3D Print Design, 3D Printing, Mascots, Illustrator CC, Photoshop CC, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Pitch Deck Design, Motion Design, Iconography, Visual Brand Guidelines, Sales Pitches, 3D Product Animation, 3D Animation, Social Media Content, Social Media Design

Brand Designer, Presentation Designer, UI/UX Designer

2023 - 2023
Spellscaper A/B
  • Designed visual brand elements for a presentation design that secured significant funding and investment for Spellscaper A/B, a Swedish game studio startup.
  • Built a brand identity guide, including color palette, brand elements, logo design, use cases, typography, 3D illustrations of a player character, and various AI bots in less than 4 weeks.
  • Created banners for social media and, after layout testing, finally delivered the entire media pack and layered assets in separate assets and project source files from Figma, Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator.
  • Developed UX flows and UI icons, buttons, and menus that were easily implemented in Unreal Engine to empower kids to build their own games using AI Agents.
  • Designed a logo for the company and game platform representing a playful AI bot that could act as a profile icon for all social media accounts.
  • Sketched and sculpted 3D illustrations in Procreate and Nomad, which resulted in an appealing girl player character and a few AI Agents bot designs that looked sleek and fresh and matched the branding colors and elements.
Technologies: Figma, Nomad, Nomad Sculpt, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, 2D Graphics, UI Design, 2D Design, 2D Illustrations, Visual Design, Creative Production, AI Tools, 3D Art, 3D Design, Social Banners, Color Theory, Presentation Design, Pitch Decks, PowerPoint Design, Presentations, Learning, Character Design, Branding, Graphic Design, Typography, Web Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Brand Strategy, Logo Design, Brand Design, Mobile Design, Illustration, Infographics, Data Visualization, Brand Guidelines, UX Design, Visual Storytelling, Website Design, 3D Games, Game Design, Art Direction, Collateral Design, Digital Graphics, Creative Direction, 2D, 3D, Mobile App Design, Product Design, Landing Page Design, 2D Art, 3D Illustration, Art, Game UI Design, Digital Illustration, 3D Character Design, Social Media, Visual Identity, Digital Art, Technical Drawing, Technical Illustration, Web App Design, 2D Animation, 2D Motion Graphics, Animated GIFs, Rendering, 3D Modeling, 3D Rendering, 3D Character Modeling, Illustrator CC, Photoshop CC, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Pitch Deck Design, Motion Design, Iconography, Visual Brand Guidelines, Sales Pitches, 3D Product Animation, 3D Animation, Social Media Content, Social Media Design

Art Director, Brand Designer, UI/UX Designer

2021 - 2022
Kwil
  • Designed the UI/UX for a blockchain app technology to safeguard freedom of speech on social media.
  • Provided design work that led the blockchain database platform to secure significant investment and funding.
  • Built a fresh-looking icon pack to communicate innovative social media posting experiences.
  • Designed the first branding version and detailed style guides, including logo versions, color palettes, and various branding elements. Branding collateral included business cards and digital assets.
Technologies: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Blender, 2D Graphics, UI Design, 2D Design, 2D Illustrations, Visual Design, Creative Production, 3D Assets, 3D Art, 3D Design, Social Banners, Color Theory, Adobe CC, Pitch Decks, PowerPoint Design, Presentations, Learning, Virtual Reality (VR), Character Design, Branding, Graphic Design, Typography, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Brand Strategy, Logo Design, Brand Design, Mobile Design, Illustration, Infographics, Data Visualization, Brand Guidelines, UX Design, Visual Storytelling, Website Design, Mobile Game Design, Game Design, Art Direction, Collateral Design, Digital Graphics, Creative Direction, 2D, 3D, Mobile App Design, Product Design, Landing Page Design, 2D Art, 3D Illustration, Art, Game UI Design, Digital Illustration, 3D Character Design, Visual Identity, Digital Art, Technical Drawing, Technical Illustration, Crypto, Web App Design, 2D Animation, 2D Motion Graphics, Animated GIFs, Rendering, 3D Modeling, 3D Rendering, 3D Character Modeling, Mascots, Illustrator CC, Photoshop CC, Motion Design, Iconography, Visual Brand Guidelines, Sales Pitches, Social Media Design

Concept Designer, Toy Designer, Concept Artist, 3D Designer

2016 - 2021
The LEGO Group
  • Built a brand redesign with support for creating de visual brief for the 2018 LEGO Friends TV Show “Friends on a mission”.
  • Re-trained comics illustrators to work with industry standard character design specifications of the mini-dolls by organizing, leading and presenting in a 3 day comics illustration workshop.
  • Helped the LEGO Friends team re-brand the product and character designs with fresh concepts for 2021, 2022 and beyond.
  • Supported the concept design phase for product design and marketing communications (the tv show) for 5 years (2016-2021) in the LEGO Friends team.
Technologies: 3D Art, 3D Assets, 3D Design, 3D Modeling, 3D Scenery, Adobe CC, 2D Design, 2D Graphics, 2D Illustrations, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Art Direction, Toy Design, Concepting, Concept Sketching, Concept Testing, Conceptual Design, Color Concepts, Blender, Maya, Autodesk Maya, Social Banners, Color Theory, Presentation Design, Pitch Decks, PowerPoint Design, Presentations, Instructional Design, Training, Workshop Facilitation, Workshops, Training Materials, Training Content, Learning, Virtual Reality (VR), Character Design, Children's Illustration, Animation, Branding, Typography, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Brand Strategy, Logo Design, Brand Design, Illustration, Print, Brand Guidelines, UX Design, Visual Storytelling, Apple Keynote, 3D Games, Mobile Game Design, Game Design, Collateral Design, Digital Graphics, Creative Direction, 2D, 3D, Product Design, 2D Art, 3D Illustration, Art, Digital Illustration, Visual Identity, Technical Illustration, Rendering, 3D Rendering, Mascots, Illustrator CC, Photoshop CC, Pitch Deck Design, Visual Brand Guidelines, Sales Pitches, 3D Product Animation

Game Art Manager, Lead Production and Marcom, Marketing Artist, Art Director

2014 - 2016
Yggdrasil Gaming
  • Art Managed more than 10 video slot games with hands-on Art Direction, Logo Design, Production Art, Outsourcing, Marketing Art and more.
  • Built a B2B design presentation that helped Yggdrasil gaming acquire more investments, more business clients and expand operations.
  • Raised the visual design standard for Yggdrasil Gaming studio games to the current industry standard and even surpassed it.
  • Successfully used traditional sculpting to improve visual quality of game symbols in the games “Magic Mushrooms” and “Casino Zeppelin”.
Technologies: 2D Design, 2D Graphics, 2D Games, 2D Illustrations, 3D Design, Logo Design, UX Prototyping, Blender, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Art Direction, Marketing Art, Outsourcing, Social Banners, Color Theory, Adobe CC, Presentation Design, Pitch Decks, PowerPoint Design, Presentations, Instructional Design, Training, Learning, Character Design, Children's Illustration, Animation, Motion Graphics, Branding, Graphic Design, Typography, Web Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Brand Strategy, Brand Design, Mobile Design, Illustration, Infographics, Print, Data Visualization, Brand Guidelines, UX Design, Visual Storytelling, Apple Keynote, Website Design, 3D Games, Mobile Game Design, Game Design, Collateral Design, Digital Graphics, Creative Direction, 2D, 3D, Isometric Design, Mobile App Design, Product Design, Landing Page Design, 2D Art, Art, Game UI Design, Digital Illustration, 3D Character Design, Social Media, Visual Identity, Digital Art, Technical Illustration, Web App Design, 2D Animation, 2D Motion Graphics, Animated GIFs, Mascots, Illustrator CC, Photoshop CC, Pitch Deck Design, Motion Design, Iconography, Visual Brand Guidelines, Sales Pitches, 3D Product Animation, 3D Animation, Social Media Content, Social Media Design

Education

2002 - 2006

Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fashion Design

Bucharest National University of Arts, Decorative Arts, and Design - Bucharest, Romania

1999 - 2002

High School Diploma in Fine Art and Fashion Design

Margareta Sterian Art High School - Buzau, Romania

Certifications

JULY 2023 - PRESENT

What is Generative AI?

LinkedIn

JULY 2006 - PRESENT

Certificate in Fashion Design

Bucharest National University of Arts

Skills

Tools

Blender, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe CC, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator CC, Photoshop CC, Maya, Adobe InDesign, Autodesk 3ds Max, AI Tools, Autodesk Maya, Apple Keynote, Krita

Platforms

Figma

Industry Expertise

3D Illustration, Fashion, Fine Arts

Other

Concept Sketching, Illustration, 3D Modeling, Digital Art, Character Design, 2D Graphics, 2D Design, 2D Illustrations, Visual Design, Creative Production, 3D Art, 3D Design, Logo Design, Presentation Design, Pitch Decks, Presentations, Workshop Facilitation, Workshops, Training Materials, Learning, Animation, Motion Graphics, Branding, Graphic Design, Brand Design, Mobile Design, Visual Storytelling, Website Design, 2D, 3D, Isometric Design, Product Design, 2D Art, Digital Illustration, Visual Identity, Crypto, Web App Design, 2D Animation, 2D Motion Graphics, Animated GIFs, Rendering, 3D Rendering, 3D Character Modeling, Pitch Deck Design, Nomad, Social Banners, Web Marketing, UI Design, Color Theory, Layout, Composition, 2D Games, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Art Direction, 3D Assets, PowerPoint Design, Instructional Design, Training, Training Content, Virtual Reality (VR), Children's Illustration, Typography, Web Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Brand Strategy, Infographics, Print, Data Visualization, Brand Guidelines, UX Design, 3D Games, Mobile Game Design, AR Games, Game Design, Collateral Design, Digital Graphics, Creative Direction, Mobile App Design, Landing Page Design, Art, Game UI Design, 3D Character Design, Social Media, NFT Design, Technical Drawing, Technical Illustration, 3D Print Design, 3D Printing, Mascots, Motion Design, Iconography, Visual Brand Guidelines, Sales Pitches, Social Media Content, App UX, Fashion Design, Art History, Nomad Sculpt, Drawing, Art & Painting, Sculpture, 3D Scenery, Game Art, Facebook, Hand Drawing, Concepting, Concept Testing, Hand Drafting, Concept Art, Comics, Comic Art, Comic Books, Creature Design, Conceptual Design, Toy Design, Story Art, Color Concepts, UX Prototyping, Marketing Art, Outsourcing, Non-fungible Tokens (NFT), App UI, Web UI Design, 3D Product Animation, 3D Animation, Social Media Design

Experience

  • Adobe CC - 20 years
  • Color Theory - 20 years
  • Illustration - 20 years
  • Blender - 15 years
  • UI Design - 7 years
  • Social Banners - 5 years
  • App UX - 2 years
  • Figma - 2 years

Tools

  • Blender
  • Adobe CC
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