Gabriel Smetzer
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Toptal member since November 28, 2022
Gabriel is a freelance designer and creative director with over a decade of experience working for great studios and clients, including Apple, Google, and Meta. Gabriel combines his expertise in design theory, story design, and emerging technologies with the ability to rapidly build and test product ideas for the market or exemplify already great products.
Portfolio
Work Experience
Design Lead
Territory Studio
- Developed visual concepts, designs, animated GIFs, and renders for NEOM The Line, a proposed Saudi Arabian megacity.
- Built a real-time broadcast brand design package for the LIV Golf tournament.
- Designed screen graphics for the Star Wars Jedi: Survivor flagship videogame.
Senior Designer
Buck
- Defined the motion design, layout, and brand rules for the future of Meta's metaverse to guide the upcoming production.
- Rendered the farm management of each animated sequence.
- Collaborated with the art director to fulfill a Figma document for the client.
- Conducted daily meetings to discuss iteration reviews and motion design improvements.
- Handled keyframing, compositing, playblast previews, lighting, and composition.
Senior Designer
Wtbr
- Created animations, visual effects, motion design, and team production workflows from storyboards to deliverables for clients like Google, Equal Justice Institute, RobinHood App, and Munson Furniture.
- Handled render management, 3D modeling, design iteration, production development, animations, and motion graphics.
- Collaborated with production teams, assuming leadership and production specialist roles, to take client design briefs to the final deliverable.
Senior Designer | Creative Director
Ntropic
- Developed loopable 3D images of Apple products shown as screensavers in Apple stores worldwide.
- Acted as a creative director to reimagine the Salesforce1 brand logo, including 3D logos.
- Networked the studio computers into a render farm to eight-fold rendering speed.
Education
Associate Degree in Media Arts
Berkeley City College - Berkeley, California, USA
Skills
Tools
Cinema 4D, Adobe, After Effects CC, Adobe Photoshop, Apple Keynote, Adobe After Effects, Photoshop CC, Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, Blender, Motion 5, Illustrator CC, Adobe Illustrator
Languages
Visual Design Language, Python, C#
Industry Expertise
Media, Advertising, Creative Tech, Consumer Products
Platforms
Apple, Mobile
Other
3D, Motion Graphics, Conceptual Design, Brand Guidelines, Motion Design, Motion Logo Design, Unity3D, Augmented Reality (AR), 3D Rendering, 3D Modeling, 3D Animation, Animation, 3D Motion Graphics, Visual Design, Illustration, Branding, Videos, Content Creation, High-fidelity Mockups, Graphic Design, 3D Design, Production, Character Illustration, Futurism, Presentation Design, Animated Logos, 3D Logos, Digital Illustration, Art, Digital Art, Artwork, 2D Animation, Motion & Animation Design, Pitch Decks, Art Direction, Ad Design, Promotional Videos, Presentation Development, Rigging, Video Animation, Creative Briefs, Creative Direction, Digital Design, 3D Product Modeling, Digital Twin, Unity, 3D Art, Visual Art, Marketing Design, Visual Effects (VFX), 3D Graphics, Logo Animation, 3D Visualization, Visual Assets, Digital, Technical Diagrams, Technical Design, Video Production, Video Ads, Digital Marketing Design, Web Animation, Visual Storytelling, Typography, Animated GIFs, Non-fungible Tokens (NFT), Design Systems, Infographics, Vector Illustration, Video Editing, Brand Design, Team Leadership, Image Retouching, 3D Character Animation, Infographs, Logo Design, Character Design, Iconography, Icon Design, Technical Illustration, Social Media Design, Writing & Editing, Public Speaking, Screen Design, Composition, Virtual Reality (VR), Design, Character Rigging, Character Animation, Character Development, Simulations, Rapid Prototyping, Compositing, Cryptocurrency, Metaverse, Startups, Print Design, Collateral Design, Technical Drawing, Exterior Design, 3D Rigging
Experience
- Cinema 4D - 14 years
- 3D Rendering - 14 years
- 3D - 14 years
- 3D Animation - 13 years
- Conceptual Design - 10 years
- Presentation Design - 10 years
- Unity3D - 6 years
- Augmented Reality (AR) - 4 years
Tools
- Cinema 4D
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