The Full Story
Who is Jonah Kossoy?
a core of creativity
From a young age, I always loved to create. Throughout my life, this passion for creating has been my driving force as I grew up, honing my craft through countless hours of sketching, digital art, research, and several documents of game ideas. My love for game design and character design led me to George Mason University's Honors College, where I graduated on the Dean's List while majoring in Computer Game Design as well as minoring in Graphic Design. My dream has always been to work with a team of likeminded individuals to bring both compelling worlds and characters to life.
Always pushing forward
I have always strived to be ambitious with my pursuits, putting in nothing short of my all into everything I feel passionate about. I possess a strong foundation with both traditional and digital art thanks to my extensive work and studies at George Mason University and beyond. In addition, thanks to my studies I am also intimately familiar with key game design and graphic design principles to make both feel compelling and inviting for a consumer to take in. I have plenty of soft skills as well, such as being an excellent team player, good at problem solving, work in an organized manner and incredibly adaptable to quick changes thanks to my extracurricular work on group projects and previous employment. These projects have also given me a unique look into the game design industry and familiarity with how it opperates.
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Having fun
making games!
I have been a proud member of George Mason University's Game Analysis and Design Interest Group, also known as GADIG, for seven semesters. Of those semesters, I have served five of them as either Art Director or it's assistant. As Art Director I was responsible for coordinating production of assets created by a team of artists for games made biannually by GADIG as well as fostering collaboration among the art team, teams of other disciplines, and club officers to ensure an immersive gaming experience was created. I excel in allocating assets needed in the game to specific art team members that fit their artistic capabilities, keeping track of their progress on tasks, encouraging and bolstering morale of the artists, and contributing my own artistic talents to the projects. GADIG is the largest student run game design organization in Virginia and has presented at conventions such as District Arcade and MagFest. This community of game designers have been incredibly crucial to both my love for game design and personal growth throughout my college life and I would not be here without them. You can find all their games, including the one I directed, at their itch.io page.
An entertainer at heart
A core tenant of my work is to leave everyone I interact with happier than I found them. On whatever team I am on, I have been heralded as a pillar of positivity and bringing an air of joy and whimsy to every room I enter. Not only do I love to create, but I love to inspire to hopefully create the next generation of creators. Whether that be through my works as player, Dungeon Master, or artist at Dungeons and Dragons startup Homebrew Studios; my work as a karaoke host and DJ with Rockstar; or even making art content for my various social media followers, I always approach everything with the intention of maximizing enjoyment and through that happiness making people remember the name Jonah Kossoy.