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Tolan
Tolan

Embodied AI companion — a cute alien friend with personality and memory.

Art Director

San Francisco5/5
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Our take

Art direction for an embodied AI character product — defining visual identity, character design, 3D style language. Unique creative role at the intersection of AI and interactive design.

Job description

About the Company

Tolan is an Embodied Companion — a cute AI alien you talk with naturally, like a friend. The team previously founded Even, which was acquired for $300M in 2022. Leadership includes designers and founders from Instagram, Retro, Behance, Vimeo, and Notion. The company emphasizes autonomy and ownership, operating in-person in downtown San Francisco.

The Role

The Art Director will define and own the visual identity of Tolan's world, establishing the aesthetic vision for the 3D interactive companion from concept through production.

Key Responsibilities

  • Define and document visual style including color, shape language, lighting, and character design for consistent execution
  • Produce concept art, style frames, or 3D work establishing team standards
  • Collaborate with Creative, Engineering, and Production teams on technical pipelines and design direction
  • Use user feedback and data to inform visual decisions

    • Required Qualifications

  • 5+ years owning art direction on shipped interactive or 3D products, ideally games or real-time experiences
  • Ability to define visual style from scratch and document it for team execution
  • Cross-functional collaboration skills with creative, engineering, and production teams
  • Emotionally driven approach valuing personality and emotion in work
  • Strong portfolio demonstrating range, taste, and point of view
  • User-focused approach informed by data

    • Bonus Qualifications

  • Character-driven product experience emphasizing personality and expressiveness
  • Multi-discipline art direction (character, environment, UI, VFX)
  • Stylized rather than photorealistic art direction background

    • Employment Details

  • Position: Full-time
  • Location: San Francisco, California (on-site)

    • About Tolan

    Tolan

    Embodied AI companion — a cute alien friend with personality and memory.

    Ex-Even team ($300M exit) building an embodied AI companion backed by designers behind Instagram, Notion, Behance, and Vimeo. Dedicated Design team hiring senior roles like Principal Designer and Art Director. Strong design DNA with emphasis on character, emotion, and novel interaction paradigms. This is one of the more design-forward AI startups — rare to see Art Director roles at this stage.

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    tolans.com

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