East Lake grad takes drawing talent to Amazon Games

Kiana Hamm is one of the lucky ones. 

From the early stages of doodling in her middle school notebooks and swapping sketchbooks with friends, Hamm knew she wanted a career in drawing.

But how that translated into her becoming a character concept artist for Amazon Games just 10 years after graduating from high school is a dream come true.

"I always loved drawing, and I was always very creative and liked coming up with stories and characters," Hamm said. "I've been very lucky that once I figured out that this was the industry I wanted to go into, I haven't strayed too far from it.

"It's something I'd been considering throughout my high school career."

Hamm attended Brooker Creek Elementary, Clearwater Fundamental Middle School and graduated from East Lake High School in 2014. She was a student in the East Lake Academy of Engineering but also took as many art classes as her schedule allowed. And although she never planned on going into the engineering field, she says some of the programs she learned, such as AutoCAD, allowed her to understand the more technical side of her art.

“I learned how to visualize something in 3D space,” Hamm said.  “I learned very early on how to make a technical drawing because of the engineering program.”

Hamm was also involved in theater and Color guard at East Lake. She won the Walker’s Rising Stars talent competition her senior year by submitting her drawing portfolio.

“Kiana was always serious about her art, constantly working and reworking her ideas. She had an incredible ability to draw figures in various poses and was always refining that skill,” said Eileen Iacobucci, one of Hamm’s teachers in high school. “I am thrilled to know that she has fulfilled her dreams of becoming a professional artist.”

Hamm went on to attend the Savannah School of Art and Design. She was definitely more artist and less gamer at the time. But as her passion for developing characters and creating their personalities grew, she found the video game world a great fit.

“We’ve come a long way in terms of games, in terms of storytelling; the personality of the characters does really connect with the players,” Hamm said. “That’s what draws the players in. It’s an artform.”

After graduating from SCAD, Hamm initially sought a position in concept art in the film industry, but once she interned at Hi-Rez Studios, a video game developer, she ended up loving it.

“I think the only reason I didn’t originally plan on doing games is because I wasn’t a big gamer growing up,” Hamm said. “I think working in games helped me kind of realize how deep and complex they are and how it’s a very unique storytelling mechanism.”

At this point in her career, Hamm has developed hundreds of characters from concept to creation. Her favorite part, she said, is the research. She builds a visual library while determining if a character will be more historical or fantasy, if they will be more human or animalistic, what they will wear, how they will move, and what they will sound like.

“I do want to infuse some kind of realism and history into the designs, even if it’s a fantasy game,” Hamm said of her process. “So it feels grounded and there’s something for the players to latch onto. I do a lot of research.”

As a senior concept artist, Hamm has been working on the game New World for Amazon Games for almost three years. She is primarily a charter and creature designer, but she also mentors and manages other artists. Hamm said she is enjoying every minute of her current role, but could see herself going into a principal concept artist role or management and art direction.  

In her spare time, she practices Brazilian jiu jitsu and “anything else that doesn’t involve sitting at a desk.” She has also become an avid gamer – some for work, some for play.

“I think I’ve been very lucky,” Hamm said of developing her career. “I have a very supportive family and I feel like I’ve always had a lot of opportunities which really helped prepare me for my field."