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The Creative Minds Behind the Craft

  • Rachel
  • Nov 11, 2025
  • 7 min read

As part of the recent restructuring on the Western side of Square Enix, the Creative Team, across both America and Europe, saw some major changes, and many exceptionally talented colleagues will be moving on to their next chapters.


While this news has been so difficult, I want to focus on celebrating the people behind the work. This was an unforgettable team, filled with individuals whose skills and character shaped the company’s titles in ways that enduringly deserve to be recognized. I’m sharing just a bit about each of them below - only a small glimpse of how excellent they are.


Square Enix Creative, a department where strategy, curiosity, and passion combines to shape world-class storytelling and culturally relevant integrated brand expressions. This team's legacy includes stellar creative work made by equally stellar personalities:



Ricardo Mireles

Executive Director

Los Angeles, CA

Ric is truly special, outstanding across creative disciplines, from design to video, and a constant source of inspiration. As our Executive Director, he brought a level of energy, clarity, leadership, and pure creative joy that is unmatched. He had this remarkable ability to take everything we were exploring and immediately shape it into an elevated direction. He’d build entire design systems in his head with ease, and present them in a way that made all of us feel excited about what was possible. He absolutely glows with passion for creativity. And beyond talent, he is a born leader, speaker, and teacher who motivates through vision, confidence, and enthusiasm. Working with him was an honor and a privilege, and I aspire to carry even a fraction of that leadership into my own career.


"My favorite project at SE was and always will be “SE Creative” itself, and the wonderful humans I shared that unforgettable experience with."

Brett Wooldridge

Creative Director

Los Angeles, CA

Brett has always been supportive and steady in his leadership as Creative Director of the Design side of our department. He has this talent for cutting through complexity and landing on simple and effective design solutions that move things forward. I really appreciated how approachable he was, and how he created space for people to share their ideas. His presence wholeheartedly felt anchored in safeguarding the team and the work, guided by care for the people behind it. He brought a calm, grounded energy that I’ll miss dearly. 


Gary Harrod

Creative Lead

London, United Kingdom

It’s clear how deeply Gary understood Square Enix’s - and Final Fantasy’s in particular - aesthetic and way of doing things. His tenure shined through and everything he made always felt thoughtful, precise, and rooted in a special instinct. And on top of that, he’s funny, witty in the best way, and just effortlessly cool - this true mix of craft and character. He has a way of keeping the creative process feeling just right, which I really admired. Gary has shown me that creativity doesn’t have to be so complicated.



James Cunningham

Associate Creative Lead

Los Angeles, CA

As my manager, James brought such clear mastery of layout, composition, typography, and more. I’m thankful for everything I learned from him. His sharp eye, shaped by years of building the branding and visual language of these beloved titles at Square Enix, set the standard for our work. From day one, he made me feel welcome and part of the team, and he guided me in ways that really strengthened my own skills. He listened, he advocated for me, and he always brought this “let’s make this awesome” energy to every project. I’m beyond grateful for the time I got to work under him.




Lewis-Jon Somerscales

Senior Creative Designer

London, United Kingdom

Lewis has this versatility that really shows in his work whether it's his design, illustration, or strong visual thinking. Whatever he touched always landed so well. What stood out to me most was how he operated as a senior: he asked thoughtful questions, offered perspectives that strengthened the work, and carried himself with this clarity and direction that elevated every project he was part of. He brought a level of intention and refinement that you could continually trust. I wholeheartedly appreciated how he would work our ideas together into our projects.


Lee Gibbons

Senior Creative Designer

London, United Kingdom

Lee is one of the most multi-talented people I’ve EVER worked with - design, motion, 3D, video editing, technical problem-solving, all of it! His range and skill level are amazing, but what stood out just as much was how generous he was with his time and expertise. He was always down to help, always ready to mock something up so we could see a vision come to life, and always brought a kind, personable presence to every collaboration. He made everything feel possible, and he impressed me every single time.



Ken Murayama

Senior Graphic Production Designer

Los Angeles, CA

Ken is one of those people who’s known far beyond the day-to-day - beloved for the creativity he brought into every corner of not only our team, but the company as a whole. He was always sharing, always teaching, and always adding something special to the work culture we had. His depth of production knowledge is seriously amazing. Print, packaging, materials, specialty processes - Ken understands all the things that make a design not just look good, but come to life in the real world. He shared so many tips, tricks, and insights that only come from years of hands-on experience, and it says a lot about him that he was so generous with that expertise. He’s endlessly creative, incredibly skilled, and just one of the friendliest, kindest people to work with.


Maggie Koo

Senior Creative Producer

London, United Kingdom

Maggie was someone I immediately felt comfortable doing my best work with (as a creative designer to her creative producer). She has this natural way of making people feel extra supported, capable, and confident in what they're creating. Her organization is also seriously on another level and I love it. She consistently knew what was needed and how to get the right resources to keep everything moving. She brought care and direction to every project. On top of all that, her personality brightened the environment and is always going to be remembered and missed. Everything felt better with her in the room.



Johnny Fournier

Video Editor

Los Angeles, CA

As a video editor, Johnny has an instinct for games and entertainment that runs deep. He understands the pacing, tone, and emotional beats that make a trailer resonate. His passion shows in everything he works on, and you can feel it in every cut he crafts. And I appreciated our brainstorming sessions. He brought a sharp, engaging perspective that made exploring ideas feel energizing and collaborative. His skill as an editor is seriously impressive, both here and across everything he’s done.



Kevin Ginsburg

Gameplay Capture Artist

Los Angeles, CA

Kevin has a real talent for capturing exactly what’s needed in a role that’s specialized! He always delivered, no matter how specific or challenging the request. On top of that, he has THE best energy on any team: friendly, kind, and consistently positive in a way that genuinely lifts the room. He was consistently supportive and super helpful, and whenever I needed something captured for my design projects, he came through without fail. Working with him was such a bright spot, and his presence and clear skill made everything feel lighter and easier.



Paul Finochio

Creative Designer

Los Angeles, CA

Paul's experience and instinct came through instantly. He’s especially recognized for the genius in his logo design. The way he can brainstorm so many ideas, shape them, and execute on them to create something clean, iconic, and stylish is absolutely next level but really, he can do just about anything when it comes to design and do it well. His pedigree shows in every project he touches, and his sense of style stays sharp no matter how trends shift. And beyond the craft, he’s just a great person who is straightforward, sincere, and always easy to work with. He brought a lovely positivity to the team that is palpable.



(Not Square Enix but did you know Paul helped make the logos for so many WoW Expansions and Heroes of the Storm?!)


Since joining last year, I’ve been continually moved by everything that this team could do. From trailers to style guides to everything in between, the level of craft has been inspiring to witness. Everyone’s hard work and dedication showed up in everything, from the technical nuances of packaging, to tiny timing details in video that you’d only learn after countless launches.


As someone who grew up loving these titles, and even titles from their previous places of employment, getting to work alongside people who helped shape the visual history of iconic games has meant so much.


This team had true veterans of this company in particular, carrying years of creative knowledge of franchises that define whole eras of gaming culture like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and more. Some colleagues have been here even before/just a little after the release of Final Fantasy XIII-2 (released 14 years ago), while others may have joined a little more recently but brought fresh perspectives and creative approaches that pushed the boundaries of the work at this company.


Everybody on this team gave me the chance to contribute to the worlds that raised me, and I’ll never forget that. I’m externally grateful for the time we had together, and I’ll carry what they taught me into everything I make moving forward.


Thank you so much for reading.

Please give your support to everyone here.



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