David Surman BA MA PhD

is passionate about digital games, animation and advertising design, and all the spaces in between. Bachelors in Animation at Newport, Masters in Film and Television at Warwick, PhD in Games Design at Brunel. He has worked for a range of commercial clients, producing print, animation and design pieces for a wide range of contexts, including SCEE, Psyop, Michelin, Smuggler, The National Theatre, No Fit State Circus, The Artist’s Studio, GameCity, ELAN, Slinky Pictures, European Space Agency and the National Videogame Archive.

David’s writing on games design, digital culture, branding and style have featured in numerous books, periodicals and publications.  Work on game franchises such as Fable, Pokemon, Street Fighter, Katamari Damacy and Sonic the Hedgehog can be found in landmark collections such as ‘Videogame/Player/Text’, ‘Gaming Cultures and Place in Asia-Pacific’ and most recently ‘Manga Impact’ in collaboration with Locarno Film Festival and Phaidon Publications. His own books, including ‘The Videogames Handbook’ and the edited collection ‘Animated Worlds’ have been positively received.

He is currently part of the core creative team for GameCity, the international festival of games design in Nottingham, and continues to lecture as faculty in Games Design and Animation at Newport Art School. Through PLAYPITCH he works as a freelance creative consultant.

2009.