Melissa Howell

Melissa Howell is a Professor of Illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Atlanta, GA, since 2020. She also serves as a sole proprietor and concept artist/illustrator through her independent business, Art of Melissa Howell/Howell for Joy Designs, since 2014. Her professional background includes roles at Disney Interactive (2011–2014), where she contributed to the production pipeline for 'Sorority Life' and Star Wars mobile RPG design, and at Westland Giftware (2010–2011), designing licensed giftware products like the 'Enterprise and Shuttle' magnetic salt and pepper shakers featured on StarTrek.com. At Snipple Animation Studios (2010–2011), she led visual development for their animated short film The Frog Who Knew Too Little, demonstrating expertise in character design, set creation, and storyboard development using Toon Boom software.

Education:

• M.F.A. in Animation, Academy of Art University
• B.S. in Human Development, Cornell University

Research Interests: Melissa’s work focuses on creature design, production pipeline optimization, film production techniques, leadership in creative fields, and art direction. She emphasizes aligning graphic design with narrative scripts and streamlining collaborative processes between artists and technical teams.

Projects:

• Logo design for Mission Valley SELPA CAC (2018)
• Character redesign for Skrownge’s mobile trivia game to attract female consumers aged 21–45 (2015)
• Visual development and storyboard creation for Snipple Animation’s 3D short film (2010)

Advising & Grants: No formal advisees or grants are listed in the provided text. However, her professional projects highlight collaborative efforts, such as working with animators and technical artists at Disney to improve production standards.

Labs/Teams: Not explicitly mentioned in the text, but her work involves interdisciplinary teams in animation and design.