Product strategy · experience design · creative leadership

DESIGN
WITH
PURPOSE.

I'm Gary Cox. A product design and creative leader with 35 years in interactive entertainment, 30 years in art direction, and more than a decade in UX/UI leadership. At MobilityWare, I've led design across more than 24 mobile titles, overseeing portfolios of up to 6 products at a time. I bring together customer needs, product strategy, research, usability testing and analytics to reduce friction, strengthen engagement and retention, and create intuitive experiences people return to. I pair strategic vision with hands on design leadership, aligning teams around a clear customer experience and helping designers do their best work.

Cinematic composition of game worlds, mobile experiences, product insights and connected family history
CREATIVE VISIONPRODUCT EXPERIENCE
35Years in interactive entertainment
30Years in art direction
10+Years in UX / UI leadership
500M+Lifetime downloads across MobilityWare products
01 / Design point of view

Good design is not decoration.
It's direction.

I believe the strongest product experiences happen when user needs, product logic, interaction and visual communication are treated as one design problem.

My career has crossed mobile, PC and console; casual and competitive games; large scale entertainment products and independent development. Across those environments, my focus stays consistent: make the experience understandable, engaging and coherent, and give the team the clarity to deliver it well.

I move comfortably between strategic conversations and detailed creative critique. I care about the quality of the interface, but also the decisions, collaboration and team culture that make that quality repeatable.

Clarity over noiseReduce friction and make the important thing obvious.
Experience over featuresConnect individual interactions into a product people understand.
People make the workSet direction, build trust and create room for talented teams to excel.
02 / Career experience

Built across worlds.
Focused on people.

A career spanning influential game studios and high volume consumer products, with experience in art direction, product UX/UI and creative team leadership.

MOBILITYWARE

Senior Art Director

Mobile · Art direction · UX/UI designCreative and product design leadership across a broad mobile portfolio. Contributed to products within a company whose games have reached more than 500 million lifetime downloads.

PETROGLYPH GAMES

Studio Art Director

PC strategy · game developmentArt direction and visual development across strategy and interactive entertainment projects, aligning visual language and production execution.

ELECTRONIC ARTS

Senior Art Director

Game production · creative developmentWorked in large scale game development environments where visual direction, craft and cross-discipline collaboration were central to the player experience.

WESTWOOD STUDIOS

Art Direction

Real time strategy · PC gamesContributed to the visual worlds and player facing experiences of influential real time strategy titles.

ADDITIONAL CREDITS

LucasArts · Ubisoft · SEGA

Interactive entertainmentAdditional projects and collaborations across a broad range of genres and platforms.

03 / Selected work & capabilities

From visual worlds
to product systems.

Rather than presenting a long gallery of legacy images, this selection focuses on the kinds of challenges I've worked across and the leadership capabilities I bring to each.

Cinematic real-time strategy game environment
01 / Game art direction

Build worlds with a point of view.

Visual direction across real time strategy and interactive entertainment, connecting environments, characters, interface and production teams around a cohesive player experience. Selected credits include Star Wars: Empire at War, Forces of Corruption and other strategy titles.

Refined product analytics dashboard
02 / UX & product design

Make complexity intuitive.

Information hierarchy, interaction patterns, usability and visual systems that help people understand what to do next.

Mobile Solitaire and daily challenge app interfaces
03 / Consumer mobile

Design for everyday engagement.

Consumer products demand instant clarity, repeatable usability and a consistent experience at scale.

Original editorial illustrations created for this portfolio. They communicate the nature of the work, not historical product screenshots or evidence of specific shipped UI. Project names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. Detailed project claims and outcomes should be discussed in the context of the work Gary personally contributed to.

04 / Selected case study perspectives

Experience at two scales.

These are concise overviews of the work and the design challenges. They intentionally distinguish career context from claims that would require project specific metrics or attribution.

01 / Consumer products · MobilityWare

Make familiar products feel effortless.

Consumer games and utility focused experiences succeed when the interface is immediately understandable, dependable and rewarding to return to. My work at MobilityWare brought together art direction, UX/UI judgment and product experience across a broad portfolio of mobile titles.

02 / Interactive entertainment

Unify a complex creative vision.

Game production requires a coherent player experience across worlds, systems, interfaces and content. My career across studios including Westwood, EA and Petroglyph involved creative collaboration in complex, multidisciplinary production environments.

03 / Product vision · Independent

Connect a fragmented journey.

The Connected Story explores how records, people, family relationships and duplicate resolution might work as one understandable journey. It demonstrates product thinking for Ancestry; it is not commissioned work or a claim about its current product.

Scale and context: MobilityWare products have collectively reached more than 500 million lifetime downloads. This reflects the scale of the full portfolio, not a claim that one individual project or Gary alone generated that total. Project level outcomes, team sizes and specific ownership should be added only where they can be substantiated.
05 / Independent product studio

From big worlds
to everyday tools.

Through GC Imagine, I take ideas from concept to shipped product—combining product strategy, UX/UI, visual design, development and launch. The projects span very different audiences, but share the same goal: make useful technology feel clear, thoughtful and enjoyable.

EXPLORE GC IMAGINE
Illustration of a spacecraft approaching a futuristic orbital station
Interactive entertainment

ARIA: Space Frontier

A systems-driven space game built around exploration, salvage, combat and consequential choices. A large-scale independent project spanning game design, interaction systems, world-building and production.

Illustrated tape measure, laser measure and spirit level on a blueprint
Utility · iOS

Pro Toolbox Measure & Build

A practical collection of measurement and building tools, designed to make specialized tasks accessible through a straightforward mobile experience.

Illustrated modern calculator with a glowing equals key
Utility · iOS

Calculator: No Ads

A focused everyday utility built around speed, clarity and an uninterrupted experience. A reminder that the simplest products still demand thoughtful design.

Illustrated sunrise over mountains representing uplifting news
News · Inspiration

Positive News

A content experience focused on constructive stories and a more uplifting view of the world, with a clean interface that keeps the reading experience front and center.

ALSO FROM GC IMAGINE
Adventure VaultSmart Mood JournalBudget BoostMaster CollectionSmart RetirementSmart Shade Control

One independent studio. A broad product range. Each project is an opportunity to solve a different customer problem—from deep, systems-rich entertainment to small utilities people rely on every day.

VISIT GCIMAGINE.COM ↗
04 / Product vision · Independent concept

The Connected Story.

What if family tree, person profiles, historical records and duplicate resolution felt like one continuous journey? This independent design exploration imagines a more connected genealogy experience, balancing emotional discovery with evidence, clarity and user control.

It demonstrates product thinking across a complex ecosystem, not work commissioned or endorsed by Ancestry.

Editorial family-history concept with archival portrait, family relationships and historical records
06 / Why this experience matters to Ancestry

Designing for discovery
requires trust.

Ancestry's Engage experience brings together meaningful personal information, evidence and relationships. The opportunity is to make that complexity feel coherent without sacrificing accuracy, transparency or the emotional value of discovery.

Connected journeys

Bring people, records, trees and next steps into a continuous experience so users understand where they are and what they can do next.

Trust by design

Make evidence, uncertainty, source context and user control visible, especially when a suggested connection or merge could change a family record.

Healthy engagement

Encourage meaningful progress and return visits through relevance and value, not interruption or engagement for its own sake.

05 / Leadership & collaboration
“Gary could drive awesome results while also taking great care of his teams. The work was excellent and the team came through the product stronger.”
Mike Verdu · VP Games, Netflix

Great creative leadership should leave two things stronger: the product and the people who made it.

I lead by setting clear direction, creating shared understanding and helping talented people do their best work. I value honest feedback, mentorship, cross functional partnership and staying close enough to the craft to recognize when the details matter.

I am comfortable moving between product strategy, creative vision, team development and hands on design critique, connecting the why to the work that ships.

Set directionTranslate ambition into a clear experience vision.
Build alignmentConnect design, product, engineering and business.
Develop peopleCoach, mentor and create ownership.
Protect qualityStay engaged from concept through execution.
06 / Selected work & complete credits

Experience across genres and generations.

A career spanning PC, console and mobile games, from art direction on major franchises to original products built independently. Roles are identified by category below.

Complete game credits

Selected projects and additional shipped titles across a career spanning multiple platforms.

PC · Art directed
  • Star Wars: Empire at War
  • Star Wars: Forces of Corruption
  • The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth
  • Emperor: Battle for Dune
  • Command & Conquer 3
  • Earth & Beyond
  • Battle Battalions
  • Battle for Graxia
  • Universe at War
  • Guardians of Graxia
  • Return to Ringworld
Mobile · Art direction · UX/UI design
  • Solitaire by MobilityWare
  • Solitaire Match 3
  • Cribbage Daily
  • FreeCell
  • TriPeaks
  • Aces Up
  • Mahjong
  • Sudoku
  • Hearts
  • Spades
  • Spider Go
  • Puzzle Cats
  • Gin Rummy
  • Crown Solitaire
  • Spider Solitaire
  • Bubble Shooter
  • Addiction Solitaire
  • Yukon Russian Solitaire
  • Vegas Blvd Casino
  • Hot Streaks Slots
  • Castle Solitaire
  • Jigsaw Puzzle
  • Blackjack
  • ColorArt
PC · Contributed to
  • Lands of Lore III
  • Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny
  • Protostar: War on the Frontier
  • Conquest of the Longbow: Legend of Robin Hood
  • Geekwad: Game of the Galaxy
  • Interplay’s Classic Collection
  • Wacky Funsters
  • Blue Force
  • Ringworld
  • MiG-29
  • Dr. Brain
  • Red Baron
  • King’s Quest V
  • Police Quest III
  • Space Quest IV
  • Leisure Suit Larry V
Independent · Product design & development
  • Aria: Space Frontier
  • Adventure Vault
  • Pro Toolbox Measure & Build
  • App Store Screenshot Creator
  • Calculator: Ad Free
  • Positive News
  • Budget Boost
  • Smart Retirement
  • Smart Mood Journal
  • Smart Shade Control
  • Master Collection
  • Liahona Path
  • Gem Phrase
  • Dice Forge
  • Coin a Phrase
  • Shadow Forge
  • Dice Touch
  • Dice Match
  • Dice Match 2
  • Money Swipe
  • Circus Acts
  • Bug Eyed
  • Rocket Race
  • Rocket Race 2
  • Haunted Cemetery
Console · Contributed to
  • Aftermath (PlayStation)
  • Universe at War (Xbox)
  • Monstrous City (PlayStation)
  • Panzer General: Allied Assault (Xbox)
07 / Let's talk

MAKE THE
NEXT THING
MATTER.

I'm interested in product and design leadership opportunities where strong craft, clear strategy and collaborative teams can make a meaningful difference.