Ari Gibson
Ari Gibson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 May 1983 |
| Education | University of South Australia |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Title | Co-founder and co-director of Team Cherry |
Ari Gibson is an Australian artist, animator, and video game designer, best known for his work on Hollow Knight (2017) and its upcoming sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025). He is also the co-founder and co-director of the games' development studio, Team Cherry.
Early life and education
Ari Gibson was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 14 May 1983.[1]
He graduated from the University of South Australia with a Bachelor of Visual Arts, majoring in New Media Art.[1]
Career
Gibson formerly worked with The People's Republic of Animation starting in 2005, where he collaborated with Eddie White on many projects, most notably The Cat Piano,[1] which received many awards.[2][3]
He also ran Mechanical Apple, a boutique animation studio,[4] alongside Jason Pamment.[5]
In 2014, Gibson co-founded the independent video game studio Team Cherry with William Pellen, whom he had previously worked with on game jams. They started a Kickstarter project for their then-upcoming game Hollow Knight, which was a success; the game released in 2017 to critical acclaim. Gibson worked on the game's art and animation, while also co-directing its development.[6]
He is currently working on Hollow Knight's sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong,[7] which is set to release on 4 September 2025.[8]
Artstyle
For Hollow Knight, and presumably its sequel, Gibson scanned his hand-drawn art directly into the game's engine. This was done to "create [a] vivid sense of place".[6]
PC Gamer writer Tom Marks described Gibson's art in Hollow Knight as using “a mostly monotone dark color palette.” He characterized the character designs as “relatively clean and simple”, but noted that Gibson’s animation “fills them with personality”. He also described Gibson's background art as quite complex, contrasting the rest of Hollow Knight's art.[9]
List of works
| Year | Title | Medium |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Dust Echoes: Whirlpool[1] | Animation |
| Dust Echoes: Mermaid Story[1] | ||
| Carnivore Reflux[1] | ||
| Sweet & Sour[1] | ||
| I Was a Teenage Butterfly[1] | ||
| 2008 | De Blob[10][11] | Video game |
| 2009 | The Cat Piano[1] | Animation |
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen[10][12] | Video game | |
| 2010 | The Last Airbender[10][13] | |
| Megamind: Mega Team Unite[10][14] | ||
| Sometimes the Stars[15] | Animation | |
| 2011 | De Blob 2[10][16] | Video game |
| Bronte[17] | Animation | |
| 2013 | Winter Fox[18] | |
| Tomb Cat[19] | Video game | |
| 2014 | Hungry Knight[6] | |
| Motorbike[20] | Animation | |
| 2017 | Hollow Knight[6] | Video game |
| 2025 | Hollow Knight: Silksong[7] |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "About". The Cat Piano. 2 September 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
- ^ "Annecy Official Selection". 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009.
- ^ "The Cat Piano Australian Film Festival Awards". Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
- ^ "Straight from the Source: Ari Gibson & William Pellen (Team Cherry)". Source Gaming. 9 April 2025. Archived from the original on 3 June 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ "@mecapple". Twitter. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ^ a b c d Milner, David. "The Making Of Hollow Knight". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
- ^ a b Sirani, Jordan (14 February 2024). "Hollow Knight: Silksong – Everything We Know About the 2D Metroidvania Sequel". IGN. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
- ^ Pritchard, Marie (21 August 2025). "Hollow Knight Silksong release date". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ^ Marks, Tom (7 March 2017). "Hollow Knight's charming art sets the bar for hand drawn games". PC Gamer. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "Team Cherry interview with Pixels Rising (2016)". YouTube. Hollow Knight Archive. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ^ "de Blob – Wii Credits". MobyGames. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ^ "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - PlayStation 2 Credits". MobyGames. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
- ^ "The Last Airbender – Wii Credits". MobyGames. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ^ "MegaMind: Mega Team Unite – Wii Credits". MobyGames. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ^ Darmono, Lilian (10 March 2011). "Sometimes The Stars: Ari Gibson & Jason Pamment". Motionographer. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
- ^ "de Blob 2 – Xbox 360 Credits". MobyGames. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ^ Darmono, Lilian (1 September 2011). "Bronte: by Ari and Jason for Gotye". Motionographer. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
- ^ Tabarsi, Anahita (6 December 2017). "Winter Fox (Staffpick)". Brown Bag Films. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
- ^ "Tomb Cat". Newgrounds. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ^ @mecapple (6 May 2014). "Our new short 'Motorbike' is finally done! Please check it out here: https://vimeo.com/89059805 Huge thanks to @composerlarkin & Lachlan Coles" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 July 2025 – via Twitter.