I’m Caitlyn, a game designer based in Virginia.

Unity 2D Video Game Developer ● Photoshop Artist ● Online Code Class Instructor for Create&Learn

Design Disciplines

Level Design

Build thematic levels.  I develop meaningful layouts, environments, and challenges within a game to convey the creator’s intent for the player’s experience.  Each compelling corner of my game spaces invokes submersion with relevant and purposeful design.

Concept Art, VFX, & 2D Sprites

Transform creative ideas into custom assets.  Custom assets enhance a game’s stylistic hook. Imagination meets hand-drawn polished professional artwork with Photoshop to illustrate captivating lore, gorgeous scenes, and memorable characters.

C# Programs

Code the game.  My programming repertoire to generate and modify 2D experiences within the Unity game engine encompasses a full metroidvania-style platformer from start to finish: preload, save, multi-console input, player abilities, UI menus, inventory, plot progression, scene transition, boss fights, health, particle effects, Shader Graphs, and more.

Narrative Systems

Tell a tale. I write and edit detailed dialogue to convey a game’s story, from custom designed font to authorship of text files to the overarching dialogue delivery software. Ink and Unity’s TextMeshPro support versatile and complex plotlines via quest structure, gameplay integration, and branching choices.

2D Animation

Enrich gameplay mechanics. I smoothly transform game art with Photoshop, Timeline, and Unity’s Animator & Animate to take a character or other game object from still image to animated sprite.

Teaching & Mentorship

Teach game design and mods. I am a game development teacher for the online code school Create&Learn. I teach Unity (2D Platformers, Goldberg’s Mazes, First Person Shooters), Minecraft Mods, Scratch, and Roblox (Obstacle Courses) to elementary, middle, and high school students.

*Scroll down to view portfolio samples under the Highlights & Featured Game Design sections of this webpage

Featured Game Assets

*These game assets (except AI images & cited artists) were developed by Caitlyn Holzmond for Digital Native and may not be reused without permission

Highlights

*These game assets (except AI images & cited artists) were developed by Caitlyn Holzmond for Digital Native and may not be reused without permission

Game Dev

Hand-drawn Frame-By-Frame Game Art

Honored Inspiration

Visual Story Arc

Jeff Lee Johnson’s Submersive Scenes & Emotional Transitions

Striking Sprite Silhouettes & Strong Sharp Animation Poses

    • Cityscape Reference Images: AI Prompt

    • Cyberpunk Building Game Art Sprites: Hand-drawn in Photoshop

    • Parallax, Lighting, & Bloom: Unity 2D

    • Dystopia

    • Evil Buildings

    • Science Fiction

    • Texture & Shape Reference Images: AI Prompt

    • Game Art Sprites: Photoshop

    • Right-Side-Blind Silhouette FX: Unity’s Shader Graph

    • Parallax, Player Movement, Lighting, & Bloom: Unity 2D

    • Stars, Cocktails, & Fountain Particle FX: Unity’s Particle System

    • Animations: Unity’s Animator & Animation

    • Gluttony

    • Vampires

    • Outer Space

2D Animation Statement Pieces

Genndy Tartakovsky’s Samurai Jack & Primal

    • Looping animation hand-drawn in Photoshop Timeline

    • 2D animation animated frame-by-frame with Unity’s Animator

    • Transparency of sprites for glass and liquid done in Unity

    • Lighting for 2D-3D VFX done in Unity with Universal Render Pipeline

    • 3-color-gradient background material & shader made in Unity with Shader Graph & C# code

    • Bubble Effect from custom Photoshop brushes