Ubisoft’s Jean Gauvin on why constant communication fuels great collaborations

Jean, it’s great to connect. To kick us off, what set you on the path to a creative career? Was working with brands always on the cards?
I’ve always been surrounded by art and design as a kid. My father had a fine arts background and was a sign maker for many years. He would take me to his workshop and I would watch him, and his team, create giant signs by hand. It definitely influenced my choice of career as I decided to study in graphic design.

Fresh out of school, I wanted to create amazing packaging and worked for design studios in Montreal. I realised that working on great brands – with amazing art directors, photographers and illustrators – was what drove me. I also had a big interest in animation and cinema. I had the opportunity to combine both my design and animation interests by leading a group of creatives in a Canadian animation studio, mostly specialising in kids TV shows. One of our shows became very successful – you might know of Caillou…

“We must give licensees enough creative liberty to express themselves and think outside of the box.”

Of course!
Yes! So we started to license that out for consumer products. That was my first shot at creating some sort of licensing program, style guide and complete consumer products collection for an entertainment brand.

You’re now Senior Creative Director of Global Consumer Products at Ubisoft. What does the role entail?
My role at Ubisoft is to direct the development and execution of the licensing plans from a creative perspective. In conjunction with my team and each leadership team, I establish the creative vision for consumer products for each brand and category. Part of my role is also to work with creative agencies to create branded style guides for licensing.

What brands are your key focuses at the moment?
Although Assassin’s Creed is probably our biggest franchise – and has a lot of my attention – I also work on a wide portfolio of Ubisoft brands. IP such as Rainbow Six Siege, Just Dance, Far Cry, Rabbids and Brawlhalla, to name a few. And then a couple of really fun TV properties, such as Mythic Quest and Captain Laserhawk.

Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Rainbow Six Siege… These are huge video game brands. Are you a big gamer?
I do not consider myself the biggest of gamers, but I do love playing when I have free time. Part of the job is to get inspired and be able to know what I’m talking about when meeting with our licensees. And what better way than to play our games – during work hours! Yes, it is considered research!

Well, on that, does it matter to the role? Do you have to be a gamer to do what you do?
Being a big gamer helps, but is not a pre-requisite to the role. That said, you need to have an interest in video games and on the subjects and stories the games convey. This is a must. If you don’t know much about what you are creating for, you’ll always be one step behind.

Let’s delve into product. Are there any launches that you feel highlight how creative licensees can be with your brands?
We had very successful launches for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla with Venum and Reebok; both licensees created unique AC collections while staying close to their roots. They have been highly creative while showing lots of respect to our brand.

We also have licensees such as DRKN on 6 Siege that have been doing highly creative flagship hoodies every year for the Six Invitational esports tournament. And our characters have been wearing them, digitally of course, in our Invitational CG animated trailers.

And then you have artists like Blend Cota who has an amazing talent and creates art that is so unique, you just let them express themselves.

What are some of the biggest challenges in authentically translating video game characters into consumer products?
One of the biggest challenges I find with video game characters is that, until a game is Gold – which means all files are 100% final and the game is ready to be “printed” – characters may evolve and change until the last minute. Art direction, costumes, hair, weapons… Anything can be changed, improved, or enhanced by the development team.

As we need to start working on some projects 12 to 18 months in advance, our licensees must be very flexible and ready to make modifications to stay true to the characters sometimes very late in the process.

I can imagine that could present challenges! Is there anything that helps make that process as smooth as possible?
We start to work on style guides as early as possible with WIP files of the characters – or even character concept art – to decide on style and posing. These early concepts can be shared with key licensees who can then start conceptualising with visuals of our characters that translate the intentions and direction.

As the characters evolve and get defined, we modify our work and communicate with the licensees to update any files they may have used. This process can go on for a little while until we have final characters or files, but it gives us the opportunity not to wait at the last minute to start working on products. It helps everyone deliver on time.

Absolutely. Smart. Now, what’s the key to successful creative collaborations between licensors and licensees?
Constant communication – starting with a creative brief on our part, style guide intentions and brainstorm on specific product categories with each licensee. Accompanying them at each step of their creative process by helping them with approvals and asset development is also key.

It’s part of our job, as licensors, to bring as much creativity to our style guides and offer trendy capsule collections regularly to trigger new ideas… But I also believe we must give licensees enough creative liberty to express themselves and think outside of the box. To me, a style guide will help licensees explore new ideas and get inspired. It’s a creative toolbox. There’s nothing I love better than a licensee that comes back to us with surprising ideas that combine their creative energy with ours. This is the sign of a successful collaboration.

Great answer. Looking ahead, are there any categories still untapped for your brands that you see potential in?
At the moment, we are present in most categories you would think of in licensing: Apparel, collectibles, gaming accessories, stationery, and so on. What I’m really looking forward to is to see more of our brands in less traditional categories for us, such as cosmetics or food and beverages. I can’t wait to explore new collaborations that will bring added value to our brands and make our consumers and fans happy to see us in places they haven’t thought we would be.

We’ve talked a lot about creativity today but what fuels your creativity?
Music. I’ve been playing sax since I was 12 and when I spend time practicing alone or with my band, it just gets my mind flowing and recharges my batteries. Visiting food markets when travelling is also something that fuels me: to eat, drink, taste, connect with people… That is so inspiring to me.

And in my work environment, when I meet the dev teams and see what’s coming up in our portfolio, new games, concepts, ideas… That gets my creative juice flowing.

Jean, this has been great. Let’s be sure to catch up again soon!