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Josh Viers studied Industrial Design at the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning where he received his Bachelors of Science in Design Degree in 2001. He served as the student representative for the Industrial Designer's Society of America, and collaborated with school administrators to successfully improve students' working environments. He also participated in the school's cooperative work program gaining practical design experience in a variety of disciplines including toy, small consumer electronic and athletic shoe design. His first professional design experience was with Hasbro Toy Group working on Batman and Transformer action figure lines. His designs for both properties were produced and released in 2000 nationwide. He later accepted a position as product designer at Zoé Design Associates in San Francisco. There he created a wide range of consumer electronics products for international markets. This was followed by a coop position at Adidas International in Portland where he created a futuristic football shoe that was featured in the print media including USA Today and The St. Petersburg Times for the 2001 Superbowl. Viers' first working experience in feature film was at Tippett Studio in the rotoscoping department. His gratifying experience at that studio convinced him to return to the Bay Area to continue his career in the film industry. After returning to Cincinnati, he finished his schooling and received his degree. Upon graduation Viers moved to the San Francisco Bay Area fully intent on getting work in the film industry as a concept artist. At first he spent his days working at an art store in Berkeley and at night would do freelance design for various toy lines, consumer electronics, clothing illustrations and tv commercials for companies such as Hasbro and Complete Pandemonium. In 2002, Viers accepted an offer to work in the art department at Industrial Light & Magic. While at ILM, he worked on a variety of films including Sea Biscuit, Gangs of New York, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The Hulk, Van Helsing, and Terminator 3. He then left ILM to work at Ice Blink Studios where he has created matte paintings for Doug Chiang's second Robota teaser and where he is now employed as a concept artist. He currently lives in San Francisco. |