Ari Gibson
Ari Gibson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 May 1983 Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Education | University of South Australia |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Notable work | |
| Title | Co-founder and co-director of Team Cherry |
Ari Nicholas Gibson (born 14 May 1983) is an Australian artist, animator, and video game designer, best known for his work on Hollow Knight (2017) and its 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
[edit | edit source]Ari Gibson was born in Adelaide, South Australia,[1][2] on 14 May 1983.[3]
He graduated from the University of South Australia with a Bachelor of Visual Arts, majoring in New Media Art.[3]
Career
[edit | edit source]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 (2009),[4][5][6] which received many awards.[7][8] He also ran Mechanical Apple, a boutique animation studio,[9] alongside Jason Pamment.[10] The studio produced animations such as the music video for Gotye's "Bronte" (2011).[11]
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.[12]
He later worked on a piece of Hollow Knight downloadable content that eventually evolved into a sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, with the same roles he had while working on Hollow Knight.[13] The game's development took over seven years, though Gibson described the process as enjoyable.[14] Hollow Knight: Silksong released on 4 September 2025, also to critical acclaim.[15]
Art style
[edit | edit source]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."[12]
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.[16] Alana Hagues of Nintendo Life described Gibson's art in Silksong as being "a rainbow compared to the muted tones of [Hollow Knight's] Hallownest", while also still being "sombre". Hagues additionally described Gibson's Silksong artwork as using a "beautiful colour palette".[17]
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Despite the immense financial success of Team Cherry's games, Gibson lives in a "very basic two-bedroom apartment", and spends most of his time at the Team Cherry office, finding working on games to be most enjoyable. In an August 2025 interview, he said that "sometimes I think, ‘You know what would be better, is a one-bedroom apartment.’ Because then there’s even less to maintain.”[14]
List of known works
[edit | edit source]| Year | Title | Medium |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Dust Echoes: Whirlpool[3] | Animation |
| Dust Echoes: Mermaid Story[3] | ||
| Carnivore Reflux[3] | ||
| 2007 | Sweet & Sour[18] | |
| I Was a Teenage Butterfly[19] | ||
| 2008 | De Blob[20][21] | Video game |
| Hellboy: The Science of Evil[20][21] | ||
| 2009 | The Cat Piano[4][5][6] | Animation |
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen[20][21] | Video game | |
| 2010 | The Last Airbender[20][21] | |
| Megamind: Mega Team Unite[20][21] | ||
| Sometimes the Stars[18][22] | Animation | |
| 2011 | De Blob 2[20][21] | Video game |
| Bronte[11] | Animation | |
| 2013 | Winter Fox[10][23] | |
| Tomb Cat[24] | Video game | |
| Hungry Knight[12] | ||
| 2014 | Motorbike[25] | Animation |
| 2017 | Hollow Knight[12] | Video game |
| 2025 | Hollow Knight: Silksong[13] |
References
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