Former Aussie chef trades toque for World of Warcraft landscapes

[Spitfire]

How would you feel about a chef designing landscapes for your World of Warcraft players to explore? That's exactly what Aussie Julian Morris is doing for Blizzard Entertainment. As a former chef, Mr. Morris has seemingly traded in his kitchen implements and oven for virtual design and editing software.

According to Morris, it all began when he discovered just how much fun it was to play around with the WoW game editors. Morris' passion for creating virtual landscapes got to the point wherein he was brainstorming with his brother and creating level layouts on white boards at work. Not surprisingly, he eventually considered a career in the gaming industry. After a brief stint with a game development studio in Sydney, Blizzard noticed Morris' talent and ended up hiring the former chef.

Nowadays, Morris is busy working with other artists to create the mountains, forests, seas, lakes, rivers, roads that World of Warcraft players see in-game - including the visually impressive Sunwell Isle. He speaks of his work in these terms:

(The game) clearly has a strongly defined art and design stye [sic]... everyone on the exterior level design team is able to bring a personal touch to their work.

Each of us has certain strengths within art or design and we often work together to continually evolve the techniques and styles that we utilise as a team.


This approach helps us define the unique variety of locations and environments found in World of Warcraft.

Perhaps it's a good idea to pursue one's passion after all.