ALL PROPERTIES CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT / ART DIRECTION

KATIA GRIFOLS

Born and raised in Barcelona, Spain, Katia always hated raw tomatoes and cucumbers, and devoted her childhood to Agatha Christie, Akira Toriyama, Enid Blyton, and Tintin (among others). She began her career as a comic book artist in Barcelona, jumping around the world to follow her passion for storytelling. After a brief stay in Japan, she landed in California where she finished her formal education in Illustration for Entertainment Arts at the Art Center College of Design. But it was her experience with major studios in LA that opened her eyes to the realities of the entertainment business and, mixed with her undeniable desire to create original content, inspired Katia to level up and create Glow in the Dark. Katia is now the Mastermind of the studio, where she takes a major role in the creation of the properties we develop in-house. She enjoys art direction, colors and research, brainstorming, strong coffee and random Japanese kawaiis... but really, what she loves the most is encountering amazing storytellers and newfound creators! And to this day... she still hates raw tomatoes and cucumbers.

MAUREEN MACOMBER

A soCal native and L.A. transplant, Maureen started out teaching preschool and running a daycare for several years, completing a degree in education before pursuing another love: photography! Finally, B.F.A. in photography & cinematic arts in hand, she found herself in film production. After living production life for a time, she shifted to an industry that would better embrace her lifelong love of storytelling; animation! At Glow in the Dark, Maureen spends her time on creative development, writing, and battling an unending barrage of Outlook notifications. Outside of the studio, she spends her time reading, watching good television, travelling whenever (and wherever) she can, working on stories, and laughing with friends. While she agrees that raw tomato is questionable, she will forever defend cucumbers.

JAVIER BOLADO (ERAIDE, Original IP)

Javier's life has been as nomadic as that of his creative career. At the age of 17, he published his first comic book with a publishing house, which was followed by other successes in the Spanish market. Later he embarked on the adventure of writing, producing three novels of the ‘Eraide’ saga, first published by TimunMas (Planet) and later re-edited and finalized by Ed. Babylon. He did not stop illustrating, doing commissions for Alderac, Imaginary Friends Studio or designing characters and scenes for video games, like in ‘Anima Gate of Memories’ and ‘The Nameless Chronicles’. All while he has lived in Spain, France, Germany and the United States, with frequent long visits to Japan.

He loves travelling, motor, cinema, photography and, above all, trains. Not that it's important, but it's okay to give it a touch of humanity (not only work!) :)

Since 2016 he has been working as editor-in-chief of comics for Babylon Editions.

YUKI MORI (Big Talk, Small Talk / Collaborator/Co-Creator)

Yuki grew up moving from Japan to Minnesota to Ohio to Colorado and now California. She likes to collect nicknacks, and watch old Japanese kids shows for inspiration. Currently, she attends Art Center College of Design as an Illustration Student. Her work focuses on mixing mediums and exploring animation, illustration as well as paper crafts and set building. Her favorite foods include lasagna and cheese curds and in her free time she likes visiting the flea market and going karaoke, and watching movies.

PEDRO MAÑAS (WE'RE WOOFS, Collaborator)

Pedro Mañas (Madrid, 1981) holds a degree in English Philology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where he gained his first recognition as an author with the publication of one of his stories within an anthology of short narratives.

From that moment on, he has been awarded several national and international children’s literary prizes, and some of his narratives have been translated into French, German and Chinese, among other languages. He has ventured into children’s poetry too.

Recently one of his novels was honored with the Barco de Vapor Award, one of the most prestigious children’s literary prizes in the Spanish-speaking world. Both critics and readers have highlighted the originality and sense of humor in his works, together with his ability to find and recreate the magic side of daily life. Nowadays, Pedro combines his writing with literary meetings, lectures in schools and activities to promote reading.

MELISSA K. MARTYN (LEGENDARIES, Collaborator)

Hello there!

I’m a designer, illustrator, coffee-addict, and cat-lady in training. I design toys for a living – my previous employers include Mattel and Disney. I graduated from Otis College of Art and Design with a Bachelor’s degree in Toy Design (yes, that’s a thing!), and in my spare time I like to draw, paint, craft, eat, and annoy my cat.

What else can I tell you? I like scary movies – but I hate zombies. Cheese is delicious. I love glitter. If you take me to a toy store I can point out multiple things I’ve worked on, and I’ll also probably buy something, claiming it’s for research. Before I became a product designer I wanted to be a painter – I have an associate’s degree in studio art and ruined a lot of clothes that way. I always love being creative and taking on new projects!