Roberto Digiglio
Roberto Digiglio, creature and character designer

About

Roberto Digiglio

Creature & Character Designer · Creative Director at FutuRats — Turin, Italy

I am an Italian artist and concept designer. I design characters and, above all, creatures, working from Turin for studios around the world.

Art, science and entertainment have fascinated me since I was a child. Discovering computer graphics, together with my background in computer science and a long-standing interest in speculative biology, led me naturally into digital art and design.

Over the years I have built solid experience in 3D modeling and sculpting, focusing on creature and character design for film and games. In my work I look for a balance between artistic vision and technical precision, driven by curiosity for the unknown and the wish to bring something alive.

Beyond creatures, I have worked across many areas of digital production, from concept art and modeling to rendering and visual development, and this broader view is what I bring to creative direction today.

I have worked with film, TV and advertising studios, including Aaron Sims Creative, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and in games with Milestone, PUBG, Stormind Games, One O One Games and many others.

I also teach concept design and art production workflows for games and CGI, most notably at AIV (Accademia Italiana Videogiochi).

Since 2023 I have been Co-Founder and Creative Director of FutuRats, an independent video game studio in Turin. I lead the creative direction of its original games and of its work on established IPs, including Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector.

How it started

It started with the behind-the-scenes footage of Jurassic Park. Self-taught on Blender in the early 2000s, then Maya and ZBrush; formal training in 3D, offline rendering and concept design; years as lighting artist, 3D artist and art director, before focusing entirely on creatures and characters.

Influences

Wayne Barlowe · Terryl Whitlatch · Moebius · Zdzisław Beksiński · H. R. Giger · Carlo Rambaldi · Stan Winston

Full interview — RenderHub, August 2025

RésuméDownload CV (PDF)

N° 13 — Golden Demon

Personal project · 2021

An old cloth simulation test from Marvelous Designer, finally taken to a finished render.

View project

Studio — since 2023

Co-Founder & Creative Director

An independent video game studio founded in Turin in 2023 and launched through Quickload, the OGR Tech accelerator backed by Microsoft and 34BigThings (Embracer Group). It develops original games and works with international publishers on outsourcing and co-development. I lead the creative direction of the studio, both on its original games and on its work for established IPs, including Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector for Slitherine.

Visit FutuRats ↗

Credits

  1. A Minecraft Movie — coverCreature DesignerA Minecraft MovieFilm — Aaron Sims Creative, 2025
  2. Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector — coverCreative DirectorWarhammer 40,000: BattlesectorVideo Game — FutuRats, 2025Creative direction of the FutuRats art team for Slitherine, including the DLC Deeds of the Fallen (2025), a twelve-mission Sisters of Battle campaign
  3. The Gryphon — coverCreature & Character DesignerThe GryphonTV Series — W&B Television, 2023The horned ones (Thorock, Yezariael & Yarmael, Gosia & Fendia), built as prosthetics by Millennium FX
  4. Batora: Lost Haven — coverFreelance 3D Character ArtistBatora: Lost HavenVideo Game — Stormind Games, 2022
  5. Symbiosis — cover3D Lead DesignerSymbiosisVR Experience — Polymorf, 2022The whole world: creatures, characters and environments. IDFA DocLab 2021 Special Jury Award
  6. Monster Energy Supercross 2 — coverLighting & VFX ArtistMonster Energy Supercross 2Video Game — Milestone, 2019
  7. RIDE 3 — coverLighting & VFX ArtistRIDE 3Video Game — Milestone, 2018
  8. MXGP PRO — coverLighting & VFX ArtistMXGP PROVideo Game — Milestone, 2018
  9. MotoGP 18 — coverLighting & VFX ArtistMotoGP 18Video Game — Milestone, 2018
  10. Monster Energy Supercross — coverLighting & VFX ArtistMonster Energy SupercrossVideo Game — Milestone, 2018
  11. Gravel — coverLighting & VFX ArtistGravelVideo Game — Milestone, 2018
  12. Voodoo — coverLead Artist & Art DirectorVoodooVideo Game — Brain in the Box, 2017

Credits on IMDb Game credits on MobyGames

Experience

  1. 2023 — Present

    Co-Founder & Creative Director

    FutuRats — TurinCreative direction of original and licensed IPs · Creative Director of Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector — Deeds of the Fallen (Slitherine, 2025)
  2. 2019 — Present

    Freelance Creature & Character Designer

    Roberto Digiglio — TurinConcept design · Modeling / sculpting · Texturing
  3. 2021 — Present

    Freelance Character Designer

    Aaron Sims Creative — RemoteCharacter and creature design for film, advertising and more
  4. 2021 — 2022

    Freelance Creature Designer

    PUBG Corporation — RemoteCreature design
  5. 2021

    Freelance Character & Creature Designer

    W&B Television — RemoteAmazon Prime Video series “Der Greif” / “The Gryphon”
  6. 2020 — 2021

    3D Lead Designer

    Polymorf — NetherlandsCreature, character and environment design · IDFA Special Jury Award for Creative Technology
  7. 2019 — 2020

    Freelance 3D Character Artist

    Stormind Games · Game Atelier · Share Creators · One O One Games and many others — RemoteHigh-poly sculpting, retopology, low-poly modeling, texturing
  8. 2017 — 2019

    Lighting & VFX Artist

    Milestone — Milan3D art, assistant art direction, lighting, VFX, post-production
  9. 2014 — 2017

    Co-Founder, Lead Artist & Art Director

    Brain in the Box — CavallermaggioreArt direction, technical art, 3D art

Method & tools

  1. Biology first

    Every creature starts from real biological functions and mechanisms found in nature, studied in depth, at times with the advice of a zoologist.

  2. A plausible structure

    Fantastical beings still need functional, often scientific, coherence. Only once the anatomy holds up does the visual design begin.

  3. Sculpting

    ZBrush is the heart of the workflow. Detailing during advanced sculpting is the most rewarding stage, almost meditative.

  4. Surface & light

    Texturing is where every detail matters and expressiveness is pushed further; my visualizations aim for a photoreal finish.

“Even when designing fantastical beings, I strive for functional — sometimes even scientific — coherence and a sense of realism.”
Read the interview — RenderHub, August 2025
Sculpting
ZBrush
Modeling
3ds Max · Maya · Blender · Marvelous Designer
Texturing
Substance 3D · Mari · 3DCoat
Rendering
Arnold · Marmoset Toolbag · Unreal Engine · KeyShot · V-Ray
Topology & UV
TopoGun · UVLayout
Post
Photoshop · After Effects

Press & recognition

  1. 2025RenderHubInterview — creature and character design for games and CGI
  2. 2023SXSWSYMBIOSIS selected for the XR Experience Spotlight
  3. 2023Autodesk ArnoldThe Scavenger — featured artwork
  4. 20233DconnexionAlien of the Depths — commissioned artwork
  5. 2022Holland FestivalSYMBIOSIS
  6. 20223D World, issue 288SYMBIOSIS — Multibody Creature published
  7. 2021IDFA DocLabSYMBIOSIS — Special Jury Award for Creative Technology
  8. 20203DTotalTriturus Profundis — Excellence Award
  9. 20193DTotalCancericatus Fluvialitis — Excellence Award
  10. 20193DTotalDoctor Octopus — Excellence Award

Disciplines

Creature Design · Character Design · Digital Sculpting · Concept Art · 3D Modeling · Creature Modeling · Character Modeling · High- and Low-poly Modeling · Retopology · PBR Texturing · Digital Painting · Lighting · VFX · Creative Direction

Software