Environment Designer

The Walt Disney Company; Burbank (CA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The Walt Disney Company’s Walt Disney Animation Studios seeks Environment Designers in Burbank, CA. You will craft immersive worlds and design moments aligned with a director’s vision, producing detailed drawings and surfaces to guide downstream teams.

Proficiency in Photoshop is required, and feature animation experience is preferred. A portfolio and resume showcasing environment design work are mandatory.

Qualifications

• Proficiency in Photoshop is required.
• Professional experience in feature animation is preferred.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Design inspiring worlds, spaces, and moments based on a director’s vision that convey information and storytelling.
• Translate designs into detailed technical drawings and surfacing rendering to support collaboration across downstream departments.
• Communicate with downstream departments to clarify requests, provide context, and find solutions.
• Authenticate designs with thoughtful research and inspire through art.
• Collaborate thoughtfully and respond constructively to direction.

Tools

Photoshop

Job description

Job ID 10160864 Location Burbank, California, United States Business Walt Disney Animation Studios Date posted Oct. 02, 2026

Environment Designers visually explore and collaborate in the creation of story-driven animated worldsand their interior logic through the depiction of design ideas,dramatic story moments, mood/tonal pieces, and prop and vehicle designs that all serve a film’s narrative needs. Artists also prepare technical designs for downstream departments including technical orthographic drawings, breakdowns, and full render texture reference to inform the art direction of downstream departments. Learn more about our filmmaking process here (opens in new window).

We're looking for Environment Designers who have a rich imagination, a sense of whimsy and appeal, stylistic versatility, and masterful drawing and painting skills. Expertise in design, perspective, color, both architectural and organic forms, and a general knowledge of the CG process are also key skills in breathing life into our worlds. The ability to work both traditionally and in digital media including 3d is appreciated. We welcome artists who will bring inspirational and unexpected ideas and research to our filmmaking and our team. We encourage and embrace original thinking and passion.

What You Will Do:

Design inspiring worlds, spaces, and moments based on a director’s vision that convey information and storytelling

Translate designs into detailed technical drawings and surfacing rendering to support collaboration across downstream departments

Communicate with downstream departments to clarify requests, provide context, and find solutions

Authenticate your designs with thoughtful research and inspire through your art

Collaborate thoughtfully and respond constructively to direction

What We’re Looking For:

Ability to bring unique and interesting solutions to design challenges

Ability to create cinematic compositions that convey storytelling, creating "shots" instead of illustrations

Ability to evoke mood and feeling in your work that enhances the storytelling of your images

Ability to utilize dynamic relationships of color & value structures to convey specific emotions and story points

Adaptability to varying film styles and director tastes, reinforcing and furthering the established style as needed

Adaptability to the different stages within a film (such as development, production, marketing, etc) as well as evolving workflows and tools

Openness to new approaches, workflows, and tools and risks failure responsibly

Requirements

Proficiency in Photoshop

Professional experience required, feature animation experience preferred

Bachelors degree or equivalent experience

To apply for this position you must upload a portfolio and a resume consisting of your environment design work.

Portfolios Should Include:

Paintings and environment designs that demonstrate stylistic versatility and a strong understanding of specificity, storytelling, lighting, observation, mood, clarity, staging, color, perspective, and appeal

Illustrations of narrative moments, character and environment interactions encouraged

Observational studies

If any of your