Dan Smith Origins International Game Expo 2002

Dan Smith is an American illustrator and graphic artist known for his distinctive "SMIF" signature, and his work for

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidia ...

FASA Fasa ( fa, فسا, Fasā, also Romanized as Fassa) is a city and capital of Fasa County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 110,825, in 33,379 families. Fasa is the fourth most populous city of the province. The city date ...

White Wolf A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf. It may also refer to: Organizations * White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band * White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA * Whi ...

, Steve Jackson Games,

Iron Crown The Iron Crown ( lmo, Corona Ferrea de Lombardia; it, Corona Ferrea; la, Corona Ferrea) is a relic and may be one of the oldest royal insignia of Christendom. It was made in the Early Middle Ages, consisting of a circlet of gold and jewels fit ...

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

, Nintendo,

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiung, ...

and others. While known primarily as an illustrator, Dan Smith is also a designer of family card games, including '' Battle of the Bands'', Portable Adventures and King of Crime. Dan Smith has a variety of illustration styles ranging from kid friendly to teen edgy. His black-and-white work for ''

GURPS The ''Generic Universal RolePlaying System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting. It was created by Steve Jackson Games and first published in 1986 at a time when most such systems ...

'' became so prominent in the 1990s, he became the unofficial 'house artist'. One of his techniques was to photograph friends in poses as illustration models. This allows friends to flip through role-playing game books and see themselves on the pages dressed as wizards and secret agents. Dan Smith, with fellow graphic designers

Jeff Koke Jeff Koke is a writer, graphic designer and business owner currently living in Austin, Texas. He is best known for his writing work for Steve Jackson Games in the 1990s, including '' GURPS Vampire: The Masquerade'', an adaptation of the well-known ...

and

Derek Pearcy Derek Pearcy is a game designer, writer, editor and graphic designer known for his work on role-playing games. Career Pearcy served as the editor of ''Pyramid'' for its first two print issues, in 1993. He worked for Steve Jackson Games in the 1990 ...

, won the 1997

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...

for ''Best Graphic Presentation of a Roleplaying Game, Adventure, or Supplement'' for the role-playing game '' In Nomine''. He also garnered a nomination for best traditional card game and supplement for his seminal Battle of the Bands and its sequel, Backstage Pass.

References

American illustrators Living people Role-playing game artists Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-illustrator-stub