Jim Keifer

Jim Keifer is a game designer and artist who has worked in the game industry since the mid-1980s for popularly-established game companies. He has designed hundreds of games and puzzles that are made and distributed throughout the world and holds at least 15 patents dealing with game mechanics and component configuration. He grew up in Pacific Palisades, California, and studied aerospace engineering at Notre Dame. He has recently been working as a full-time painter and occasional game and toy consultant. He also enjoys a close working relations with over 100 premiere inventors in America, Asia, and Europe.

He has served in multiple design and management positions over the last 25 years. He has worked as the former head of game design for interactive and youth electronics toys for Mattel, as a designer manager for Parker Brothers, and as a game designer for Milton Bradley.

Keifer has designed games for many other well-known companies, including the Walt Disney Company, Spin Master, Warner Brothers, Universal, and Nickelodeon. His team created over 20 games for the Harry Potter brand including the award-winning Harry Potter Levitating Challenge and established UNO as the #1 family games brand with games like UNO Attack.

Keifer currently focuses on inventing games for all platforms and mediums. He is expanding this talent into concepting game shows for several well-known Hollywood production companies. Jim Keifer is also a prolific fine art painter and cartoonist. In 2009 he became the officially authorized fine artist for Monopoly, The Art! (Licensed by Hasbro). In collaboration with internationally collected artist Kathleen Keifer - painting as J&K Keifer - their original and limited edition art series to release next will be: Scrabble, The Art!

Board game artists Jim and Kathleen Keifer also recreated oil paintings featuring Monopoly game pieces on board squares and loaned them to Atlantic City Weekly's Then & Now in 2010 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the board game Monopoly and the 36th anniversary of Atlantic City Weekly. These works of art were part of the couple's "Art of the Game" series that also includes the game Scrabble.

Awards

• In 2004, his team won the 2004 Toy of the Year Award from the Toy Industry Association for the Scene It? DVD game.
• He also invented Screaming Eagles which was awarded Best Game of 1988 by Games Magazine.

Go to keiferart.com for more.

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From the designer:
Jim started in the Game industry as a game designer for Milton Bradley (1985-1989), became a Design Manager for Parker Brothers (1991-1992), and Senior Director of Game Design for Mattel (1992-2007). Jim is Currently Vice President of Game Design for Spin Master Inc.