Marathon concept art by Joseph Cross
Completed June 29 to July 10, 2026
Summer 2026 · Archive

SUMMER
WORKSHOPS

Two 5-day intensives with the artists behind Marathon, Destiny, Dune, and The Creator. Held at ConceptCore School in Arcueil, Paris. Both workshops are over; this page stays up as the record of what happened.

June 29 to July 10, 2026 Arcueil, Paris Workshops completed Back in Summer 2027
The final day photo What we covered
The final day

THAT'S A
WRAP

Taken at ConceptCore School on the last day. Two weeks, two workshops, one room full of artists. Thank you to everyone who came, and to Joseph, Simon, and Sheng for teaching.

Group photo of the Summer Workshops 2026 class at ConceptCore School, Arcueil
// Final day · Summer Workshops 2026 ConceptCore School · Arcueil, Paris
The program

Two workshops.
Here's what each week covered.

Workshop 01
01
June 29 to July 3, 2026 · Completed

World
building

Over 5 days, each participant built their own world from the ground up, drawing directly from Joseph's process on Marathon, Destiny, Dune, Dead Space, and Foundation. Joseph and Simon specialise in character-driven worldbuilding: the factions, silhouettes, uniforms, and equipment that make a universe feel real and inhabited. Everyone left with a personal world project anchored by its core characters and visual language, developed with daily feedback from the artists who shaped Marathon at Bungie.

Joseph Cross
Joseph Cross
Ex-Franchise Art Director, Marathon (Bungie)
Destiny · Dune · Dead Space · Ghost in the Shell · Foundation
14 years at Bungie. He coined Marathon's "Graphic Realism", the visual system behind the 2023 reveal that stopped the internet.
ArtStation
Simon Tosovsky
Simon Tosovsky
Concept Artist, Marathon (Bungie)
Total War: Warhammer · Fortnite · Raid: Shadow Legends
Czech concept artist based in London. Joseph pulled him onto Marathon. Also teaches character design in Paris.
ArtStation
Day 1 · Joseph on-site
Joseph opened the week in-person with his process on Marathon. How "graphic realism" became the backbone of the world, and how factions and characters anchored it. He set the creative brief: the world each artist would build that week.
Day 2 · Simon on-site
World-building started. Simon worked alongside everyone in the room, guiding visual research, validation, and early design decisions around faction structure and core silhouettes.
Day 3 · Simon on-site
Character and faction development. Silhouettes, equipment, uniforms, gear. The elements that make a world feel inhabited. Daily 1-on-1 feedback from Simon on visual language and consistency.
Day 4 · Simon on-site
Worlds refined into cohesive packages. Characters, environments, and visual language all speaking the same dialect. Simon helped everyone prepare their final presentation.
Day 5 · Joseph & Simon on-site
Joseph returned and joined Simon in the room to review every project personally. Together they critiqued each world, its characters, and its visual choices, then showed exactly how to elevate them. The same feedback loop Joseph ran with his teams at Bungie.
Their work and projects
Marathon, Stealth Runner by Joseph Cross
Marathon, Stealth Runner · Joseph Cross
Marathon, Thief Runner by Joseph Cross
Marathon, Thief · Joseph Cross
Marathon, Announcement Art by Joseph Cross
Marathon, Announcement · Joseph Cross
Destiny 2, Deep Stone Crypt by Joseph Cross
Destiny 2, Deep Stone Crypt · Joseph Cross
Foundation, Imperial Guards by Joseph Cross
Foundation, Imperial Guards · Joseph Cross
Basketball by Simon Tosovsky
Basketball · Simon Tosovsky
Vibe by Simon Tosovsky
Vibe · Simon Tosovsky
Environment by Simon Tosovsky
Environment · Simon Tosovsky
Character by Simon Tosovsky
Character · Simon Tosovsky
Workshop 02
02
July 6 to 10, 2026 · Completed

Design
Workshop

A workshop on the principles of design and how to build a personal ideation process. Sheng Lam walked the class through his own: reading references, extracting ingredients, combining themes, and turning raw ideas into iconic, coherent work. Everyone applied the method through a prop ecosystem project, with principles that carry to characters, environments, vehicles, or anything else you design.

Sheng Lam
Sheng Lam
Concept Artist, ILM, Firewalk Studios
The Creator · Concord · Jusant · Star Citizen
Known online as @8bitwizard. His HanZi series of props built around Chinese typography is a reference in hard-surface design.
ArtStation
Day 1
Inspiration and the creative muscle. Sheng introduced his method: the observing eye vs. the perceiving eye. How everyday objects, food science, and cultural traditions become raw material for design ideas. Everyone picked a world and started gathering references.
Day 2
Extracting design ingredients. Breaking any reference down into its key components: proportions, shapes, hierarchy. First "recipe lists" built, then the cooking began: rearranging ingredients into new prop concepts.
Day 3
Theme combination and art direction. Combining unexpected themes to create something original. The way Blasphemous mixed Spanish folk tradition with dark gothic, or how Sheng turned social media brands into retro audio hardware. Applied directly to each prop ecosystem.
Day 4
Time to cook. Designs scaled up, variations pushed, and learning when to pull back. Sheng covered over-detailing pitfalls, readability hierarchy, and how to maintain consistency across a full collection of props.
Day 5
Final presentations. Sheng reviewed every project, critiquing each prop ecosystem, recipe list, and creative decision. Everyone left with a coherent collection and a repeatable ideation process to apply to any future project.
His work
Potify, Social Media Devices by Sheng Lam
Potify, Social Media Devices · Sheng Lam
Phasebook, Social Media Devices by Sheng Lam
Phasebook · Sheng Lam
Tweeter, Social Media Devices by Sheng Lam
Tweeter · Sheng Lam
Concord, Air Vents by Sheng Lam
Concord, Props · Sheng Lam
Toilet Paper Props by Sheng Lam
Toilet Paper Props · Sheng Lam
Jusant, Don't Nod by Sheng Lam
Jusant, Don't Nod · Sheng Lam
How it ran

EVERYTHING
PROVIDED

Nobody brought gear. Every desk was fully equipped and ready to go; people sat down and started creating. That was the deal, and it held.

Workstation provided
High-end computer with dual screens at every desk, fully configured and ready.
Wacom tablet provided
An Intuos tablet ready at every desk. Nobody had to bring their own.
Software pre-installed
Photoshop and all standard industry tools, set up before day one.
Daily feedback
Direct mentorship from industry professionals every single day.
Final review
Personalized critique of every project from the lead instructor.
30 hours of work
10 AM to 5 PM daily with a 1 hour lunch break. 5 full days.
Location

CONCEPTCORE
SCHOOL

23-25 Avenue Jeanne d'Arc
94110 Arcueil, France
Getting here
RER B, Laplace station. 15 minutes from central Paris.
The space
Professional studio with high-end workstations, dual screens, and Wacom tablets at every desk.
A6a · PORTE D'ORLEANS → MONTROUGE LE CHAPERON VERT GENTILLY ARCUEIL 48.80°N 02.33°E // CONCEPTCORE 23-25 AV. JEANNE D'ARC RER LAPLACE N 0 500 M LOCATION
Registration

REGISTRATION
CLOSED

Both workshops ran in summer 2026. There is nothing to book on this page anymore; it stays online as the archive. The next edition opens registration in 2027.

Workshop 01
Worldbuilding
June 29 to July 3, 2026 · Joseph Cross & Simon Tosovsky
Completed
Workshop 02
Design Workshop
July 6 to 10, 2026 · Sheng Lam
Completed
Next edition

SEE YOU IN
2027

Summer Workshops return next year. Same room in Arcueil, same format: five days, one project, daily feedback from working AAA artists. The 2027 lineup will be announced on conceptcore.co.

conceptcore.co info@conceptcore.co