HAL HEFNER
ARTIST | ILLUSTRATOR | ANIMATOR |
CREATIVE DIRECTOR | PROFESSOR

An artist by birth and a storyteller at heart, Hal blends illustration, design, writing, and strategy to craft immersive digital and physical experiences. Best known for his CONSUME pop art series, a bold critique of greed, corruption, and media influence. His work has been exhibited worldwide and shared millions of times online. In 2016, CONSUME was a featured centerpiece of Glastonbury Festival’s Shangri-La, visually amplifying its Media Hell, Truth and Lies theme alongside artists like Banksy, Shepard Fairey and Darren Cullen.

Beyond fine art, Hal has worked across movies, TV/streaming, books, video games, magazines, comics, storyboards, merch and ad campaigns. He wrote and illustrated Gates, Heavy Metal Magazine’s first webcomic, and created Tales of Honor, an Honor Harrington series for Evergreen Studios. 

As a dual-threat Creative Director, he merges art, design, writing, and multimedia execution, from concepting and storyboarding to video direction, editing, and motion graphics. Having worked with such innovators as Ridley Scott and his company 3AM on the Martian and with Fourth Wall Studios and their Emmy award winning digital interactive series Dirty Work, Hal has done everything from conceptualizing, ideation, writing and art direction, to producing projects.

A dedicated educator, Hal is also a Professor of Transmedia Storytelling at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he helps shape the next generation of multimedia creators. 

He is the founder and creative director of CATMONKEY, a Los Angeles-based creative agency and transmedia studio, dedicated to making meaningful work that pushes the boundaries of media storytelling.

Hal is one of the cofounders of NERD HORROR, a horror centric media company founded in 2024 where he is creating transmedia horror stories and building a robust community of horror enthusiasts.

CLIENT LIST
Google, DeviantArt, Netflix, Amazon Studios, HBOmax, HULU, AdBusters Magazine, Paramount, Quibi, SYFY channel, Peacock,Ignition, NFL, Fox Studios, Fox Consumer Products, Paramount, Nike, Rooster Teeth, Sony  Ignition, the Utopian Technology Foundation, G2 (Geometry Global), Heavy Metal, Fourth Wall Studios, The Shadow Gang, Team Zenyatta, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Mile 9, Han Solo Adventures (video game), Hero Games, Evil Hat Productions, Spacedog Entertainment, Breygent Marketing, Alderac Entertainment Group, Nifty Comics, Strange Horizons, Nova Eth Publishing, Gensler / Studio 585, Coca Cola, DirecTV, E-vite / Citysearch, California Tan, Fractal Dimensions, Hustler magazine, Penthouse, Jay Comics, Star Wars Day celebration, Eleventh Hour, Challenging Destiny Magazine, Shadis Magazine, California Tan, Basement Games, Fractal Dimensions, Fractal Spectrum Magazine, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, FILTER, Rochester Space and Science Center, Hanna Design, Perkins & Will, Toyota, Gold’s Gym, BLT and more.