Phil Shenk

Phil Shenk was the lead artist for Diablo II and its expansion.

Blizzard North
"It looked like a fly-by-night operation, but it was busy. It was bustling. Everybody was active. It was energetic. But it wasn't at all what I'd thought it would be. It didn't come across as a well-oiled machine. It came across as a bunch of guys who'd just bought some office space and were just moving full-steam ahead."

- Phil Shenk, reflecting on his first day at Blizzard North

Shenk got his start in the videogame industry by designing graphics for pinball games at Cinematronics. After the studio was purchased by Maxis, he helped design Crucible. In June 1997, Electronic Arts purchased Maxis, and announced its decision to shut down Cinematronics while having Maxis focus on Sim City. Uninterested in modeling roads and buildings, Shenk followed up on an offer from Matt Householder, and came to join Blizzard North. He was assigned to work on Diablo II. Utilizing 3D Studio Max, he redesigned the Amazon class, which had previously been designed by Kris Renkewitz. He later worked with Jon Morin, designing the "paper doll" system of class modification in the game.

Post-Blizzard
Shenk went on to found Flagship Studios and Gravity Bear.

Trivia

 * Shenk the Overseer may be named in reference to him.