Greg Ferris is a legendary pinball artist and art director at Stern Pinball with a career spanning multiple decades. He served as Studio Art Director and later transitioned to a mentorship role, overseeing art direction for major titles including Star Trek, King Kong, Star Wars, Mandalorian, and John Wick. Known for his distinctive artistic style, color matching expertise, and Easter egg designs, Ferris recently retired after contributing playfield artwork to King Kong as a final project.
No aliases
Greg Ferris was the studio art director who mentored Chuck Ernst and helped establish his 'Video Art Director' title
Greg Ferris is artist on Truck Stop's art package; also worked on King Kong
Kong playfield art palette and majority was designed by Greg Ferris, not Jeremy Packard; Packard focused on cabinet art
Greg Ferris was approached to do one final project ('Rodeo') before retirement, declined initially, then agreed months later when contacted by Sebastian
Famous pinball art director referenced during Q&A; known for identifying playfield design as the primary challenge for first-time pinball artists.
Pinball designer/industry figure mentioned by Franchi as 'rock star'
Artist who designed Spooky ghost character; mentioned regarding character design decisions
Industry figure Ritchie met at the Round Robin restaurant near Chicago
Print art director at Stern Pinball; holds institutional knowledge about print art and trapped printing terminology
Industry professional involved in Guns N' Roses video production; came to JJP facility and reacted positively to the game
No linked glossary terms
Greg Ferris, Stern's art director, created iconic artwork for Bally Valley games including Harlem Globetrotters, Rolling Stones, Fathom, Strange Science, Dr. Dude, Party Zone, and Elvira series, plus Dutch Pinball titles
Greg Ferris worked at Stern Pinball for nearly 12 years and started his career at Bally in the late 1970s with Harlem Globetrotters
Greg Ferris drew the Spooky Pinball ghost logo on a napkin at MGC without compensation
Greg Ferris is currently the head of art at Stern Pinball
The haunted house structure uses RGB LEDs to dynamically change colors by mode theme
The haunted house story features B-movie monsters escaping their films and haunting Elvira's house in retaliation for her TV mockery
Greg Ferris is currently the art director at Stern Pinball
WhizBang Pinball was conceived in 2009 after Greg Ferris and Dennis Nordman had breakfast at Cafe Mecca in Seattle following the Northwest Pinball Show
The first production run had incorrect wood trim color on the first six games due to a manufacturing choice error
Dennis Nordman was laid off on 'Shane Black Thursday,' a Williams downsizing day, after completing Scared Stiff
The original Continental Cafe cabinet had a hand-written date (4-13-56) inside indicating inspection completion
Kerry Hemming's 'pin kit' modular conversion system was instrumental in enabling three solid-state versions of the game after the initial EM prototype
The first public playflip of Big Juicy Melons occurred in spring 2010 at the Milwaukee show, approximately 9 months after the July 2009 concept
Marvel made zero requested changes to Franchi's initial art submission, possibly unprecedented for Marvel pinball projects
Industry figure at Williams and Stern; present during Williams shutdown announcement; worked on early Stern projects
Classic pinball game artist who created art packages for games in the early 1980s (e.g., Frontier, Skateball). Keith Elwin currently collaborates with him to understand design decisions.
Designer of Captain Fantastic pinball machine; mentioned in KB as having connections to Williams and Jersey Jack
Artist responsible for Fathom artwork package, widely regarded as one of the greatest art packages in pinball history
Participated in Elvira 3 seminar with Dennis Norman and Cassandra Peterson
Pinball back glass artwork designer; created artwork for Bally and later Stern games including Harlem Globetrotters, Fathom, Frontier, Hot Dog, Skateball, and Elvira titles
Person Thompson met through Seattle pinball community; attended early shows
Pinball industry professional who hired Franchi at Stern in 2016 with two-week deadline for Batman artwork; facilitated approvals with George Gomez and Gary Stern
Assisted with art direction for John Wick Pinball (mentioned uncertainly by Orville)
Artist credited for Elvira's House of Horrors artwork; subject of comparison to Christopher Franchi
Artist on Elvira's House of Horrors (Premium Edition); described as one of the great artists in the industry
Legendary Bally/Williams art director who hired Kevin O'Connor, co-founded Bally art department with Margaret Hudson, worked as drummer in O'Connor's band The Hypnos, later became art director at Stern
Legendary pinball artist and designer at Valley, Williams, Jersey Jack Pinball, and Stern; co-founder of WhizBang Pinball with Dennis Nordman
Hired by Faris as photographer at Bally; became artist; designed Skateball, Black Pyramid, Elvira's House of Horrors, Dr. Dude, Party Animal, Attack from Mars, The Rolling Stones; currently art director at Stern Pinball
Pinball artist who created the Shane Black Pyramid backglass (1984) and the Spooky Pinball logo on a napkin at MGC
Artist who contributed to King Kong playfield design alongside Kevin O'Connor.
Artist for Elvira House of Horrors; contributed to design features
Stern Pinball artist; collaborated on Kong artwork package
Artist who created Fathom's iconic backglass artwork, widely regarded as one of the greatest art packages in pinball history
Legendary artist who retired as head of Stern Pinball art department mid-2024
Artist/designer who worked meticulously on Beatles Pinball art palette and visual design alongside Chris Franchi.
Pinball personality mentioned as giving presentation on pinball history
Artist who worked on Game of Thrones game art; present at event doing autographs
Artist responsible for all three Elvira's House of Horrors games' artwork; discussed theme integration and creative development
Designer of Whoa Nellie (1933 Bally machine)
Legendary pinball illustrator credited on Kong LE back glass, side cabinet decals, and art blades artwork
Jersey Jack Pinball artwork designer; created visual identity for early games
Designer/creative partner; worked with John Norris on storyline and rules; mentioned as person Mueller consulted with in 2016
Pinball artist who retired but returned to contribute to King Kong playfield design
Creator of back glass prints sold through Pinball Life
Guest interview subject for episode (teased at beginning, not detailed in provided content)
Collaborator with Gomez at Stern Pinball; participated in internet search that discovered Christopher Franchi for Batman artwork
Art director at Stern during Franchi's early tenure; tasked with managing Franchi's output and behavior; received pressure from Gomez
Pinball artist at Stern; primary contributor to Kong playfield art palette and design
Artist/designer credited with work on Truck Stop's art package; also associated with King Kong
Legendary pinball artist and art director at Stern Pinball for nearly four decades; created iconic artwork for Valley Bally games (Harlem Globetrotters, Rolling Stones, Fathom, Strange Science, Dr. Dude, Party Zone, Elvira series) and Dutch Pinball titles; retiring
Stern Pinball artist; Jeff addresses him directly suggesting Jackson as potential addition to artist roster
Pinball designer who created Elvira and the Party Monsters with Dennis Nordman; known for party-themed game design
Artist contributing to Kong art package; appears to specialize in comic book illustration style
Stern Pinball artist; called out Franchi's accidental leak of next Packer game at seminar
Stern art director on Guardians project; mediated between Franchi and Borg; reportedly noted zero changes to Marvel approval was unprecedented
Bally artist who designed Rolling Stones artwork; currently head of art at Stern Pinball
Bally artist; created Fathom artwork described as 'possibly the greatest artwork ever on a game' by hosts.
Artist on King Kong playfield
Stern Pinball art director who retired after nearly 12 years. Started at Bally in late 1970s; worked on iconic games including Elvira trilogy and Batman 66. Established freelance company 'Greg Ferris Illustrated.'
Artist for Elvira's House of Horrors; Art Director at Stern Pinball; part of Whizbang Studios with Dennis Nordman; his daughter Lindsay also credited on game
Stern designer of Star Trek pinball; cited by Jonathan regarding licensing difficulty disclosure timing during game sales period.
Confirmed artist for Stern's Elvira 3 pinball (per Dennis Nordman); not Christopher Franchi.
Staff member at Stern; passionate advocate for Elvira; contributed to Elvira game development as creative driver
Artist at Bally/Williams (met Jerry at 2004 Expo); spontaneously solved Beatles bonus sound creative block; collaborated on multiple Stern projects; helped facilitate Wonelli game pairing.
Bally artist (backglass art); part of all-hands BMX art collaboration; worked on multiple Class of 1981 titles.
Legendary pinball artist with 40+ years at Bally/Williams/Stern; speaker of this presentation; known for character-driven backglass and playfield art
Retired Stern artist who contributed playfield artwork to King Kong as 'one last rodeo' despite initially declining. Known for Congo artwork and Easter eggs. Project codename 'Rodeo' referenced his potential involvement.
Pinball backglass artist; created Phantom artwork; second favorite artist per Cunningham
Artist at Bally; created themes and artwork for multiple Ward Pemberton games including Fathom and BMX; later head of art department
Stern art department member; worked on Pinball 2000 Revenge from Mars intro storyboards; talented artist who created key animation sequences with Scott Sanders
Original artist for Pinball 2000 cabinet side artwork; creator references and repurposed his designs in the modification
Contributed King Kong artwork to Pinball at the Beach merchandise alongside Christopher Franchi
Art director at Stern Pinball; recruited Randy Martinez; mentored Martinez through Star Wars Comic Edition, Mandalorian, and John Wick projects; retired; handles color matching and final aesthetic decisions
Playfield artist credited/blamed for excessive insert design on King Kong
Stern art department member credited with matching artwork colors in physical production
Iconic pinball artist; worked on King Kong artwork; designer recalls Frontier as favorite childhood game
Legendary pinball illustrator contributing to art package
Artist at Stern, contributed to art direction and previous Star Trek pinball game ~18 years ago
Williams art department contact who helped JP transition to Jersey Jack; facilitated career path after Williams closure
VP at Stern Pinball (implied leadership position); facilitated Packer's entry into Stern work starting with Ghostbusters; helps match Packer's creative strengths with projects
Former/Previous Studio Art Director at Stern Pinball; involved in title creation for Chuck Ernst