Nicolas Bouvier

Nicolas Bouvier, more commonly known as Sparth, was the Senior Art Director at 343 Industries. In addition to serving as a concept artist for Halo 4, his work has been utilized in the cover art of several 343 Industries titles, namely Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, the Forerunner Saga novels Cryptum, Primordium, and Silentium, the novella Halo: Smoke and Shadow, and the reference book Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo. In Halo: Evolutions, he provided artwork for the poems Beyond and Acheron-VII. In Halo: Escalation, he provided artworks for the covers of the comic series in issues #6, #7, and #17. Bouvier will also provide the cover art for the upcoming The Art of Halo Infinite.

Born in France, he now lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife, Lorene, and his three children, Arthur, Leopold, and Zelie. He has been an art director and concept designer for the gaming industry since 1996, and has contributed to the development of several released games since 1997, including Alone in the Dark 4, Cold Fear, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and Assassin’s Creed. Bouvier has illustrated numerous book covers, and recurring themes in his art include sweeping futuristic vistas, massive structures and otherworldly landscapes.

In January 2009, he joined Microsoft, to work on the Halo franchise. In January 2014, he was promoted to Senior Art Director, after Kenneth Scott decided to have another role within 343 Industries.

On July 2022, Sparth announced that, after 14 years working on Halo, he would left 343 Industries and pursue other opportunities outside Microsoft.