To me it seems you have a communication issue, rather than something that can be fixed by using tools or adding a person to the team to correct the mistakes your team makes. It's best to prevent making mistakes by improving your communication.

The designer

I'm going to assume (for now) you have a designer. (Not the same as an artist!)

The designer maintains a creative vision of the final product, and determines what assets are required to put that vision together. The artists then create the assets according to the specs (dimensions, file type, etc.) the designer provided, and the programmers implement the gameplay rules and include the artwork into the code.

Basically, both the artists and the programmers work for the designer. The designer acts as a go-between for the two disciplines, and needs to know both the technical and the artistic limitations, and keep the user experience in mind at all times.

Collaborate design

Now, if you don't have a designer, it's a little more tricky. That means your entire team needs to act as a designer in a collaborate way. You should plan sessions to discuss what features are required, what art assets are required to implement those features, and how best to implement them.

The most important thing is that you write down everything you agreed upon; what has to be implemented before the feature is considered completed, and what technical requirements it has to conform to.

Mixing both styles

You can have both a designer and design your game in a collaborate way. This allows for more creative input from both the programmers and the artists, and often results in ideas the designer did not think of. It also helps to communicate both the technical and artistic limitations to all three disciplines while having the designer maintain a clear product vision.

To me it seems you have a communication issue, rather than something that can be fixed by using tools or adding a person to the team to correct the mistakes your team makes. It's best to prevent making mistakes by improving your communication.

The designer

I'm going to assume (for now) you have a designer. (Not the same as an artist!)

The designer maintains a creative vision of the final product, and determines what assets are required to put that vision together. The artists then create the assets according to the specs (dimensions, file type, etc.) the designer provided, and the programmers implement the gameplay rules and include the artwork into the code.

Basically, both the artists and the programmers work for the designer. The designer acts as a go-between for the two disciplines, and needs to know both the technical and the artistic limitations, and keep the user experience in mind at all times.

Collaborate design

Now, if you don't have a designer, it's a little more tricky. That means your entire team needs to act as a designer in a collaborate way. You should plan sessions to discuss what features are required, what art assets are required to implement those features, and how best to implement them.

The most important thing is that you write down everything you agreed upon; what has to be implemented before the feature is considered completed, and what technical requirements it has to conform to.

Mixing both styles

You can have both a designer and design your game in a collaborate way. This allows for more creative input from both the programmers and the artists, and often results in ideas the designer did not think of. It also helps to communicate both the technical and artistic limitations to all three disciplines while having the designer maintain a clear product vision.

Further reading

For further reading on collaborate project management, I suggest looking into Agile, Scrum and Valve's Cable methods:

• Agile Game Development With Scrum, by Clinton Keith
• Valve Handbook for New Employees