The style, design, look, and feel of a game are the first interactions between the game and the player. These ideas were first founded by a Concept Artist. Concepts Artists are crucial to the gaming industry because without discovering many ideas that don’t work, it would be quite hard to find the best ideas that could land a AAA title. Concept Artists are the innovators and idea starters of introducing a concept to both the game development team and the whole world. The reason this job is one I am setting a goal to obtain is because It is important to me to be able to offer new perspectives and ideas to the world through visual communication experienced by the player.
Several valuable tasks are given to the Concept Artist at the beginning of game creation. They are the first ones to make the story come alive. A Concept Artists role on a team is to build a vision for the future game. They set out to build something the whole team can latch onto so that everyone is on the same page. Often times jobs in game development are more invested in your personality and who you are as a person. They will test you to see if you will make a good fit for the team. A good example is when Goldilocks in “Goldilocks and The Three Bears” tries a little bit of everything before finding the perfect bowl of porridge. The team wants to find just the right person like Goldilocks found all the right things for her. Most importantly, Game development teams want to hire members that are easy to work with. I am going to use a Senior Concept Artist application posted by a studio named Mutant Arm as an example of what kinds of traits are looked for in the individual applying. Mutant Arm states “Our goal is to build and maintain a focused group of game-makers, who are looking to approach game development in a creative and holistic way, and truly connect with players.” This is a list of irreplaceable characteristics teams look for when hiring Concept Artists;
Effective communication of complex ideas verbally and visually to all team members in a way that they clearly understand the main goal or objective.
The ability to take constructive criticism and feedback on concepts for the game. They must also be able to let go of ideas that don’t make it into the game.
A love of games as well as the ability to talk about what you do and don't like about a game.
A positive attitude. Someone who can mesh well with the whole team.
Mutant Arm Studios also mentioned, “‘ Let’s make some seriously cool games, with some seriously cool people.’”. They really care about the person being a good fit for the team.
This is completely understandable and I have already witnessed this in the Game Development club at my school. Working with people that are easy to get along with makes the process much smoother. Even if an individual on the team has amazing ideas and technical skills, it won't really matter if they get in a fight with team members about their ideas every time the concepts are talked about. This could cause the team relationship to suffer which will overall begin impacting the quality of work produced. Another valuable trait that I personally think is important for a lead position is leadership.
Again, I have already experienced this on my team. It can be easy to want to take over and control all of the concepts are art direction, however, it is also important to build trust with your teammates so you can help them grow as individuals so that everyone can put in their best possible efforts to the team.
The second most important thing is the technical skills that are required to create good looking art. This is where drawing, and creativity plays a huge importance. The following list is also pulled from the Mutant Arm job post searching for a Senior Concept Artist.
Strong traditional art skills such as; spatial relationships, color theory, light, line, and form, mood, and tone, perspective and proportion, movement and pose.
Amazing 2D design and rendering skills.
Sketching, Thumbnailing, storyboarding, creating model sheets, lighting keys, as well as paint-overs and rough schematics.
Must be able to ideate and iterate quickly and clearly during Prototyping and Viz Dev phases of development.
The ability to work in multiple different art styles, as well as the desire to create new ones!
Expert understanding of Adobe photoshop. Experience with 3d software a plus. Traditional media a plus!
These are the most important skills an aspiring Concept Artist should look to master. These traditional skills are important for execution on ideas for the game. The more impressive a game's visuals, the more likely it is to get seen and interacted with by gamers. Which is the ultimate goal for game developers.
My Final thoughts on becoming a Concept Artist still emphasizes how crucial they are to getting the game started on the right foot. Without good ideas and innovation, the game is likely to fall flat or become a lot like games that already exist. The power Concept Artists have create endless possibilities to make something iconic for all gamers to remember which can have an everlasting impact on the gaming community. The interpersonal skills and technical knowledge listed above is what I should be living by if I wish to become a Concept Artist someday. This way I will be able to impact the development of a game from the ground up and be able to one day create something unforgettable.