Copyright 2006 Todd Harris
Video Game Designers and artists are a hot commodity in the business world today. They turn their creative ideas, art, and music into a game that works and let’s gamer’s play.
You may find this hard to believe, but playing video games is a major first step to this winning career.
Although a love of gaming is a big priority, there are certain skills that one must also have to make it in this lucrative and fun industry. But acquiring these skills is not difficult when you are driven by passion for games and excitement.
Whether your love for games falls under sports, action, RPG, strategy or education, there’s a job that can fit your skills and passion.
The video game industry is strong and growing immensely and is a great opportunity for a career. Especially for artists and designers. As innovation and technology in art and design improves, so does the demand for these positions.
Every development company operates a little differently but there are some general descriptions for certain jobs. This article focuses on design and art jobs.
So what do designers do? They are the fun factor of the game. A game designer is in charge of making the mission, theme, and vision all go together to create a fun game. If the game is not fun, then the designer has failed.
Designing is a multi-faceted job from concept to feel of the game to game play. They work closely with artists and concept artists. Story telling is also a big part of the designers job.
There’s a winning formula for people like you, who have a passion for games, to follow in order to create your own intellectual property (IP) and pitch it. The great thing about the formula is, although it takes a lot of hard work, that it works! So, if you want to create and design your own video game from idea to the shelves, it is possible.
Designing takes passion, skills, creativity, and training. One important skill you’ll need as a designer is communication. They need to be able to communicate with the artists and programmers. They lead the development team and make sure it implements the game concept.
With today’s technology, grabbing the gamer’s attention is all important to the artists. During the different stages of game development, artists responsibilities can range from creating the concept of the game to drawing sketches of others ideas.
There are several pro’s and con’s to working in the video game industry, mostly pro’s. Let’s take a look at the good news of gaming and being a designer or artist in this industry.
Typically, designers and artists love the challenge of creating and this is an industry conducive to creativity. Getting paid to do what you love, play games, solve puzzles, is a definite pro.
Being able to combine art and technology is a definite pro as well. But there are more perks as well. Most game companies offer little perks such as free food, onsite gyms, casual work environment, no set in stone hours, and no dress code!
Okay, so the best perk is probably when you get a free copy of what you have worked so hard on to accomplish, your own game!
So, now a few cons to the industry. Game development isn’t always so fun. Often times when a milestone or deadline comes up, you have to work many late nights. A 12-14 hour day isn’t uncommon during some of these periods.
One other con to the industry is that sometimes games don’t make it to the shelves, They get cancelled and that can be very disappointing.
The good things about this industry outweigh any of the negatives by far. If you are interested in having a fun, passionate, lucrative, winning career, video games may just be the right business for you.
Todd Harris is a concept art director for a multi-billion dollar industry who has been in the video game industry close to 15 years with several titles shelved. For more information on how to become a video game designer or artist visit www.gamedesigner101.com for all the information you need and to sign up for a free newsletter with tips, tricks, and info on how to succeed and get a winning career.
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