Aesthetics play a huge role in shaping modern video games. Visuals determine how immersive gaming worlds feel and how connected players are to the main characters. These visuals need to feel cohesive, otherwise, a potentially exciting game can begin to feel jarring, quickly taking players ‘out’ of what should feel like an all-encompassing experience.
Given the vast scope of today’s games, this cohesive effect is increasingly difficult to achieve. Each new level or environment brings an additional opportunity for irrelevant details to enter the picture. To keep visual storytelling on track, game designers and artists rely on a central vision. This is best conveyed through concept art, which forms a valuable blueprint for the entire game development process.
To reveal the power and potential of concept art for games, we will discuss this game development essential in detail. Keep reading to discover the secrets of character concept art and environment design for games and learn how to become a concept artist so you can guide this process.
What Is Concept Art in Game Development?
Concept art provides a structured approach to developing compelling gaming ideas, which, if clearly defined and understood, can lead to more compelling characters and a powerful story. When done right, concept art sets the stage for every other aspect of game development, ensuring that throughout each twist and turn, the game feels like a cohesive experience.
Defining Concept Art
Concept art forms a visual representation of core video game themes and ideas. This is not to be confused with conceptual art — a contemporary genre in which the concept that underscores art is deemed more important than the completed visual representation. Concept art is crucial because it not only conveys the idea but also serves as a blueprint for the game’s style, characters, and environment.
The Role of Concept Artists
Although many team members can contribute to concept art, the process is increasingly led by dedicated concept artists who create visual guides to steer the rest of the development.
This role may currently be in demand, but it’s far from new. It originated nearly a century ago, with the rise of animation. Early concept artists such as Disney’s Mary Blair created imaginative paintings to inspire the captivating styles of iconic films like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland.
The Importance of Concept Art in Game Development
Offering a powerful and practical foundation to guide the entire game development process, concept art forms the bridge between loose ideas and actual game assets. This ensures that the game’s creative vision is properly conveyed to development teams, thereby preventing later inconsistencies or misunderstandings. When done right, environment and character design concept art will achieve the following:
Visualizing the Game World
Today’s gamers love to virtually explore immersive environments, which, ideally, will feel both detailed and cohesive. This can make the gaming experience feel like an exciting adventure, even before adding gameplay mechanics or level design to the mix. Due to these elements and their intricate interplay, today’s games hold the power to transport players to new places and times.
However, it takes meticulous planning to achieve this effect, and it all begins with environment concept art. Concept art is crucial for shaping the game’s overall aesthetic, bringing descriptions like ‘post-apocalyptic’ or ‘steampunk’ to life. From there, collaborative developers and designers can draw inspiration, visualizing evocative concept art as they determine which details best fit into the game.
Communicating Ideas and Concepts
There are many ways to establish gaming narratives and convey core ideas, but concept art forms the basis for effective communication. This is achieved not only through the video game environment design, but also through character design and even via gameplay indicators.
For example, concept art can help reveal the sense of scale or the game’s perspective: first-person, third-person, or top-down. These perspectives, in turn, influence the overall messaging and thematic content.
A variety of visual cues can help reinforce the game’s central narrative or themes. Fashion and architecture are particularly important, offering cultural signifiers that help players promptly grasp the game’s purpose and central message. This visual form of communication plays into a central ethos surrounding visual storytelling in games: show, don’t tell.
Setting the Mood and Atmosphere
Concept art provides an early chance to set the game’s mood, shaping the overall feeling that surrounds the player throughout their experience, regardless of where they are in the story. This is what makes sprawling games feel cohesive and what makes games emotionally impactful.
Many factors influence the mood or game feel, ranging from level design to ambient sounds. Still, character depictions and environmental imagery provides the most immediate glimpse into each game’s atmosphere and can promptly evoke very specific emotions or responses. This shapes visual storytelling in games.
The Concept Art Process in Game Development
This process begins with understanding the game’s genre, setting and lore, with many artists drawing inspiration from concept or art bibles that contain key facts about each setting. From there, concept artists may seek historic references (if relevant) or even inspiration from other games. Quick sketches help artists explore early ideas, with experimentation strongly encouraged.
Shape language helps ensure that terrain or structures in early sketches align with the game’s tone. For example, rounded or exaggerated shapes suit an anime setting, while sharp angles fit bleak, sci-fi worlds. Eventually, artists may add details such as foliage, lighting or even props to help tell the story of the game.
Research and Gathering References
Concept art should be heavily researched. Artists draw on a wealth of inspiration, gathered not only from respected games, but also from television, film and visual art. Many game designers and artists also find inspiration in their own childhoods, often thinking back to impactful experiences or environments.
Nintendo’s legendary Shigeru Miyamoto, for example, highlights the power of the natural world, explaining that those lacking inspiration can find a wealth of it by heading outside. “If it’s a nice day, you know, go experience outside…there’s an important factor that it’s your personal experience. Then when it links with the experience you’re having with this virtual entertainment, that’s when the joy, the fun factor, really explodes exponentially.”
Sketching and Iteration
Through iterations, concept artists refine initial sketches, adding extra details or removing elements that do not fit with the overarching theme. Because this is a highly collaborative process, feedback loops can be expected. Initial sketches may be presented to development teams or art directors, who can provide valuable insight on the extent to which early designs fit the game’s narrative.
Some game artists use value sketching to define light and dark areas, quickly conveying the overall mood. This strives to define contrast so that the composition can be easily perceived and understood. According to a study from the Journal of Design and Textiles, value sketching represents “one of the most significant development steps” because it “offers a quick depth, while keeping the possibility of iterations limited.”
While many concept artists focus on traditional sketching techniques, some may use digital illustrations or other technical tools to enhance this process or to streamline editing through various iterations. The previously mentioned Journal of Design and Textiles offers an overview of the concept art process, which references the use of photo-bashing, in which photographic elements are incorporated to enhance realism while still maintaining a time-efficient process.
Concept art may encompass many variations, involving small, but impactful adjustments to the textures, the lighting, the color palette, and more. Concept artists may also test various angles or points of view to determine which best convey the desired mood or atmosphere.
Finalizing Concepts for Production
Eventually, creative processes must give way to the meat and potatoes of game development. This is where the finalizing process comes into play. Following numerous rounds of sketching, artists should be prepared for internal reviews, often involving creative directors.
Internal reviews assess design consistency with the game’s themes and address practical concerns, such as technical limitations and budget feasibility.
Next, concept artists have the opportunity to create the most polished versions of their designs, drawing not only on detailed lighting and textures, but also turnaround sheets to provide 360-degree visuals. These details form the basis for final presentation art, which acts as a blueprint for production teams and functions as promotional materials.
Key Skills for Aspiring Concept Artists
There is no easy path to becoming a concept artist. This field is compelling, but complex, drawing on both artistic and technical competencies to breathe life into powerful ideas. As one concept artist tells BBC Bitesize, it takes a robust skill set to stand out. Illustrative abilities are especially important, although these should be complemented by communication skills and a strong portfolio.
Building Strong Fundamentals
Like many game design practices, concept art calls for a purpose-driven blend of artistic and technical skills, plus a thorough understanding of design fundamentals. You should have a firm grasp of what, exactly, makes certain gaming characters or environments compelling and which elements work together to form a strong concept. Insights into shape language and color theory can be especially helpful.
Sketching abilities are also crucial. Line quality, shading, and perspective are especially crucial, with aspiring artists often focusing on line work, cross-hatching, and foreshortening to capture visually resonant sketches and eventually, add detail.
While you can enhance these skills through hands-on practice, a targeted degree program may offer a more structured and efficient approach to elevating your artistic and technical abilities. This approach may offer greater encouragement and accountability as you address skill gaps.
Developing a Unique Style
Versatility is highly prized within the vast world of game design and especially among designers employed by major studios. You may need to adapt to different styles to reflect different narratives or visions or suit various audiences. That being said, you also need to stand out so that you can score top design positions or projects in the first place.
This is why it’s so vital to develop a unique style. You may not get to infuse this style into every work, but it can help you make an impression with studios that you find compelling. This involves a constant search for inspiration, along with extensive experimentation. Practice blending techniques and mediums, reflecting along the way to determine which approaches produce the most visually impressive art while also sparking your personal passion.
Learning Industry Tools
Concept artists rely on several software solutions to streamline iterative processes and to collaborate with development teams. Adobe Photoshop is an industry standard, beloved for its vast range of sketching, layering and gradient tools. Concept artists may also use 3D modeling tools such as Blender, as well as collaborative solutions like Miro.
As you continue to expand your artistic abilities, experiment with a variety of tools and technologies. You should be capable not only of navigating current game design technology, but also of adapting to new solutions as they emerge.
Building a Career as a Concept Artist
If you feel drawn to concept art and envision a bright future in this gaming niche, be prepared for an exciting, but potentially challenging, professional journey. There is a great deal of competition in the game development space, and while a comprehensive skill set can help, this must be properly conveyed through strong resumes, portfolios and networking.
Portfolio Development
Offering the opportunity to showcase your skills and passion, your portfolio is the key to success in the competitive game development field. Yes, credentials matter, but they only convey a small snapshot from your professional journey. That said, your portfolio is where your unique skills and style shine.
Portfolio development should begin early on but will remain a never-ending pursuit throughout the entire course of your career. This should be carefully crafted to your versatility as a concept artist, in addition to your specialties or niches.
A 2021 panel from the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Philadelphia revealed many valuable concept art portfolio tips, explaining that less is more, with senior art director and worldbuilding expert Erik Van Horn explaining that the sweet spot involves fifteen items.
Van Horn feels that “concept is more important than craft,” adding that the portfolio should demonstrate that you’re “not just making [your art] technically perfect, but you’re creating something with thought beyond it.” He advises “find[ing] the style in the subject.”
Networking and Industry Connections
You’ve put in the work to develop an amazing portfolio, but without networking, it might never be viewed. Networking helps you carve out a place in the vast game development community while putting you in contact with industry leaders who can help you achieve your career goals.
College programs can provide a strong start, offering numerous opportunities to connect with equally passionate students and highly regarded faculty members. Alumni networks make it easy to maintain these connections and expand on them over time.
Professional associations can facilitate additional connections, along with valuable industry insights. The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is the most well-known, offering local chapters (including both student and professional chapters) that arrange events and outreach activities.
Freelancing vs. Studio Work
As you navigate the competitive world of game development, you will encounter a variety of professional opportunities, including the chance to carve your own path as a concept art freelancer. This approach can be compelling because it grants you more control. You have the power to select clients or projects that reflect your favorite gaming genres and your unique sense of style.
Freelancing can be wonderfully rewarding, but it takes extra drive, with constant networking to connect with clients, and vetting to ensure that those clients are a solid fit. Studio work may provide more stability, but with the potential of sometimes taking on projects that do not spark genuine passion.
Both setups have their perks and you will want to evaluate both possibilities carefully before you select a path. That being said, it is possible to shift from freelancing to studios or vice versa, so long as you continue to build and refine your portfolio.
Pursue Your Game Art Ambitions With RMCAD
If you hope to become a concept artist for video games, you’ll need to commit to developing advanced design skills and a unique sense of style. Look to the Game Art program at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD) for guidance and support. Offering learning (and networking) opportunities online and in-person, RMCAD provides the resources needed to thrive in the competitive world of game design and development. Reach out today to learn more.