Mar/104
5 Things To Bring to GDC (for Artists)
Well it’s Spring Break, so I’ve finally gotten a chance to sit down and write!
I spent the first few days of my break in San Francisco, where I attended the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC). While I’d have liked to attended the entirety of the convention, I only got to spend the final day, Saturday, wandering the halls because of finals.
First off, GDC is definitely a great place to go for business. Many game companies set up shop there specifically to recruit for job positions they are trying to fill- which ranges from programmers to business people to full-time artists, and Saturday of the convention is “Student Day”, where students can get in for just $75.
To my surprise, the vast majority of the students I saw were art students! Most of them were local to San Francisco, armed with some great-looking portfolios and hunger in their eyes. Some companies (namely Blizzard that I saw, but probably others) had art directors on site to review portfolios.
So, if you are planning on going to GDC to get your portfolio reviewed and maybe get some jobs out of it, you’ll need the following:
1) Your Student ID- Must Be Current
Unfortunately, Student Day is for students. Not to say that working professionals cannot attend- they are encouraged to, but they pay a higher price tag to get in the door ($250 for Expo-only vs. $75 for students). Whether or not that is worth it to you is really up to you. Many of the companies attending GDC will also be at PAX East two weeks later, and PAX is only $50 for a three-day pass. It depends on where you live, obviously.
2) A Portfolio with Your Best Work that Fits the Company/Companies You Are Targeting
The biggest complaint I heard from companies was that artists were showing up with portfolios full of, as one woman put it “Barbie-doll-proportioned anime characters”. I guess if you wanted to do concept art for Bayonetta, that might be alright (joke), but honestly it’s not going to fly in most of the industry. She went on to say that that might be nice, but it’s not what they do, and it’s a waste of her time to look at that portfolio. Many companies are looking for high quality, nicely colored and well rendered work, but all companies are looking for work that already fits the feel of their current products. This is great news, on the one hand, because it means that if you want to do work for a certain company, you should get super familiar with their style, which might mean playing lots of games, and who doesn’t like that?
3) An Elevator Pitch
Believe it or not your art does not only speak for itself. You should also be able to give some quick background about who you are, what your experience is, and what you want to do. Doing this in just 30 seconds is best, because it gives people a sense of who you are without wasting much time. This 30-second self-explanation is called an “Elevator Pitch” because it should be done in the time that it takes you to ride in an elevator with your pitch target. Obviously you don’t have to be in an elevator to do an elevator pitch- the showroom floor will do just fine.
A good format for the elevator pitch is:
- Who you are
- What you want/are trying to accomplish
- Your background/experience
- Your interest in specific company
You don’t have to get too flowery, but having this at the ready will be very beneficial to you. I also recommend practicing it (out loud) before you go straight up to a company you really have your heart set on so you aren’t as nervous.
4) A Love of Networking
At GDC, as with many conventions, a lot of the connections happen not just at the convention, but at the bar afterwards. Many GDC attendees were having drinks starting at around 2pm onward for most days, and you NEVER know who you’ll meet or what opportunities may come out of it. Do bring your portfolio (preferably not on an iPhone but on paper), do have a drink, do talk industry talk (talk about games!), but don’t bust out your portfolio unless it comes up naturally in the conversation. Have fun! Networking isn’t hard, it’s just socializing, and people LOVE to talk about games at GDC– and if you want to work in the industry, I’m betting you love games too.
5) Business Cards
As always, an easy way for people to contact you. At minimum, your name, phone number, email address and website. If you want to be really clever, make sure your cards are blank backed and quickly draw something on it to be memorable. Make sure your website is up-to-date, easy to navigate, and has clear examples of your style.
With those things and a positive attitude, you should be able to make some inroads.
What do you think- have you had any experience shopping your portfolio at GDC that you’d like to share?
Jul/096
The Importance of Networking for Artists
If you ask most successful people how they got where they got, they’ll tell you a variety of stories. One is about hard work. Another is about luck. Most, though, are a bit of both.
No good opportunity happens accidentally. People are in the right place at the right time because they have positioned themselves into the right place at the right time. They didn’t just trip and fall and become a CEO or VP- they had to have certain opportunities, an open mind, and the guts to jump when they saw something special.
I am oversimplifying, in truth, and for more on what makes very successful people so successful, I recommend Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers.
Many of the success stories I have heard have been about great chance. One woman I met, Ronda Gelb, took her cat to the vet and sat next to a man waiting for his dog. They talked the whole time and bonded over their love for their animals. The next day she went to a job interview- and the man she’d met at the vet’s office was the hiring manager! Needless to say, she got the job. And went on to become a VP at one of the most successful banking institutions in the world, JP Morgan.
That’s not to say she didn’t have the credentials to back herself up! She most certainly did, but there were many other qualified candidates that interviewed that day who also had good credentials. What set her apart was the fact that she had made a connection with the hiring manager- he liked her and wanted her to work there.
How this applies to you…
People like to work with people they get along well with! So doing your best to be friendly and easy to work with will do wonders for your career. Being a great person isn’t enough, though. You also have to work hard at your craft. But working hard isn’t enough, either.
In business, if a tree falls in a forest and no one’s around to hear it, it definitely does NOT make a sound.
Market yourself, talk about your accomplishments. It’s not selfish or boastful- it’s a vehicle to get you where you want to go. People want to see the great things you’ve done. It is proof positive to them that you are growing and you’re up to the challenge of tackling new projects.
Well, that’s all well and good, but how do you go about doing that?
There are a few easy things to start with:
- Go to Events. Gatherings with other professionals who do what you do are essential to your growth. For artists, you will meet not only other artists, but often art directors that can help you advance your career. There are meetups going on every week in many cities that you can attend. For many illustrators, going to a convention (like GenCon) where you can set up your art on a table and sell it is also great exposure. Some conventions have portfolio review sessions where art directors can look at your work and give you tips, or even hire you if they like what they see. Do some googling for conventions in your area or other art events where you can meet folks.
- Keep in Touch. Do not underestimate the power of keeping in touch with the people you meet! Keep up on their blogs, friend them on twitter or facebook, if you’re comfortable enough with them you can even talk to them in person over Skype or on the phone. Shooting someone an email asking them for their opinion on something is a fantastic way to chat, and if you’re lucky you can get great personalized critique. It shows them that you value their opinion, and that you like them. It is never annoying to know that someone likes you and cares what you think. Don’t just do this with art directors, but also with artists! Sometimes an artist will pull you into a project if they like your work and feel good about you as a person- in fact they’re a lot more likely to do so if they like you, too! If you’re bad at remembering things like this, set reminders for yourself in a calendar application like Google Calendar, iCal, or Outlook.
- Online Exposure. If you don’t have a website, get one. If you don’t have a deviantart, get one. Submit to online competitions. Get a twitter. Get a blog. Just get your stuff out there! You can build an audience this way and grow your business radically. It seems counter intuitive, since being online is considered antisocial sometimes, but having a web presence is becoming a more and more integral part of social networking.
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Contact me with your questions and I will do my best to address them on the blog!