Pyxel-Perfect Portfolios #4: TECHNICAL ART
Working across gaming recruitment is a truly exciting experience across the board, the people you meet and the processes you find yourselves involved are always going to keep you on your toes. At Skillsearch we genuinely pride ourselves in our ability to assist artists and developers along the recruitment trail, both through helping them across the interview process and advising them on their portfolio approach.
This series has been very exciting to explore, with the areas of Environment Art, Concept Art and Animation all being explored previously. This month, we are looking at one of the more mysterious job roles, that being the technical artist, a position that can encompass so many different skillsets and approaches. There is no denying that as the complexity of games grow, the need for technical artists has grown, along with the scope of their workload. With this month’s blog, we wanted to dive into exactly what studios are hunting for on a technical artist’s portfolio, which you can check out below:
If you have a portfolio, show it!
With technical art, of course, a lot of the work you will be doing is not exactly visual, but the most important thing to do is document the things you are doing. The immediate difference we notice in responses from studios for artists that have some form of portfolio is quite astounding, even if it is a coding document, a screenshot of a tool or a game trailer with a written description of the technical work you have completed for it. If you have the content to use, even if its personal or test work, have it ready to show, as in our experience, this can immediately set you apart from people that don’t have any form of portfolio to show.
Specify what you have worked across, it’s a wide-ranging role after all
There are frankly endless amounts of conversations that we have had at Skillsearch surrounding technical art, that have been focussed on nailing down the specifications of what different technical artists specialise in. The simple truth is, it is a technical area, which unless you have worked in or around it, has the potential to go over a few heads if not explained clearly. As we are sure you are aware, some roles are more art-focussed, some are more code & tools focussed. Therefore, we recommend a detailed description of the specific things you have worked on, be that tool creation, shaders, blueprints, coding or any other area of technical art, meaning that if you are the right person for the job, it will be clear and obvious.
If you’ve worked in a new area of technical, show it in your portfolio
Technical art is a role-type that is constantly growing, with new technologies becoming available and every role being unique to that studio. The odds are you won’t go through two jobs with the exact same set of responsibilities, so if you are working on something new, make sure your portfolio reflects that. With the specifications for technical artist positions changing with every new post, making sure you have cast your net of experience wide enough could prove crucial to finding that perfect new position.
These three simple tweaks to your portfolio, in our experience, can make a huge difference in your appeal to your potential future employers and at Skillsearch, we are always happy to help advise you further.
Are there any specific art-based roles that you would like portfolio advice on? Feel free to get in touch through my LinkedIn or by sending me an email on JRM@skillsearch.com
Keep an eye out for the next instalment in our Pyxel-Perfect Portfolios series coming very soon...
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