Detroit area artists? (studio upstart!)

Spiffy664

Hello polycount! I'm Andrew, and I have been lurking on polycount ever since my career in mobile games turned from 2D to 3D a few weeks ago and polycount has been helping me get up to speed

More importantly, I am wondering if there are any users out there who are located in the Metro Detroit area - I am interested in networking with you as our studio may be expanding in the future to boost our art output (3D games seem a lot more time consuming then 2D games) - I didn't post this in the Jobs section as this is technically not a job offer - we don't know specifically what we need yet as we don't even know what sort of talent is available in our area (I am aware of how many art schools are in the southern michigan area, however many alumni move out of state for work.)

Detroit has all time high unemployment, lets make some games

we may turn to remote / work for fire type stuff but we much prefer the creative synergy in-house offers. Our studio is located in Royal Oak. Thanks

MikeF

I cant speak for detroit itself, but windsor is moving in a similar direction with a few upstart studios on the horizon. You could possibly try checking out Windsor university's programming department as i know they have a branch specific to game programming.

St. clair college also has an animation program that has been shifting towards games, although i dont know if i can recommend that one, last i checked it was about 90% people who thought degree=job

i'm sure either of these places could at least get some names for potential candidates (lots of dual citizens in the area aswell so work visa's wouldnt be a big issue)

notman

I'm in the metro detroit area, but I don't do 3d work. I've only done some stuff for game mods, which never went anywhere. I'm mainly a software developer, but also currently employed

Spiffy664

MikeF: Are you from windsor? Thanks for the ideas on the colleges - and I have to wholly agree about the degree thing, our hiring of artists is solely based on portfolio + interview followed by trial period run.

notman: congrats on having a job, tough around here :P

thanks for the responses.

MikeF

yeah i'm from windsor, hit me up with your email address in a PM, might be able to get you an art contact in the detroit area

notman

It's actually pretty easy for a software developer to find work in this area (now). So much engineering talent has left the state (or stopped looking), that there has become a shortage. That includes developers

I kept seeing game development companies in Ann Arbor, who were looking for people. Mostly for mobile apps, but some jobs exist.

Good luck with this project though

samcole

Spiffy,

I'm a recent grad in the metro detroit area. I'm actually about a half hour-forty five minutes away from Royal Oak. I've gone to a few of the IGDA meet ups here when I was home. I do some modeling, but I've started to really grow into liking to texture assets. I'm mostly working part time at a local pharmacy. Message me, and we can maybe set up a meet up somewhere and chat.

warinmysky

Hello, long-time lurker I'm currently located on the border of OH, and MI and within a quick commute to the metro detroit area! I was wondering if there were any other area artists out there than the very very few that I know. I'm very interested in your studio (which one is it? website link?) as Royal Oak is very close-by. I would love to hear more about any remote/in-house opportunities you may have! Def. message me if you guys plan to meet up! I also have Skype/AIM at warinmysky Cheers

Spiffy664

quite the turn out I will be contacting everybody to keep in touch. We are currently not hiring specific positions, but my boss was very pleased that I am reaching out to the local 3D art community. We're currently taking on a couple of contracts which may lead to an increase in revenue and more jobs we are very driven to create more jobs and expand into more teams, using our experience to guide new members into the direction of making successful games and then rinse and repeat. (Theres talk of getting another coder as well)