WHY your portfolio needs to be on ArtStation
veteran polycounter
Hey hey 
First off, thanks for the insanely positive response to the last article I put out, it got something like 3k views in 48 hours, for a project that is just starting out definitely helped keep the wind in the sails. Big up to everyone who read, shared and left their 2 cents on it.
This weeks article I expanded on the point I made about how you need to be using ArtStation for your portfolio regardless if you are looking for your first job or are an established industry vet. I did a bit of a deep dive into the WHY behind it from the perspective of someone looking to hire artists, how people can use it to make a side income, and from a marketing perspective.
I find a lot of creatives are great at producing kick ass art, but not so amazing at marketing themselves, which can make a HUGE difference in career progression and income.
I think its pretty common sense these days that it's an awesome platform and 99% of people here are already thriving over there. But still, about once or twice a week I keep seeing people dropping links to random wordpress/wix/squarespace based portfolios and keep giving out the same advice over and over. I hope if someone powers through this long ass read it gives them some food for thought on ways they can leverage their art to really crush their goals.
as usual, its long form content so strap in for a 5-10 min read, I tried to toss in some pics to break it up, but I think the words are where the value is at
Some of the key takeaways:
- How to leverage ArtStation to create opportunity for yourself
- Common issues with having a random website based portfolio
- A realistic scenario of how a lot of people are getting job offers before they are even publicly posted. This also mirrors how I broke into the industry 10 years ago
- Things other than your art studios look at that could increase their desire to hire you.
- Why it's important to build an audience: How it can save your ass when you get laid off & you can make $$$ with a side hustle
Basically, a lot of little behind the scenes things most people don't think about that can really compound and add up to a drastic increase in people coming to you with job offers instead of you having to hunt for them. Enjoy! - Tim
https://www.polygon-academy.com/why-your-portfolio-needs-to-be-on-artstation/
First off, thanks for the insanely positive response to the last article I put out, it got something like 3k views in 48 hours, for a project that is just starting out definitely helped keep the wind in the sails. Big up to everyone who read, shared and left their 2 cents on it.
This weeks article I expanded on the point I made about how you need to be using ArtStation for your portfolio regardless if you are looking for your first job or are an established industry vet. I did a bit of a deep dive into the WHY behind it from the perspective of someone looking to hire artists, how people can use it to make a side income, and from a marketing perspective.
I find a lot of creatives are great at producing kick ass art, but not so amazing at marketing themselves, which can make a HUGE difference in career progression and income.
I think its pretty common sense these days that it's an awesome platform and 99% of people here are already thriving over there. But still, about once or twice a week I keep seeing people dropping links to random wordpress/wix/squarespace based portfolios and keep giving out the same advice over and over. I hope if someone powers through this long ass read it gives them some food for thought on ways they can leverage their art to really crush their goals.
as usual, its long form content so strap in for a 5-10 min read, I tried to toss in some pics to break it up, but I think the words are where the value is at
Some of the key takeaways:
- How to leverage ArtStation to create opportunity for yourself
- Common issues with having a random website based portfolio
- A realistic scenario of how a lot of people are getting job offers before they are even publicly posted. This also mirrors how I broke into the industry 10 years ago
- Things other than your art studios look at that could increase their desire to hire you.
- Why it's important to build an audience: How it can save your ass when you get laid off & you can make $$$ with a side hustle
Basically, a lot of little behind the scenes things most people don't think about that can really compound and add up to a drastic increase in people coming to you with job offers instead of you having to hunt for them. Enjoy! - Tim
https://www.polygon-academy.com/why-your-portfolio-needs-to-be-on-artstation/
Replies
Dope! Thanks, that means a lot to me. I try to keep it casual/tounge in cheek while hopefully not coming off as a know it all or snarky hahah. It's always a bit hard to gague the intent/emotion behind words (which is why im gonna start making videos soon too) also....add your ArtStation link to your signature here on polycount, a great way to drive traffic there passively over time
I think you nail the whole tongue in cheek style you were going for
Videos sound like an awesome plan
(ArtStation link is now on my signature!)
I think a lot of people just starting out may not understand the rationale behind some of the more common advice so it's nice to see a detailed explanation on why these things are so important
When you have just a private website, you're working within a bubble. It's an echo chamber of sorts where there is no other competition and thus there is no incentive to really raise the quality of your work since all the attention/views will be the same.
Of course, that doesn't mean Artstation is some magic wand that will raise your art level for you. But when I log-in and want to to submit something, I'm immediately reminded who might I be following and what level are they at so I can try and catch up to them.
On a side note ArtSation reminds me a lot of CGHub, so just wondering off the top of my head whether there's any connection there...
Yea I dont know if there is any connection. I keep seeing people saying they are afraid artstation might disappear one day like game artisans or cghub, but I think it has gotten to a scale at this point of that not really being a realistic idea. They have a fairly large team and given their userbase and the smart ways they have monetized, I don't see them going anywhere anytime soon. also now they are tapping into the artist micro economy with their upcoming store features to stop encouraging people to send customers over to gumroad and will be taking their slice of the pie in terms of sales commissions to further increase their income/growth.
I am also going to preemptively say that anyone complaining about gumroad/artstation taking a 5-10% commission is outta their mind. thats a super cheap cost of business that allows you to readily tap into an audience of millions of users. To put it in perspective, a lot of people selling digital products/e-books will happily give a 50% commission to affiliates who manage to sell their stuff for them. There is just so much opportunity for side hustles and fulltime incomes for those who want it and put in the work.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great site and all of the points are true though.
I honestly don't think fellows of a certain gaming alignment use that site.
Truth be told, people have mentioned my tumblr many times and not artstation, and I try to update both regularly.
I honestly think it's a certain sort of person who uses artstation from what I have seen
Woodlands of course, many wow and aspiring league fellows post there.
I have seen the same two league girls drawn by various fellows everytime I go to trending.
Also many sculpt based and hyper real dudes, film fellows, as well gun fellows.
Everyday it's the same girl being drawn over and over again on the front page of trending
as well as
I think it is primarily used where there isn't another outlet of this, such as china, many second world countries where
the dream of being a game fellow has suddenly become viable such as former soviet block nations.
Primary places that online moba, and mmo games are prevalent due to the console embargo during the age of gaming innovation.
I think it is a serious site used mostly by those of the demographics I mentioned.
There are many demographics that are underrepresented there
1. It's a reflection of the AAA industry at large. What is considered the most popular and successful product at release will inspire others to copy it. You'll run into more art copies of Overwatch or Call of Duty just because the free market has chosen those types of titles to be popular and as a result, more chances to be wealthier. But don't take that as sign as it's the end game of art because....
2. Art moves really fast and nothing is constant. What is trending now doesn't mean it will be the most popular thing forever. There have been art dumps of games that would take over an entire page for a day and then they completely die down tomorrow. And when that happens, it free reign for anyone to fill in the vacuum.
But regardless, all art websites are only as powerful as you make them out to be. Even on Polycount, you will see certain types of art that is over represented compared to niche stuff. But why care what other people are doing when success is earned as opposed to given away?
I know if I see a style I like, I'll continue to follow through with it regardless of what the industry is doing. The only major difference is to separate work you know will land you a job because it's popular vs keeping it in the background where it wont impact your bottom line.
JordanN
It seems to be more so the ever watchful eye of the Active-Vision, and the pC games more so than anything.
For example, any Square drops on art station? Nope,
Nintendo? Maybe one or two dudes from retro and the studio in france that did the rabbits Srpg.
But anything from HAL labs? NOPE.
Intelligent system? Nope
Alpha dream? Nope
Sonic team? Nope
Team Ninja? Nope
NIS software? Nope
The list goes on .
Sure that's a good practice if you want to work at frozen games, but I don't .That's one studio everyone wants to get to,
and more people are going to have more heart trying to get there than I am,
So that wouldn't be the best option; for me a@JordanN
Also the studios I mentioned beforehand, you rarely see anyone trying to mimic their stuff either.
Idk, dude....I am still not 100 percent sure if that's true. I mean fellows get hook ups or missed opportunities, there are too many factors at play.
But what will land you a position?
Certain pieces have appealed to certain studios in different ways.
Some said it was the duck, one said it was ranger, another said it was the small girl, and yet another said it was the shield fellow.
I am well aware of nda, but not even a single mention is odd.
Ok, I think I missed that one. Was it the mmo?
Eventually, if things go well. I am not really a square fellow, but the others for sure.
I don't think artstation is a bad site, it's great for hosting, but these fellows probably aren't looking.
http://polycount.com/discussion/187512/recently-hired-in-aaa-show-us-your-portfolio
Even if none of the art from Nintendo, SEGA etc don't officially exist on Artstation, why not be the first to do it? You don't have to wait on these companies to tell you what to do. Be the first to take iniatiave and do it yourself.
Again, it's not like niche artstyles don't exist on Artstation.
See this person made Cel-shaded Art which looks on par with the Video Game/Anime it's based on.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/xQBb2
Or art based on Wind Waker
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ZqAER
Or low poly Pixel Art
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/32PQB
I am honestly not saying it's bad or for one kinda of dude, I am just saying that it is mainly catered to a certain demographic over others.
I mean, I did some pieces inspired by various titles, but nothing outright copying. I could do that though.
Also many of the people in the thread you posted were weapons fellows, and the only character fellows weren't in the main stream AAA.
Technically I worked at a film house and another place that were AAA, but not AAA gaming.