How does Industrial Design fit into Game Industry?

NoSeRider

http://www.csulb.edu/depts/design/

It's only $ 1400 a semester for CA residents....I always assumed ID in CA was only at Art Center or Otis Parsons for some reason.

Scott Robertson and Feng Zhu ID Grads.

Well, Scott Robertson....ID Grad.

StrangeFate

'Industrial Design, Interior Architectural Design, and Display/Exhibition Design.'

Fits very well into game world design.
Games often aren't built as they used to be, anymore. Level designers do level gameplay and rough level layout, artists create the whole level geometry, textures and lighting.

Whatever teaches you the principles or architecture, explains the key elements of the different styles and teaches you what's important in geometry and light/window positioning for proper/dramatic/etc lighting of a complex building can be very very usefull. Pretty much like life drawing will help your organic modelling.

Artsy-architectural approach is much better than the old plain artsy-fartsy one.

Jeff Parrott

Should talk to Gauss. I believe that's what his degree is in.

Scott Ruggels

I'm a former ID student, and I'd say it works quite well. Bone up on the fundamentals of figure drawing afterwards or during, and you can be unstoppable. A little animation at ajuniorColege later wouldn't hurt either (<-- basically my post highschool education path). the thinjg about ID is that it assumes a comunicative, and primarlily Commercial role, rather than the social separation of "fine art", so you are more focused on craft, collaborative efforts and, and technique, rather than history, or self justification. Very much like working in the game industry.

Scott

Scott

gauss

Basically what Scott said. I majored in ID and the second I started picking up contract work (second semester senior year) I was thanking my ID professors for essentially giving me the perfect primer. Though we call what artists do game 'art', the overall field is called game design for a reason. Even if what you're learning to design in class has little or nothing to do with games, you're learning how to work as a part of a team, and most importantly you're learning extremely useful problem solving strategies.

As an artist, I use my ID education all the time (particularly when designing vehicles and the like, obviously) not to make them 'realistic', but to make them believable. That's really the watchword. Not all games are realistic, but I think all games benefit greatly from have some amount of consistency, an underlying logic. ID helped sensitize me not only to how small design decisions effect the whole, but also to consider things in a holistic fashion as well. It makes you a better artist and designer and provides a lot of techniques and tools that are extremely useful in the industry.

Cthogua

Just as alittle more reinforcement, Ryan Church , concept super for Star Wars Episode 2 and 3, went to school for transportation design.

Jay Evans

I got a degree in Industial Design, dabbled in a few design startups, and even interiors, before I decided to get into games. It was actually product design thet introduced me to 3d modeling, albeit it was using Rhino 3d. I think my ID education helps me out all the time. More for just helping with the general overview of production, and creating models that make sense. Problem solveing, analyzing workflows, presentation skills, giving and taking critiques. It's all important stuff that I was already well adjusted to before games. Although just typing and correcting this post I've realized my spelling still sucks;)

TomDunne

My undergrad degree is also in ID, but I don't have any game industry experience to can relate here