Applied to a Graphic Design degree

SyedS

Hey guys, I was just wondering what a graphic designer's worth is in the video game industry? I have applied to a couple Canadian University's for graphic design (OCAD and YorkU). However this isn't my final and only option. I also applied to Art Fundamentals at Sheridan because it gives me a year just to work on my portfolio and then I can either pursue a degree in Illustration or Animation. What do you guys think?

ericdigital

They have worth if your a boss at UI design and motion graphics (for menus etc). The downside is that it's super competitive and a studio might only ever have one or two UI guys on staff.

edit: a few links

http://www.colinpost.com/

http://mattciaglia.com/r3.html


http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93630&highlight=ae

chrisradsby

Yeah very competitive I bet, and you'd have to be awesome, and if you're also good with interaction-design then I bet you'd be golden.

DrunkShaman

Sheridan is known for their arts and animation so my suggestions are:

http://www.sheridancollege.ca/Programs%20and%20Courses/Full-Time%20Programs/Programs%20A-Z%20Index/Bachelor%20of%20Applied%20Arts%20-%20Animation.aspx

http://www.sheridancollege.ca/Programs%20and%20Courses/Full-Time%20Programs/Programs%20A-Z%20Index/Bachelor%20of%20Applied%20Arts%20-%20Illustration.aspx

These are the degrees worth pursuing.

Snacuum

If you're interested in Graphic Design then sure. At the end of the day a game dev will want to see your folio, *insert your chosen degree here* will likely just get translated to "degree" in their minds

ambershee

It'd be massively competitive, but it's your skills and not the piece of paper that counts. UI designers are always needed, so it might be worth getting a bit of expertise in that regard outside of graphic design (as I'm assuming the course might not directly cover the ins-and-out of software front end design).

You also have the opportunity of experimenting with VFX and sprite based games, the latter is increasingly uncommon but still exists, especially in the mobile space. This is all stuff you can practice outside of your degree

Fuse

I have a Bachelor of Graphic Design from OCAD. Despite that, I've taught myself to be a character artist.

Having said that, if you are interested in graphic design, typography, layout, visual communication and print/screen media I would definitely recommend OCAD. They have a very strong graphic design program, possibly second to none in the area. Being located in a very trendy area doesn't hurt when it comes to inspiration too.

The industry has only recently started investing more serious time towards modern and mature graphic design principles. Things like legible typography, elegant and minimalistic design, motion graphics and layouts are all very important in games.

If you are a strong graphic designer/artist you should be able to find a job in this industry. There aren't always that many positions open but they are there if you look for them.

Question is, what is it that you want to do?

Justin Meisse

Graphic Design is pretty competitive and over saturated by artist from the slow death of print media, so don't count as that as a fall back career if gamedev doesn't work out.

SyedS

Thanks for the advice guys. I guess I might as well stick with learning Graphic Design while doing some 3D stuff just to keep up. I have always been more comfortable with graphic design than the latter.

imyj

As a Graphic Designer in games, there's loads of opportunities right now. The great fallback is that if I'm ever made redundant etc, then I can go join a Graphic Design firm, or a Web Design company.

Your work doesn't need to be limited to UI Design. I do a bunch of things, right down to making up fictional brands. People are right in saying that studios only ever really have 1 or 2 positions. Some companies such as Rockstar, Ubisoft and Codemasters take their graphic design a bit more seriously therefore they have much bigger teams.

A degree in Graphic Design is a good thing to have Like you said, you can just learn everything else on the side. Just be sure to branch out your folio to cover web, print AND games and you'll be sorted Top it off with 3D know-how and you're good to go.