1. do not like the black background's hard edged border
2. do not see art on the very first page
3. standard blue scheme for links do not look very attractive on a portfolio
4. the lightbox popup doesn't center the enlarged images properly sometimes
5. not sure about the shawn kirsh, games, art etc... look
* Banner and menus are too big and takes up too much space
* I have no idea what the first image is meant to be, it kind of looks like the middle 1/3 of a cartoony face painted on a wall, but it could be anything. I'm wondering how this has got anything to do with anything. Is it an example of your work? If yes, then it doesn't give a very good first impression.
* Resume should include dates/years for each job
* The default font colour of the URLs are no good on a pure black background.
* There are some typos on your site, for example on the 3d art page "neigbhorhoods"
* Overall the site's design and font looks very amateur, and so does the art. That picture of a girl in your shader page was the only thing I found visually interesting, and that's not even art that you made.
* Your 3D Art doesn't look like they are designed for games. It looks like the kind of work a student on game design course produces when they first learn 3D. Enough to get you to pass a mediocre course, but not enough to show any signs that you are passionate about game art or even care to learn to advance your skills further.
I really appreciate the quick feedback. I'm planning on re-doing the site in 2 weeks, so I'll take your opinions into careful consideration when working on it.
Assuming this is what you want to do quoted from your site
I am looking to enter the industry as a technical artist, but would love to become a creative director, game designer, or story artist.
I suggest you drop the game designer/artist/developer title and put together a focused package of technical work to show off your abilities (which you have a lot of)to handle game specific art based tools such as scripting, shader work, workflow tools, and samples of your own art with the supplement of your TA abilities. These should be pushed to a professional level and applied to engines or tools that you are interested in working with. Unity? CryEngine, Source, UDK, 3rd Party? TA's are a demanding position and there are lots of opportunities with said abilities but the more you focus and hone in on certain abilities, the more marketable you are.
It's better to be amazing at one particular skillset, than to be ok in multiple avenues of skills. Developers will hire based on that skill. Anything else will just be a plus. Good luck!
@koburan Thanks for the feedback. It's really great to hear that. I've been working on shaders, so in the near future I should have a bunch of new shader showcases!
I'm redoing my horrendous site, and would like to get some feedback on this new design. I've really been surprised at these new one page sites, but don't want to get get fancy. What do you think about this or this design?
As always honesty is at the upmost importance. I'm not a huge designer, so any help would be great. Plus it would be awesome to have a good design before I spend a bunch of hours making a bad design. Thanks.
Your 2D artwork seems to change dramatically. You have a very detailed foot, but your life drawing is lacking that same attention. The contrast between the two will most likely indicate to others that you copied the foot.
Hey man, to be completely honest; I look at your site and I don't know what you've done, what you do, and really what you want to do.
I am not expert at website development by any means. I struggle with mixing form and function every time I try to build one. That said, I can tell you your site is going to get a few seconds (yes seconds) when being reviewed by employers. If in those few seconds you don't grab their attention, they will just move onto the 30+ other applicants they have to review.
But really, it's not the structure of your website you need to be as much concerned about is its ***content***
You state you want to be a technical artist yet you have almost no art assets examples and what you do have just doesn't cut the mustard. Secondly my unfrozen caveman artist brain just isn't into your technical examples. Most artists and ADs for that matter aren't particularly inclined towards the technical end of things. If you want to impress and entice the viewer with your tech work make it look s*hit hot and applicable to the games industry.
It can be nuts being a recent graduate and looking for work. Add the fact that you're trying to break into a VERY competitive industry and the stress is that much more. I think you're going to need to find a gig to pay the bills while you bunker down in front of the computer and come up with a realistic (in terms of scope and scale) and competitive portfolio. With that portfolio you are much more likely to get a job as an intern, tester or possibly an entry level artist position.
Fear not as you've made a great 1st step; putting yourself out there and posting here on Polycount.
Could you elaborate on this more...Make new tech art projects, or create new assets for the ones I already have?
I guess what I'm saying, is for example, the vertex shader. Should I create a cooler model that morphs?
Not trying to bust your balls man but I'm talking about all new work.
It all comes back to your wanting to be an artist. A technical artist but an artist nonetheless. The artist's job is to make appealing visuals. It's great that you have a grasp on scripting and other such witchcraft, but you also need to show that you also have the eye and the skills to make viable games assets. Your portfolio doesn't show ANY art assets even approaching something that is going to help you get work as a technical artist.
Most of the technical artists I know are also skilled at modeling, texture work, lighting, etc. You can be technical 'till the cows come home, but if you can't roll up your sleeves and actually produce assets here and there your not going to get the position.
TAs span a spectrum. You've got guys that are damn near programmers all the way over to the more artsy guy that can also do stuff like write killer shaders and set up a bad-ass character rig. Make no mistake though they could both model and texture a prop if called upon to do so.
Looking at your page, I would think you would be more inclined more so towards programming than art.
I would suggest googling for tech artist portfolios to help you get a better understanding of what technical artists do and what is required of them.
Again, tester position and internships are a great way to get an insider view of what you need to compete. Incidentally I noticed you are in NC. I don't know if Red Storm Entertainment in Morrisville is hiring but I know they have a good sized testing dept.
You're not busting my balls dude, your giving me honest feedback, which is hard enough to get in this day and age. Going along with the conversation...
I understand what your saying about creating new stuff. I'm excited to make new things, but lets play out a hypothetical. If you were me, and you had all day to spend trying to get into the industry, how would you spend your time?
I would download UDK and get familiar with it. There are all kinds of bells and whistles in the Unreal engine for TAs to go nuts with.
I would then grab your sketchbook and cook up an environment or maybe better yet a vignette (think an ammo dump, a camp site, etc. Once you've got something you're excited about bringing to life - get to modeling. Build your scene and get it into Unreal. When you're done, do another and then another. Be honest with yourself and post on the forums. Ignore the trolls and listen to the vets. Above all: make pretty pictures.
Replies
1. do not like the black background's hard edged border
2. do not see art on the very first page
3. standard blue scheme for links do not look very attractive on a portfolio
4. the lightbox popup doesn't center the enlarged images properly sometimes
5. not sure about the shawn kirsh, games, art etc... look
Hope this helps!
* I have no idea what the first image is meant to be, it kind of looks like the middle 1/3 of a cartoony face painted on a wall, but it could be anything. I'm wondering how this has got anything to do with anything. Is it an example of your work? If yes, then it doesn't give a very good first impression.
* Resume should include dates/years for each job
* The default font colour of the URLs are no good on a pure black background.
* There are some typos on your site, for example on the 3d art page "neigbhorhoods"
* Overall the site's design and font looks very amateur, and so does the art. That picture of a girl in your shader page was the only thing I found visually interesting, and that's not even art that you made.
* Your 3D Art doesn't look like they are designed for games. It looks like the kind of work a student on game design course produces when they first learn 3D. Enough to get you to pass a mediocre course, but not enough to show any signs that you are passionate about game art or even care to learn to advance your skills further.
I suggest you drop the game designer/artist/developer title and put together a focused package of technical work to show off your abilities (which you have a lot of)to handle game specific art based tools such as scripting, shader work, workflow tools, and samples of your own art with the supplement of your TA abilities. These should be pushed to a professional level and applied to engines or tools that you are interested in working with. Unity? CryEngine, Source, UDK, 3rd Party? TA's are a demanding position and there are lots of opportunities with said abilities but the more you focus and hone in on certain abilities, the more marketable you are.
It's better to be amazing at one particular skillset, than to be ok in multiple avenues of skills. Developers will hire based on that skill. Anything else will just be a plus. Good luck!
A lil more detailed one can be viewed here.
As always honesty is at the upmost importance. I'm not a huge designer, so any help would be great. Plus it would be awesome to have a good design before I spend a bunch of hours making a bad design. Thanks.
p.s. still missing a few videos and text.
www.shawnkirsch.com
Hey man, to be completely honest; I look at your site and I don't know what you've done, what you do, and really what you want to do.
I am not expert at website development by any means. I struggle with mixing form and function every time I try to build one. That said, I can tell you your site is going to get a few seconds (yes seconds) when being reviewed by employers. If in those few seconds you don't grab their attention, they will just move onto the 30+ other applicants they have to review.
But really, it's not the structure of your website you need to be as much concerned about is its ***content***
You state you want to be a technical artist yet you have almost no art assets examples and what you do have just doesn't cut the mustard. Secondly my unfrozen caveman artist brain just isn't into your technical examples. Most artists and ADs for that matter aren't particularly inclined towards the technical end of things. If you want to impress and entice the viewer with your tech work make it look s*hit hot and applicable to the games industry.
It can be nuts being a recent graduate and looking for work. Add the fact that you're trying to break into a VERY competitive industry and the stress is that much more. I think you're going to need to find a gig to pay the bills while you bunker down in front of the computer and come up with a realistic (in terms of scope and scale) and competitive portfolio. With that portfolio you are much more likely to get a job as an intern, tester or possibly an entry level artist position.
Fear not as you've made a great 1st step; putting yourself out there and posting here on Polycount.
Could you elaborate on this more...Make new tech art projects, or create new assets for the ones I already have?
I guess what I'm saying, is for example, the vertex shader. Should I create a cooler model that morphs?
Not trying to bust your balls man but I'm talking about all new work.
It all comes back to your wanting to be an artist. A technical artist but an artist nonetheless. The artist's job is to make appealing visuals. It's great that you have a grasp on scripting and other such witchcraft, but you also need to show that you also have the eye and the skills to make viable games assets. Your portfolio doesn't show ANY art assets even approaching something that is going to help you get work as a technical artist.
Most of the technical artists I know are also skilled at modeling, texture work, lighting, etc. You can be technical 'till the cows come home, but if you can't roll up your sleeves and actually produce assets here and there your not going to get the position.
TAs span a spectrum. You've got guys that are damn near programmers all the way over to the more artsy guy that can also do stuff like write killer shaders and set up a bad-ass character rig. Make no mistake though they could both model and texture a prop if called upon to do so.
Looking at your page, I would think you would be more inclined more so towards programming than art.
I would suggest googling for tech artist portfolios to help you get a better understanding of what technical artists do and what is required of them.
Again, tester position and internships are a great way to get an insider view of what you need to compete. Incidentally I noticed you are in NC. I don't know if Red Storm Entertainment in Morrisville is hiring but I know they have a good sized testing dept.
I understand what your saying about creating new stuff. I'm excited to make new things, but lets play out a hypothetical. If you were me, and you had all day to spend trying to get into the industry, how would you spend your time?
I would then grab your sketchbook and cook up an environment or maybe better yet a vignette (think an ammo dump, a camp site, etc. Once you've got something you're excited about bringing to life - get to modeling. Build your scene and get it into Unreal. When you're done, do another and then another. Be honest with yourself and post on the forums. Ignore the trolls and listen to the vets. Above all: make pretty pictures.