Game Art Design
College Major Spotlight: Game Art Design
What is game art design?
Game art design is the creation of everything involved in a video game. This includes the writing of what the characters say, and the designing of the characters, the world they live in and the objects they interact with. It also includes the game programming, usually C++.
What do game art designers do?
This depends on the area you work in. Specialties range from creative (script-writing, designing what the game characters look like and what they wear, creating the environments, audio/sound creation, etc.) to programming (coding).
Future prospects for game art design careers:
The video game industry isn’t slowing down any time soon. In fact, Microsoft made over $425 million in 2008 from Xbox 360 sales alone. In 2001, the US market for video games surpassed the $9.4 billion mark.
Jobs available for graduates of game art design programs:
Jobs for game art designers include video game testers, game designer/writers, game design artists, game sound designers, game design programmers, market analysts, conceptual game design artists, video game background designers, 3D character designers, sound/audio artists, texture and prop artists.
Average salaries for game art design professionals:
Annual salaries for game design majors range from $35,000 to $75,000.
What type of game art design program should you consider?
There are different computer game design degrees available, depending on what area you want to specialize in. For instance, there are degrees available that focus solely on video game programming. Most game art design degrees available will develop a student’s creativity. Many people in the industry attend four-year institutions and graduate with a Bachelor of Science (with a speciality in Game Design and Development or Digital Entertainment) or a Bachelor of Fine Arts (with a speciality in Game Production, Visual Art or Game Art). However, there are many other game art design degree options. You can pursue an online game design degree, get a two year Associate computer game design degree or start your four-year game art design degree at community college.
Other Related links:
• Working so others can play: Jobs in game art design (Occupational Outlook Quarterly)
• GameDev.net (Resources for developers and online community) http://www.gamedev.net/
• GameJobs (employment site serving the interactive entertainment industry) http://gamejobs.com/
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook: http://www.bls.gov/OCO/
