Professional Practice – CV and Research

CV Research

I had a look at some existing CVs being used by artists or similar jobs. I found these through LinkedIn, Artstation and Pinterest.

I also had a look at the CV of the 3D artist I had looked at for some of the other tasks, Carys Lewis. I think Carys’ CV is a good example for making a CV as it is clean and you can find all oft the information easily due to the good font and bold section titles. The colours on the actual CV are limited, which is something I liked less about it than other ones I looked at, but I think it’s a good design choice due to the coloured models and the geometric design. I think it was incredibly useful to look at her CV as well, because she works in the career area I’m interested in and she is only a junior 3D artist so her experience, while much more than mine, isn’t relied upon too heavily.

I had originally came into the Cv making process with the intention to make my CV with a blue and yellow colour scheme, as it’s a combination I’m fond of, as well as orange and blue. So there is a lot of CV examples there with that colour scheme. I think some of the layouts were too visually reliant for me, with all of the fun symbols and bars, which look really good, but I don’t think it’s as professional. The one based off of a coffee shop menu is too hard to read and find specific information from, as cool as the original concept is.

Layout Sketches

I decided to try laying out my CV roughly and abstractly through sketches, just to get a feel for some of the different designs I was thinking of. This helped me visualise it better and understand what I liked in theory and what actually looked good.

I decided to make a clearer one out of my favorite layout, so that I could get a better idea of where to put the different sections of my CV. I think I  like the layout of it, but if it doesn’t look as good when I actually make it, I will change it.

The CV

I am pretty pleased with the final CV, as I think it looks quite neat and I like the colours. The profile picture will be replaced when I get time to make another one, as I feel like having a drawing of someone looking sort of angry isn’t ideal for a CV – but it was the only artwork I had that I felt looked alright on the CV. Maybe I should’ve changed the colour from yellow, to pink as there’s a lot of pink from the models and the profile picture, but I was really intent on having yellow.

I probably should’ve included a soft skills section as I don’t have much experience, and the about me could’ve included more buzzwords from the gaming industry and modelling jobs.

 

Professional Practice – Cover Letter and Research

Research into Goldfire studios and job listing

I chose to base my cover letter off of a job listing up at the current time, as I was really struggling with not knowing what to write when the situation was hypothetical. So I found a studio with a job listing in a similar-ish area that I’m thinking I might want to look at working in?

After some research into various open job listing at the minute, I have chosen to base my cover letter off of a 3D artist job at Goldfire Studios. This is a small indie studio who are currently in the process of developing a narrative adventure game called ‘Arctic Awakening’, which is the game the job opening is for. I watched the trailers for the game and read through the information available on their website.

Goldfire Studios Website

Arctic Awakening Website

Job Listing

I had a look at the job listing and the requirements listed in it, as it’s important to know these so you can add keywords or buzzwords to your Cv and cover letter.

Requirements

  • All experience levels are welcome, but a strong portfolio of 3D art and design is required (particularly in the context of game development).
  • Ability to model and texture within a stylized approach to fit the current project (see current screenshots and select style influences).
  • Strong understanding of tools/concepts with the ability to resolve related issues during production.
  • An eye for details and a strong aesthetic ability.
  • Solid understanding of visual design principles including color, composition, form, silhouette, light, etc.
  • Knowledge/experience of processes, pipelines and best practices with game art production.
  • At a minimum, understand how to create assets that are ready to be rigged/animated when needed.
  • Ability to self-manage, prioritize workload and learn new tools/processes.
  • Ability to shift gears quickly based on the changing needs of a project.
  • A passion for games and visual storytelling.

Pluses

  • Work on previous games that have shipped.
  • Experience or familiarity with game engines like Unity or Unreal.
  • Experience in other areas of art: animation, rigging, lighting, shaders, level design, etc.
  • Strong foundation in traditional arts including painting, sculpting, illustration, etc.

I decided the most important points to focus on were

  • Ability to model and texture within a stylized approach to fit the current project
  • At a minimum, understand how to create assets that are ready to be rigged/animated when needed.
  • A passion for games and visual storytelling
  • Knowledge/experience of processes, pipelines and best practices with game art production.

Plus the experience in game engines in the pluses section.

 

Extra Research

I also looked into what makes a good cover letter, by reading articles on good cover letters and having a look at examples posted on forums and by other people.

Personalising the cover letter towards the company you’re applying to is one of the key aspects of a good cover letter, as a company will want to know that you are personally interested and excited about what they’re doing. It’s much better than a generic letter that can be switched to other company names and sent out in mass.

It seems to be a good idea to put your contact info somewhere in the cover letter, either as a heading or after signing off on an email.

Finding out the hiring manager’s name if it is stated somewhere on the job listing and addressing it to them is a recommended thing to do.

https://hbr.org/2014/02/how-to-write-a-cover-letter#:~:text=Have%20a%20strong%20opening%20statement,challenges%20the%20employer%20is%20facing.

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-write-a-cover-letter-31-tips-you-need-to-know

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/how-to-end-a-cover-letter

 

My cover Letter

I specified that I’m interested in the video game industry due to a genuine love of games and that I know of their upcoming game due to my interest in similar narrative games. I believe this is a good way to show that I have looked into the studio before applying as I have read up on the Studio’s values and expressed an interest in the subject matter.

I chose to include information about the Unreal 3D Environment project as it showcased a general understanding of game engines, production pipelines and my ability to model and texture assets. All of these were things outlined in their qualifications part.

I ended it by saying I believer I’d be a good fit for their team and would love to work with them.

 

Professional Practice – Week 2 Homework

This showreel showcased a good variety of animations, not relying too heavily on one piece. I think the editing was well done, everything feels fluid and the changes in animations aren’t too jarring. The music was upbeat and fit the animations being shown nicely, and it wasn’t too loud. I think the title part of the showreel could’ve used an art piece you could see more of and make out fully, instead of just a section.  It also could’ve used the person’s name and email to be displayed on it so people interested would have an easy time finding it, instead of having to check the description.

 

Professional Practice – Week 1 Homework

Task 1: 

https://gamejobs.co/Junior-Games-Artist-at-Kwalee-1231 

  • Understanding of art fundamentals
  • Skills in using unity
  • Team-player
  • Willingness to try new disciplines (UI/VFX/Animation, etc)

Task 2:

Carys Lewis – Junior 3D artist

I researched a 3D artist, Carys Lewis, who is based in the south of the UK and has been working in the industry for approximately 2-3 years.

Linkedin | Carys Lewis

Website | Carys Lewis

Instagram | Carys Lewis

Showreel

CV 

Career journey –

Went to Northumbria university to do an animation BA, graduated with first class honours and was class representative in third year

Modelling for VFX course – technicolour Academy – June-July 2022

Did freelance work for little inventors – https://www.littleinventors.org/makers/carys-lewis/

Then became an animator and illustrator in Eluceo for 6 months

Went back to freelance but as a character artist for 1 year

Got a full time position as a junior 3D artist in Marmalade Games Studio, where she’s worked for 3 months