The Difference Between Video Game Schools and Concept Art Schools by maxthemutt

I’m writing this in answer to questions I’m asked on a regular basis!

There seems to be confusion about the difference between Video Game Design and Concept Art :  they are very different. The confusion is increased by the fact that many schools indicate that they teach both when in reality they are essentially teaching game design,  and offering a few concept art classes as part of the curriculum.

Video Game designers conceive and program games. Concept Artists design the environments, props,  and characters. To become a Concept Artist you will need more than one or two concept art courses.  This is a position that requires very developed art and design skills. Take a look at the curriculum of our four year diploma program in Concept Art for Animation and Video Games. Every course listed is part of the knowledge base required for this profession!

Although studying illustration in a degree or diploma program will teach you some of the skills required, they will not all be covered. Concept Art is really a mix of illustration, traditional fine art  skills, product design, animation and applied computer skills. It took us a year to work out our curriculum and we’ve been fine tuning it ever since.

I hope this helps!

Maxine

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 and is filed under Max the Mutt, Maxine's Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.