An introduction to Art Directon for games

Video game Art Directors cannot get a job in art direction straight away- most of them usually start out as game artists or animators, so they have the skills required to be an Art director. As they gain their skills, they can slowly move up. The job of an Art Director is to be responsible for any visual design of a video game; and is the one who has to attend meetings for the game, visualise what needs to be done, and to create deadlines for the artists and animators, so that they are able to stick to a schedule. They need to have a good background in fine arts and have a good amount of creativity so they are able to visualise how a game will pan out in the end.

Many art directors have to manage a team, with both experienced and amateur artist and designers; being able to cooperate well as a team is essential for any good director- listening to suggestions for the game by the team is taken into account; then the art director selects the best idea and develops it further, adding their own personal inputs.

I think that the role of an art director is essential as he is literally steering the ship in the right direction; without deadlines, motivation or perseverance, could the ship travel without crashing?
If I were to consider becoming an art director I would have to vastly improve my creativity skills and art judgment, as I am not as capable as I would like to be; I am always learning and improving every day. However I don’t think that I would like to have so much power, or that sort of responsibility (it’s not that I am lazy- just I’m not that good) so I would have to turn it down.

(This has been the hardest blog yet! I am glad to have finally done this [:)