Professional Contexts
Throughout the duration of the guest talks we have had, I’ve developed a much stronger understanding not only of the industry and how it operates, but of myself and where I would potentially fit in too. I am a 2D illustrator with aspirations of working as a creature and/or character designer, or as a concept artist, so I have chosen to focus in on talks that are related to said aspirations. I am also developing enter_universim, which is a competitive card game.
Artwork Within The Industry
Noemi Pischedda currently works as an illustrator, concept artist and comic book artist for Camelot. She also has completed work for Playtra games, having designed characters and storyboards for their game Gridforce.
Characters are essential to the storytelling experience, and Noemi highlights this by showcasing some of her design work. She demonstrated how important smaller details are, such as facial expressions, posturing and posing, even down to how characters dress. Noemi, throughout the talk, discusses a variety of points relating to her experience of working as an artist in an indie studio:
1. Embrace Challenges
Noemi goes on to speak about how it is essential to embrace challenges. She exemplifies this point by speaking about how she had to work in a variety of different roles, and compromise in her design processes in order to conform to briefs and deadlines. Even though it is common sense and almost cliche to say ‘challenge yourself’ to aspiring artists, this inspired me to try something new within my own work. For enter_universim, I had been considering making an art book like I had seen from games such as Dishonored, Breath of The Wild, and Outer Wilds. With this little bit of inspiration fueling me, I decided to make character art for Amalgam and The Hero in a style significantly more meticulous and detailed than I had ever attempted before.
Going back to how Noemi stressed how important character expression is. I’ve always understood the importance of expression, posturing and posing, but to really try and solidify this, I challenged myself to link back to this in the artwork. Even though these character’s lack any means of facial expression, I made sure to try and make their poses expressive. The Hero’s upright, chest open, sword to the sky pose exudes bravery and fearlessness, as though it is ready for any fight coming its way. Amalgam’s pose showcases its piercing gaze as a focal point within the piece. I coupled this with a strong, wide and rigid stance to demonstrate its power and menacing nature. I also chose this pose to really showcase as many elements of Amalgam as possible, and to capture a more magnificent and fantastical feeling, as to pay homage to its inspiration, mythical creatures and the Alebrijes.
These pieces are unfinished, but have already amassed over thirty-five hours of cumulative work together. I created these pieces quite methodically, creating ‘layers’ in which I continually added more and more detail, pushing in as much as my technical ability could let me. I kept hitting proverbial walls when creating these pieces, but I continued on and embraced that these are not ‘final’ or ‘definitive’ pieces, rather an experiment to challenge myself and push myself forward - after slowly chipping away at these pieces. I can definitively say I am ready for the challenge of creating an art book, and I am proud of my work and that I challenged myself.
2. Don't Become Obsessive
One small bit of information Noemi shared with us is how important it is to not ‘become obsessive’ with any particular piece of work. She stressed how it’s good to be passionate and invested in what you’re working on, but becoming obsessive will end up proving detrimental to the overall process. As a creative, I personally struggle with this. I will find something new and shiny and want to work on it, ditching something I was previously working on, or become so invested in this new shiny thing that I feel guilty for not definitively finishing it. I managed to pry myself away from finishing Amalgam in particular because the piece was taking so long, and I have successfully managed to suppress any guilt I would have otherwise experienced because I reframed how I approached the piece.
3. Exercise your creativity, but work for the sake of the team
Noemi also spoke about how it is important to not only work according to one’s own technical limitations of brief specifications, but also to work according to how the team as a whole operates. She gives an example of how she had to compromise her comic book work and work in black and white, something she was not entirely comfortable with, but a challenge she relished nonetheless. This different workflow enabled not only her, but her team, to realise the project in accordance with the deadline. If I apply this to the concept art I did, they would absolutely have taken up too much time. Even though I have to learn and improve, you have to be on your feet in regards to how you do it within an industry context. If I were in industry, I’d make sure to quickly research methods of adding scaly and fabric textures to a piece more efficiently, and I would not be quite as meticulous in my process.
4. Be open minded, invite feedback and instigate discussion
‘Open-mindedness’ and ‘creative discussion’ is very important in creative environments, especially within the art space. Noemi stressed that it is a necessity that creatives showcase their work regularly, whether it be with family, friends, on social media, or our colleagues. Myself and my peers conducted a gathering to put this into practice recently - we all gave presentations on our work with the aim of not feeling pressured by a time limit or having lecturers look over our work; it was much more relaxed. When I presented my work, I gained some useful feedback from my peers who helped me to understand that the sole focus I should have at the moment should be balancing and not the artwork - which I (struggled to) took to heart and slowed down my artwork to place more emphasis on balancing and playtesting.
I’ve also made sure to put my own work up in my studio workspace, so that my peers can hopefully gain some inspiration, but also easily digest my work and offer feedback.
Ideation, Prototyping, Iteration, and Playtesting
I am highly autonomous and independent as a creative, so I can inadvertently tunnel-vision into isolating myself. Presenting my work and posting to my socials helps keep me from doing this, as feedback from my target audience and fellow peers can ultimately help me to make much better decisions than I would on my own. Noemi goes on to say that ‘getting the right people and the right chemistry is more important than getting the right idea’, which holds incredibly true for enter_universim. Coming together as a cohort to review each other's ideas, offer further research, and to playtest together has helped shape the game massively.
Ideation, Prototyping, Iteration and Prototyping
Matteo Menapace is a game designer our course is familiar with. Matteo regularly comes in to speak with us about his recent board game development exploits, and recently came in to speak with us about Daybreak, a game about climate change that he is developing alongside Matt Leacock, an established board game designer with existing critical success in the form of the game Pandemic.
David Neale designed narrative-driven board games, having significant experience in developing Sherlock Holmes inspired games. David’s talk was highly informative in regards to prototyping and how to launch an idea forward quickly and efficiently, while gaining as much information as possible along the way.
The talks Matteo and David gave were highly important to me, as I myself am aiming to produce a physical game.
Matteo showed us different stages and methodologies he implemented into the development of Daybreak. He stressed how important it is, when utilising ‘real’ topics’, that you must ‘strip back’ the layers of the subject matter to uncover what you really want to address. In Daybreak’s case, stating that it is simply a game about climate change would be a gross understatement. Matteo states that Daybreak formed through a will to ‘challenge misconceptions’, ‘address key global issues’, and ‘reframing and addressing bigger issues’. Even though enter_universim isn’t necessarily built to be educational, an allegory or make any sort of ‘statement’ per se, but this concept of ‘being real’ has got me thinking more about the social and educational qualities the game could have. Enter_universim was formed under the premise of simulation theory, controlling the masses, and censorship - all social ‘issues’ that have serious negative repercussions on the real world in varying capacity (let’s imagine simulation theory is actually true). The combat of enter_universim could be ‘reframed’ to allude metaphorically to the idea of resistance and uprising - fighting back against a corrupt oppressor.
In terms of prototyping and playtesting - David Neale made a great deal out of beginning to prototype as soon as possible, as the overwhelming majority of the gameplay will be directly consequential to prototypes and playtests. Within his context of interactive narratives, he suggested making sure that the narrative is as sound as possible before moving forward with prototypes - something that I feel I have reflected within enter_universim. I intentionally looked to flesh out an aesthetic and feel for the game before ever setting out to play test it, which I am happy I did as I now have a more definitive direction for the game and, more importantly, one that is modular and allows me to consistently expand upon it.
Matteo also discusses the importance of ensuring games do not force you to learn - that they are ‘realistic but not educational’. The learning experiences one should have with a game should come from play, from experimentation, not by forcing the users to ‘understand’ or to play the game in any specific way. Matteo suggests that player’s should not be ‘forced to do the right thing’, and that meaningful decisions and player agency should be emphasised instead. Daybreak does not force the player to play the morally or politically correct way, but instead allows the players to effectively stumble across victory by learning from experience as they play. I find that this idea of natural learning occurs quite often within my own processes - I will find a topic or concept inspiring, and I’ll go and research it as a consequence of my own interest, not because I absolutely have to. This is something that has inspired me quite a lot - I want players to feel empowered by their own strategic thinking, to learn little tidbits about psychology and dreams consequently as a result of playing the game.
Matteo touches on how he and Matt both had to let go of the idea of perfection and simply had to play test. He stressed that designers must be confident in their approach to playtesting, to approach people and to be attentive to their feedback when it’s offered. David reinforces this idea, suggesting that we should seek as many playtesters as possible, and to establish Matteo says that we should ‘evaluate player experiences to make beneficial changes’ when playtesting, something that I feel like I have done (playtest log and playtest alterations), but not quite with as much intentionality. I’ve listed issues that arose with my game, but I never really stopped to question whether or not it was fun, and why it was or was not, making this a helpful point to take on board.
One issue I have been having with enter_universim’s gameplay during testing is that the objectively correct plays are oftentimes too obvious, thus leading to games that can be predictably settled a large number of turns before the outcome is actually settled. Matteo offers a solution to this: chance. Whilst I am not entirely fond of chance (games like Pokemon exemplify this), when it is implemented well, it can be a good way of adding variability and unpredictability to the gameplay. This got me thinking about how I can implement chance in a way that retains competitiveness. I eventually had a eureka moment that relates back to the playtesting phase. When people playtest your games, players will often play completely outside of expectations. Developers spend so much time with their games that it is impossible for them to assume exactly how new players will actually play, thus adding a layer of unpredictability. This has led me to the idea of simply adding layers to the game to shroud the objective ‘best’ play, and to try and place an emphasis on using players’ own brains as a means of adding chance. This is best exemplified by competitive Pokemon - there are always ‘objectively correct’ plays, but when you account for the human playing the game, that objective option may suddenly be thrown out the window. Players can intentionally make objectively bad plays, they can take risks, they can assume different playstyles and adapt to their opponents. It does not matter if objectively correct plays exist if the players’ can operate around them. Naturally, this means I have a lot of layers and variables to add in order to reduce the power of objectivity and simultaneously increase the power of player decision making and agency - I will look to research this in semester two specifically. This is a massive revelation for me personally, I feel as though this research will benefit enter_universim in immeasurable ways.
Breaking Into The Industry
Matteo touched on how he got in contact with Matt Leacock and how to put yourself out there, how to draw inspiration from personal experiences, and how he and Leacock went about developing Daybreak.
Matteo began his talk by briefly going over how he and Matt Leacock ended up working together on Daybreak. Matteo, being a board game designer, naturally knew about Matt Leacock; the games he had played a role in developing, and the pedigree he had built up. Matteo drew a lot of inspiration from Leacock, stressed the importance of something as simple as engaging with fellow creatives on social media. A simple twitter interaction between the pair was enough to get a dialogue going, which allowed Matteo to effectively pitch his idea for a climate-change inspired game to Leacock. Granted, there is a certain degree of luck involved with being able to click with a fellow creative, especially one with established pedigree, but the concept of being confident, asking questions, and simply engaging with people is a fantastic way to slowly but surely develop a network around you that gets your name heard. Matteo also showed us his LinkedIn page, on which he has over 500 connections to fellow creatives and professionals, any of whom he can contact and begin dialogue with.
Almost every single talk we had made the point of networking and capitalising on as many opportunities as possible. Conventions and gatherings are the example each guest speaker gave, suggesting that we need to be heading out to them to try and find connections. They suggest starting off with simple questions and engaging with the creatives at the conventions. This is easily the most daunting part about the industry for me - I have always struggled to communicate with people generally speaking, and putting myself out there, instigating conversations and asking questions is going to be very difficult for me. But as with anything, I know that I simply have to get the ball moving and begin building up my confidence. I just need to start.
Noemi also touched on how aspiring creatives can break into the industry, and the processes indie studios have to go through. Noemi placed heavy emphasis on the idea of being relentless - every aspiring creative needs to be consistent, determined and committed to putting themselves out there. She stresses how we need to ‘multitask’ by posting to social media regularly, engaging with fellow creatives, keeping on top of projects and developing skills, all while having our own lives. This is a frustrating reality, but one that is necessary to grasp in order to be better prepared for actual industry practice. I make sure to post to social media every time I feel as though I’ve made a significant piece, or significant process, but Noemi’s talk suggests that I should be doing so a bit more often to try and gain more engagement with my work. I personally use Instagram as my platform of choice for sharing my artwork, but I never really post with the intention of ‘boosting’ my brand or image.
Something that I was not aware of however is that you can change your account from standard to ‘professional’, which gives you statistics such as impressions, accounts reached or number of people who shared or saved called ‘insights’. To try and gain a stronger understanding and further my reach, I turned my account to professional and made five posts, all card designs from enter_universim:
To experiment with hashtags, I decided not to put any on the post of The Hero, but I placed hashtags over each of the others. I found that the hashtags I chose boosted the reach and impressions of the posts massively:
To conclude - the guest talks we’ve had have given me a newfound understanding of the industry and have helped to reaffirm my position within it - I feel more confident in myself and feel less intimidated by the prospect of trying to grow my own brand and begin networking with people - I just have to keep what Noemi said about rejection in mind to keep me grounded: ‘rejection is not failure’.
The main lesson I’ve learned however, is that I need to get used to being outside of my comfort zone. I need to push myself, whether in a physical, social or technical sense, because I can only improve and develop if I do. I feel as though I have a stronger sense of self, and like finding my place in the industry is not a matter of if, but when.