Art Direction

Art Direction for Games

I have researched into what it is that an Art Director does and who they are responsible for as stated below.

Video game art directors are responsible for the quality of art incorporated in the video games produced under their supervision. They need to have a background in fine arts, so that they are knowledgeable about the technical aspects of drawing, texturing, and coloring. They need to have a good amount of creativity, as they are often required to visualize how a particular section of a game would look once it is finished.

Video game art directors usually manage a team composed of both amateur and experienced designers, and as such, having management skills is always advantageous. They are often required to work closely with people having different skill levels. Video game art directors also need to be open towards suggestions from other team members. In a large team, every member is likely to have a unique opinion regarding how a particular level should be designed, or how a texture should be incorporated in the game environment. It is the job of the art director to take all these suggestions into account, select the best one, and develop it further with personal inputs.

http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/7775/Video-Game-Art-Director.html

I think that Art Direction is one of the most important jobs when it comes to creating a Games Designer. Without the correct colors, tones, contrast, style, realism, well researched historical facts and correct lighting, a game or film for that matter, can be a failure. The need to make sure that things are correct for the era or specific day are what makes games or films visually stunning.

For example ‘Medal of Honor’ on the PS2, depicted the WW2 Normandy beach landings and it was most important that the Art Director tried to make the gamer feel as if he was really going to war, otherwise it would have been highly criticized due to the fact that it was such an important event in history. In parts of this game, such as the beach landings, the Art Director has presented the scene in a cinematic tone, making it almost an exact replica to the 1998 film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ by Steven Spielberg.

For me this was cleverly done as the film was a massive success and its opening scene was shocking and realistic to say the least. In the game it felt almost like it was wrong to be playing, for fun, as a character that would of almost certainly of died on that beach, making the experience a realistic one. When this kind of feeling is evoked it tells me that the game or film has been carefully planned and that, more importantly, the Art Director has done his job well.

The qualities that I feel that I need to develop to become an Art Director in the future would probably be to be an excellent researcher, a competent 2d artist and to be better at analyzing visual designs, my own or otherwise.