As a rule, before buying certain games, people look thoroughly through concept arts to them. It helps to understand what to expect from the game, and what emotions the game may bring. But do you know what a concept art exactly is? Who works on it? How should it look? In the article, we are going to take a closer look at these aspects and find the answers. So, without further ado, lets’ get started!
What is the meaning of “Concept art”?
Concept art is basically a visualization of a certain narrative or look. It is frequently used in movies, video and mobile games to get the main point across. Also, visual conceptualization conveys the atmosphere and gives specific tone to the entire game or movie. What is more, concept art is able to provide a strong orientation point (something to go by) for all the artists, video makers and other creatives working on the project.
Who designs concept arts?
Concept art can be designed by either independent (freelance) concept artists or game development outsourcing companies who offer/employ specialists for certain projects. In both cases, the vast majority of the time, artists are asked to work in accordance with previous designs and ideas, or to create absolutely new environments and characters back to the drawing board. The main difficulty of the concept artist job is that even creating something brand new, you still have to comply with all the requirements, previous groundwork, and long-run objectives.
Concept art styling
In speaking of designs for 2D/3D mobile and video games, concept arts might be realistical, casual, caricaturable or cartoon. Also, based on the game narrative and long-run objectives, an absolutely new design can be created. It concerns all the areas of game visualization: styling characters, creatures, environments, rendered illustrations, props and assets, storyboards, and many more.
Working with static images
Handling static images implies design creation for characters (including edge-on views), environments, creatures, rendered illustrations, props and assets, storyboards, and many more. Designing a 2D game concept art is the most common work in the industry. 2D artists are able to cover all the aspects of visual conceptualization mentioned above, and produce not only two-dimensional (static) images, but also three-dimensional models. If necessary, concept artists may also design facial expressions, poses and simple moves like running or jumping for game characters that are going to be animated later.
