Building a Concept Art Portfolio
Concept Art Generalist Portfolio
A concept art portfolio is a great portfolio if you are looking to get into indie games, AA, AAA games, and film. There are risks with this portfolio if you are a junior looking to get into a AAA studio, as the subject matter of this type of portfolio is broad and it can be challenging to get your work to a high enough quality unless you have many years to practice. Usually indie and AA games prefer a portfolio with a broader skillset since the teams are smaller.
Why Your Portfolio Matters
Your concept art portfolio is your professional identity; it demonstrates your ability to solve the visual design problems and meet the specific requirements that a game studio needs. As a concept artist, you're not just creating art to for aesthetic purposes. You're designing functional, believable worlds that serve a studio's gameplay and narrative.
Concept Art Generalist Responsibilities:
Character Design: Creating believable characters and creatures.
Environment Design: Establishing locations that support gameplay and tell stories.
Prop Design: Designing functional weapons, tools, objects and vehicles.
World Building: Ensuring all visual elements work together cohesively.
Essential Skills For This Role:
Structuring Your Portfolio
The most effective portfolios are often built around narratives rather than random standalone pieces. A narrative better reflects critical thinking and world building, which games studios need in order to make great game.
For your portfolio aim to have at least 2 Projects with 8-10 Pages of work that revolve around a narrative to for you to design your portfolio. These projects should show your design process and ability to maintain visual consistency across multiple pieces. While it's valuable to include some standalone pieces that showcase different skills, your narrative projects should form the core of your portfolio.
Narratives Provides:
Design Logic: A framework for making consistent visual choices.
Storytelling Through Visuals: Proves you can communicate narrative elements through your artwork.
Problem-Solving Context: Shows how you approach real design challenges.
Professional Relevance: Mirrors how actual game development works.
Design Process Documentation: Shows your iteration methods, from initial concepts through refined final designs.
Choosing Your Story Foundation
You can build your narrative projects by either adapting existing stories with your own visual interpretations or developing original concepts from scratch. Adaptations let you focus on visual development while originals can give you more control over the work that you create. Both approaches are effective at demonstrating your concept design abilities.
Below is a summary for the two approaches I recommend for developing your narrative projects.
Option 1
Re-Imagine An Existing Narrative
Adapt classic literature, mythology, or older films.
Add unique twists (e.g., What if Wizard of Oz was a Sci-Fi, 1000 years in future?)
Avoid recent popular games or movies narratives (reduces direct comparison.)
Option 2
Create An Original Narrative
Gives you complete creative control.
Shows original thinking and world-building skills.
Requires more upfront development time.
Building A Portfolio Project
Below is a template for structuring concept art projects in your portfolio. Again I recommend having at least 2 of these style of projects in your professional portfolio.
Use this guide below as a starting framework, but let your career goals guide the final direction.
Your portfolio directly influences the type of work opportunities you'll receive, so ensure it aligns with where you want to work and what you want to create!
Portfolio Project Example
Portfolio Structure
8-10 Page Framework
Project Example Narrative
'Your Chosen Narrative'
Example Game Concept
'Choose a rough outline of what style of game this is'
Visual Style
For this example project I'm going to show a lot of different styles, but you should choose one!
Page 1
Introduce Your Characters
Focus: 2-3 main characters showcasing world-specific details
Include:
Gear/Equipment that reflects the setting
Fashion/Clothing that tells the story of their world
Unique characteristics that hint at gameplay roles
Clear silhouettes and strong design language
Tip: Each characters design should be able to tell the personality and story of the character.
Page Inspiration: Alan Wake Character Designs
Page 2
Character Evolution
Focus: Character progression and detailed callouts
Include:
Upgraded versions or alternative skins for one main character
Material and texture specifications
Close-up details of key design elements
Equipment variations that suggest character progression
Tip: Each characters design should be able to tell the personality and story of the character.
Page Inspiration: Alan Wake Character Designs
Page 3
Weapon & Tool Design
Focus: Character progression and detailed callouts
Include:
Upgraded versions or alternative skins for one main character
Material and texture specifications
Close-up details of key design elements
Equipment variations that suggest character progression
Tip: Each characters design should be able to tell the personality and story of the character.
Page Inspiration: Alan Wake Character Designs
Page 4
Creature Designs
Focus: Character progression and detailed callouts
Include:
Upgraded versions or alternative skins for one main character
Material and texture specifications
Close-up details of key design elements
Equipment variations that suggest character progression
Tip: Each characters design should be able to tell the personality and story of the character.
Page Inspiration: Alan Wake Character Designs
Page 4
Creature Designs
Focus: Character progression and detailed callouts
Include:
Upgraded versions or alternative skins for one main character
Material and texture specifications
Close-up details of key design elements
Equipment variations that suggest character progression
Tip: Each characters design should be able to tell the personality and story of the character.
Page Inspiration: Alan Wake Character Designs