Concept Art & Character Design (5 cr)

Evaluation scale

0-5

Objective

The object of the course
How to make interesting and coherent concept art which helps you communicate with you co-workers? How to make your characters function in logical manner? Making decent concept art is crucial for your game development project because that is one of the best ways to communicate with your group not only from the visual viewpoint but also from audio viewpoint. In group work it is vital that all group members are on the same page when developing a game. If there is a mutual understanding where everybody agrees that ok, our game is a horror-scary genre game what does that really mean? Is it a scary game for 10-year old people or for adults? Horror means different things for different people and that is why it is important to make decent concept art and characters visible in very early stage of the project

After completing this course, you will be able to make decent concept art and create consistent characters to your game in early phase of your process. You will learn different tools and techniques for concept art and in that way you are able to step towards mutual understanding what your game is all about.

Course competences
Game Production Competence

The learning objectives of the course
The student who completes the course understands the basic aspects and techniques how to provide decent concept art and how to communicate game art and aesthetics matters with development team, publishers and other stakeholders.

Content

In this course you will learn how to make concept art in for different purposes with different tools. You will learn that concept art in its many forms is an elementary tool for communication in co-creative process. Character design encase visual, motivational, conflict based angle and during this course you will also learn other ways to (like audio, narrative) enhance the cohesion of your groups workflow.

Teaching methods

Classroom contacts form the backbone for the course. These consist of lectures by the teachers and presentations by the students. Course also includes workshops and gamified sessions in small groups.

Exam schedules

No exams in the course. Portfolio is created and evaluated in a discussion with teachers at the end of the course.

Completion alternatives

No alternative ways to complete the course.

Student workload

135 hours of labor for students. Consists of lectures, workshops, assignments, presentations.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Sufficient (1): You have knowledge in the area of concept art and character design. You know the concepts of concept art and you know what it encases. Your portfolio is superficial and and there is no evidence of expertise in field of concept art or character development.

Satisfactory (2): You understand the concepts of concept art andcharacter design and how they are related to game development. You understand the different elements of concept art and you know those are reasonable in game development process. Your portfolio is superficial and your skills are tolerable in concept art

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Good (3): You understand the concepts of concept art and character design and can apply the gained knowledge in a real-life development project. You can apply the skills and knowledge as concept artist in game productions in some level. Your portfolio is good but there no special competences which stand up above average

Very good (4): You understand the meaning of concept art and character design thoroughly and you will be able to analyze yours and other concept artists work in detail. Your portfolio is illustrative and comprehensive it is easy to adapt your concept art ideas for everybody. You have special skills in some area of concept art (Visual, audio, character/narrative)

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Excellent (5): You understand the concepts of concept art and character design thoroughly and you will be able to analyze your own work critically as well as other group members work. You can analytically discuss about the concept art in game present and defend (based on knowledge and evidence) your opinions. Your portfolio is illustrative and it inspires other people. Your skills in concept art is in the level that you are able to work in real life projects in some special area of game industry.

Further information

Avoin amk 10 (are included in the total capacity (spots)