Games Art BA (Hons)

Course overview

As a games artist, you can work in one of the largest and most agile creative industries in the world.

• You have the opportunity to develop games art skills such as storytelling, narrative, sociology, spatial design, architecture to anatomy, and character/environment design.
• We teach you about industry practices in a simulated games studio environment, so you can gain a solid grounding in visualisation techniques, character, environment and concept design.
• This exciting course is developed in conjunction with games industry employers like Radiant Worlds and helps you build the skillset you need to be a successful games artist.

Why you should study this course

• You may have opportunities to work with animators and illustrators to develop your core skills in drawing, perspective and concept development². You will also be taught the trends and technical developments within the games industry.
• A flexible approach enables you to individually develop your creative practice and portfolio, setting you up for a wide range of potential career paths.
• Opportunity to take a placement or study abroad year².
• The opportunity to learn about virtual and augmented reality using HTC Vive/Oculus Rift and game engines such as Unreal Engine and Unity.

Careers and opportunities

The course should prepare you for the rigours of the professional world by simulating the challenges that you may face as a practitioner. It aims to develop your independent thought, innovation, imagination, critical reflection and confidence in your practice, as well as transferrable skills suitable for employment across the full breadth of the creative industries.

When you have successfully completed this course, you should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the representation of human and animal form, anatomy and motion, natural environments, architecture and artefacts
• the aesthetics of photography, film and narrative animation and your impact upon games art
• the communicative and immersive role of design for user interfaces
• a broad range of image manipulation technologies including 2D and 3D design and rendering applications
• augmented Reality and Virtual Reality using HTC Vive/Oculus Rift, Game Engines such as Unreal Engine and Unity
• technical requirements of art assets produced for integration into programmed elements of games
• working processes and cross-disciplinary roles in the games and related industries.
• ethical dimensions relevant to the representation of interpersonal and social interactions.