Careers in Game Development
Careers in Game Development: 10 Essential Tips for Building a Game Artist Portfolio
How an artist can build a portfolio to get the job.
G5 Games has over 850 talented professionals making mobile games with a multi-million audience. Over the past 20 years, we have gained invaluable expertise that we want to share. That’s why we’re starting a series of articles on “Careers in Game Development”. In part one, we discuss how an artist can build a portfolio to get the job.
A portfolio is a great way to show an artist’s skills and what they can bring to a project. Your portfolio should clearly demonstrate your area of expertise. Different companies may have their own approach to artist specializations.
At G5, we recognize these specializations:
- Character Artist
- Environment Artist
- HOG (Hidden Object Games) Artist
- UI (User Interface) Artist
- Match-3 Games Artist
- Illustrator
- Concept Artist
Sometimes, artists have to do different jobs, especially in small game dev studios. Big companies usually have one person for one job.
Now that we’ve identified the most important aspect — your specialization — let’s move on to some advice!
1.Make your portfolio as clear as possible about the role you are applying for. The reviewer should understand this at first glance. Adding your desired role to your resume is also a good idea.
If you are a character artist, your portfolio should include characters; a UI artist should include UI windows; a grind artist (one of the most difficult roles!) should include match-3 chips and mechanics, etc.
Sometimes, an artist can be good at two things, like drawing characters and illustrations. If this applies to you, don’t forget to highlight it in your portfolio.
2. Pay attention to stylistics. For beginners, it is better to choose 1–2 similar to each other styles and concentrate on them. But if you’re more experienced, it’s important to be able to draw in different styles. This is especially useful if you want to work on projects still figuring out their style.
If you want to join a specific company, show them art that looks like what they usually make. Pick a few pieces from that company to learn a style and try to make similar ones yourself. Copying is a good way to learn. Creating works similar to the company’s style will help interviewers understand your suitability for a particular position and project.
We recommend adding a series of works in the same stylistic direction — this way, you demonstrate that you can replicate results and know how to follow a given style.
3. Keep an eye on the quality of your work. You should highlight what you’re best at. Remember that quality is more important than quantity. It’s better to use 5–10 works in your chosen specialization and stylistic approach, close to what is required on the company’s projects.
At G5 Games, we first look at how candidates work with material shading, form plasticity, light, and color, whether they have design skills and a deep understanding of anatomy, architecture, visual hierarchy in UI window design, infographics, and more.
4. If you want to work for a specific company, make sure to follow them on ArtStation, Behance, and Instagram. This way, you can keep up with their latest projects and adjust your portfolio to match the style they like.
If you dream of working at G5 Games, we welcome all artists to follow our accounts on ArtStation and Behance.
5. Never add someone else’s work to your portfolio, pretending it is your own. The exception to this rule is co-authored work. In this case, specify that it is a co-authorship, and note which part of the work you did.
6. Feel free to show the stages of the artwork and the time spent on the work. This will reveal your thought process and show that you can work not only qualitatively but also quickly.
7. If you are a beginner, try to avoid using sketches, fan art (if you have chosen to specialize as a concept artist), and works that you made as a student on a course. These works might not truly reflect your skills as you likely did them with guidance. Coursework is always visible, even if it is not signed as coursework. It’s better to recreate a similar project independently. This way, you will be able to show your individuality.
8. Don’t be afraid to use AI in your work. It can impress recruiters. Mention the neural networks you used and what tasks you managed to solve with their help. This way, you will show that you’re up-to-date with modern technologies and know how to use them effectively.
9. Publish your portfolio on all available platforms: ArtStation, Behance, Instagram, and in specialized groups on Telegram and Facebook. If you’re not comfortable making your works public, simply upload them to Google Drive, organize the portfolio’s structure clearly, and share the link with the recruiter. Ensure the link allows easy access since multiple people might view your portfolio. Make sure to categorize your works into folders — projects, tasks by specializations, etc.
Include the link to your portfolio in your resume and cover letter, and make it highly visible — highlight it with a different color, formatting, or size.
Remember to make all links to your portfolio active — it shortens the path to the specialist’s work and demonstrates to the employer that you appreciate their time.
10. Congratulations, you’re fantastic! Now, as your portfolio is ready, help recruiters find you. Use hashtags like #UX, #UI, #Illustration, #Character, and others. Properly name your art, and don’t forget to include contact information.
Keep your portfolio up-to-date and regularly add new works. Make it a habit to add at least one fresh work every 3–4 months.
Bonus tips: Things to avoid in your portfolio. Read our recommendations and never do this.
- Irrelevance of work. Anything unrelated to game development — sketches on paper, drawings on fabric, business card designs, and websites — is unsuitable for the portfolio.
- Multiple folders on Google Drive with various works that are difficult to navigate.
- A portfolio in an archived file that needs to be downloaded and may not always open.
- Images of poor quality, overly compressed.
We hope our advice and recommendations will help you prepare an excellent portfolio and find a job in game development. Subscribe to our blog to not miss the second part of the article. We will discuss how to prepare for an interview and successfully pass it. Best of luck on your journey!
