What does a Concept Artist do?
The job of a concept artist is to make visual representations of creatures, characters, environments, vehicles, and other artistic assets. You should know about the design and how to create one that needs to blend well with any creative project. Your typical job includes drawing or painting these creative assets and providing references for any ideas you need to illustrate. The general qualifications needed to become a successful concept artist include illustration skills, design understanding, and knowledge of Photoshop.
Concept artist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real concept artist resumes:
- Create many MEL scripts to help automate routine daily tasks and improve overall productivity.
- Rig character for animation in Maya.
- Create pitches for new and old IP.
- Sketch concept art for an online game
- Design & animate VFX for mobile games!
- Prepare 3D models for production using Maya 3d.
- Work closely with director from sketch to final.
- Create 3d and 2d vector assets for facebook game
- Develop designs and character concepts for PC and App games.
- Train groups of artists in ZBrush and 3DSMax techniques for next-gen art pipeline.
- Help the sole FX artist by creating, implementing and integrating additional particle FX.
- Create and add unique game texture art to replace placeholder graphics supply by programming team.
- Create deformable and efficient models with clean topology, optimize UV layout, and textures.
- Develop critical hit, healing, speed up, and defend icon concepts for the UI.
- Work with art director, lead UI designer and 3D animators to finalize new art assets.
Concept artist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 8% of Concept Artists are proficient in Storyboards, Maya, and Animation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Artistic talent, Communication skills, and Computer skills.
We break down the percentage of Concept Artists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Storyboards, 8%
Created character designs, environment/architecture concept art, storyboards, cinematic illustrations, and helped pitch new projects
- Maya, 8%
Sketched raw ideas, Modeled and Rendered them in MAYA.
- Animation, 7%
Recognized by superiors for successfully coordinating and animating several complex raid system and animation.
- Sketch, 6%
Charge of creating game characters and environment with Hand sketch, Photoshop, Painter.
- Art Direction, 6%
Mentored junior artists by providing art direction and technical assistance.
- Graphic Design, 5%
Develop graphic design and marketing materials.
"storyboards," "maya," and "animation" are among the most common skills that concept artists use at work. You can find even more concept artist responsibilities below, including:
Artistic talent. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a concept artist to have is artistic talent. Their role and responsibilities require that "animators and artists should have artistic ability and a good understanding of color, texture, and light." Concept artists often use artistic talent in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provide vocal talents; help to create sound effects and vfx. "
Computer skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of concept artists is computer skills. This skill is critical to many everyday concept artist duties, as "many special effects artists and animators use computer programs or write programming code to do most of their work." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "used computer software to take images that the team and i drew and upload them in to video games. "
Time-management skills. For certain concept artist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "time-management skills." The day-to-day duties of a concept artist rely on this skill, as "the workdays required by most studio and game design companies can be long, particularly when there are tight deadlines." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what concept artists do: "lead animator responsibilities: manage all areas of production regarding animation and ensure all deadlines are met. "
Creativity. Another common skill required for concept artist responsibilities is "creativity." This skill comes up in the duties of concept artists all the time, as "artists and animators must be able to think creatively to develop original ideas and make them come to life." An excerpt from a real concept artist resume shows how this skill is central to what a concept artist does: "provided creative direction for development of game designs. "
The three companies that hire the most concept artists are:
- EElectronic Arts7 concept artists jobs
- AActivision Blizzard6 concept artists jobs
- RRiot Games5 concept artists jobs
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Compare different concept artists
Concept artist vs. Graphic designer/production
A Graphics Designer in production is the person in charge of designing and interpreting ideas pointed out by the client or the company. The graphics designer must use market standard applications and techniques to produce attention-grabbing designs intended to market a product, service, or company. Graphic designers are an integral part of a company's digital marketing, especially over the internet. The graphic designer must have a good eye for style, typesetting, and the use of colors.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between concept artists and graphic designer/production. For instance, concept artist responsibilities require skills such as "storyboards," "maya," "animation," and "ui." Whereas a graphic designer/production is skilled in "adobe illustrator," "adobe indesign," "signage," and "adobe creative suite." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Graphic designer/productions tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $59,531. In contrast, concept artists make the biggest average salary, $98,110, in the technology industry.The education levels that graphic designer/productions earn slightly differ from concept artists. In particular, graphic designer/productions are 3.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a concept artist. Additionally, they're 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Concept artist vs. Visual merchandiser
A visual merchandiser is responsible for arranging product displays at retail outlets, attracting customers to purchase the items. Visual merchandisers should be updated with the latest trends in the market to prioritize retail displays and floor plans. They must also be knowledgeable on product information to assist customers with their inquiries and concerns. Visual merchandisers should be creative in setting up the uniformity of the store's visuals within the budget goals. The designs must be appealing enough to drive the customers around the premises, potentially generating revenues and increasing profitability.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, concept artist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "storyboards," "maya," "animation," and "sketch." Meanwhile, a visual merchandiser has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "ladders," "sales floor," and "store management." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, visual merchandisers earn a lower salary than concept artists. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, visual merchandisers earn the most pay in the retail industry with an average salary of $37,869. Whereas concept artists have higher pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $98,110.visual merchandisers earn similar levels of education than concept artists in general. They're 4.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Concept Artists in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Sarah Satterfield Ph.D.
Department Chair Visual and Performing Arts, Professor of Music and Humanities, College of Central Florida
Concept artist vs. Visual designer
A visual designer is someone who creates designs for a variety of platforms such as Internet and intranet sites, games, and wearables. The duties of visual designers depend on the specific project or industry in which they are working. Duties include creating user-centered interaction models, working with information technology and business teams to resolve complex issues, and designing logos, icons, and infographics. The qualifications to become a visual designer include possessing strong problem-solving, communication, and negotiation skills and obtaining a bachelor's degree in design.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from concept artist resumes include skills like "storyboards," "zbrush," "environmental design," and "visual style," whereas a visual designer is more likely to list skills in "user experience," "visualization," "adobe creative suite," and "html css. "
Visual designers make a very good living in the start-up industry with an average annual salary of $121,675. On the other hand, concept artists are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $98,110.visual designers typically earn similar educational levels compared to concept artists. Specifically, they're 2.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Concept artist vs. Graphic designer internship
In a graphic design internship, one of the primary responsibilities is to accomplish tasks while under the supervision of more experienced colleagues. An aspiring graphic designer may use this opportunity to observe and participate in designing for various industries, handle different clients, participate in creative meetings, and learn strategies from experts. Furthermore, there may also be technical tasks involving research and analysis, gathering materials, coordinating with vendors, and producing reports and other necessary documentation. They may also be responsible for maintaining a database and responding to calls and inquires.
Types of concept artist
Updated January 8, 2025
