Many colleges and universities bring in groups of industry experts to advise them on how to improve their program or help their graduates find jobs. Tonight the Art Industry of Atlanta brought in a particularly good mix of veteran game designers, animators and former grads to share insights. Many of the PAC’s comments were spot on, but I wanted to share three highlights:
1. Few art directors want to look at DVDs anymore. Have an easily navigable web site showing only professional quality work (well, and your resume). Send out links to reels that have been customized for that company, and don’t put up anything you think might not belong in a commercial product.
2. Update your web site at least once a year. Continue to show your best work, and if you are not employed in the industry, show that you are still honing your skills anyway.
3. This one was from David Hensley at Tripwire Interactive – check out Valve’s guidelines for selling user-generated content on Steam. If you have products up there proving their worth, you have already shown your ability to be an industry pro, and are probably making money as well.