We calculated that 11% of Concept Artists are proficient in Storyboard, Maya, and Art Direction. 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:
- Storyboard, 11%
Created character designs, environment/architecture concept art, storyboards, cinematic illustrations, and helped pitch new projects
- Maya, 10%
Sketched raw ideas, Modeled and Rendered them in MAYA.
- Art Direction, 7%
Gained experience working collaboratively with a team while receiving art direction.
- Graphic Design, 7%
Develop graphic design and marketing materials.
- Design Concepts, 6%
Produce design concepts for environments, characters and hundreds of vehicles.
- Photoshop, 5%
Edited hundreds of product photography daily utilizing advanced Photoshop tools and techniques
"Storyboard," "Maya," and "Art Direction" aren't the only skills we found Concept Artists list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of Concept Artist responsibilities that we found, including:
Artistic talent can be considered to be the most important personality trait for a Concept Artist to have. According to a Concept Artist resume, "Animators and artists should have artistic ability and a good understanding of color, texture, and light" Concept Artists are able to use Artistic talent in the following example we gathered from a resume: "Provide vocal talents; help to create sound effects and VFX. " While it may not be the most important skill, we found that many Concept Artist duties rely on Communication skills. This example from a Concept Artist explains why: "Multimedia artists and animators need to work as part of a team and respond well to criticism and feedback." This resume example is just one of many ways Concept Artists are able to utilize Communication skills: "Created CAD visuals for junior department as well as created all store communication planograms. " Computer skills is also an important skill for Concept Artists to have. This example of how Concept Artists use this skill comes from a Concept Artist resume, "Many multimedia artists and animators use computer programs or write programming code to do most of their work." Read this excerpt from a resume to understand how vital it is to their everyday roles and responsibilities, "Used computer software to take images that the team and I drew and upload them in to video games. " In order for certain Concept Artist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires the skill "Time-management skills." According to a Concept Artist resume, "The workdays required by most studio and game design companies can be long, particularly when there are tight deadlines" As an example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies: "Created 100+ finished paintings under tight deadlines while maintaining high quality standards. " Another common skill for a Concept Artist to be able to utilize is "Creativity." Artists and animators must be able to think creatively to develop original ideas and make them come to life. A Concept Artist demonstrated the need for this skill by putting this on their resume: "Communicated well with creative director and team leads to produce conceptual assets for Wizard 101 and unannounced MMO titles. " See the full list of Concept Artist skills.
We've found that 75.3% of Concept Artists have earned a bachelor's degree. Furthermore, 6.7% earned their master's degrees before becoming a Concept Artist. While it's true that most Concept Artists have a college degree, it's generally possible to become one with only a high school degree. In fact, one out of every eight Concept Artists did not spend the extra money to attend college.
Those Concept Artists who do attend college, typically earn either Graphic Design degrees or Animation degrees. Less commonly earned degrees for Concept Artists include Fine Arts degrees or Photography degrees.
When you're ready to become a Concept Artist, you might wonder which companies hire Concept Artists. According to our research through Concept Artist resumes, Concept Artists are mostly hired by Activision Blizzard, Meta, and Electronic Arts. Now is a good time to apply as Activision Blizzard has 4 Concept Artists job openings, and there are 3 at Meta and 2 at Electronic Arts.
But if you're interested in companies where you might earn a high salary, Concept Artists tend to earn the biggest salaries at Facebook, Microsoft, and Sony Corporation of America. Take Facebook for example. The median Concept Artist salary is $166,182. At Microsoft, Concept Artists earn an average of $150,632, while the average at Sony Corporation of America is $117,600. You should take into consideration how difficult it might be to secure a job with one of these companies.
View more details on Concept Artist salaries across the United States.
