Careers for the Agile Hand

Not every career is based on a hobby you may have had since childhood. Attaining a degree in game art design can give you just that. Careers in this field are often taken up by people who have played video games and/or have dabbled in the art involved in such games.

The ever evolving technology of video games requires updated art styles and techniques. The artists who create and design these games have to have technical expertise along with their creativity and design knowledge. Such education can lead to a variety of careers that have incredible earning potential.

Associate Producer

The associate producer of video game application handles the production decisions for the games. This includes reviewing game ideas, storyboards and incoming technology. They hire the artists and developers to make the games and ensure that the games produced are done according to the budget so that they can bring in profits.

Production skills are learned during the course of game art design studies and can be learned in depth with additional courses and hands on training. The median salary for this career is about $41,000 per year to start.

3-D Artist

3-D artists focus on the way art is rendered in the video games. They handle lighting and character design and interaction. 3-D art design is a great focus in game art design degree programs because much of what the game buyers focus on is the art and style of the game. If the art is substandard, the gamers will not buy.

The art and animation go hand in hand so one improves upon the other. The median starting salary for a 3-D game artist is about $52,000 per year and can increase greatly.

Game Designer

The video game designer takes the art and technology combined to produce the video game itself. The game designer has the technical knowledge from the game art design degree and the artistic talent blended together to form the hottest games on the market.

It takes programming knowledge, editing skills and gaming ability to make a game that tops the market. Besides designing and programming these games, game designers often test the games to make sure there are no programming problems and that the games will be attractive to the consumers. The median salary for game designers is about $54,000 per year.