As I have spent the last two years seeking work in the local indie game dev industry, I was fortunate to already have some industry facing materials! Below is a link to my wordpress website, which I used as a portfolio and CV to apply for the job I currently have, as well as my previous freelance contracts.
https://wordpress.com/view/rebeccafeeney3dartistandanimator.wordpress.com
CV Design
When I was writing my CV, I watched a few videos on creative CV design for inspiration. I watched the video below.
I decided to go with pink on my CV, as it’s one of my favourite colours to wear and it is also a main colour in my logo.
CV Content
I have always been told by local game dev mentors that employers in my chosen field look at experience and portfolios before they look at an applicant’s education. Therefore, I knew that my qualifications would not be the only important aspect of my CV. I decided to use a layout that would show key pieces of information at first glance:
Based on what speakers said in various NI Game Dev Network arranged talks, I believed the most important information to be “about me”, “work and experience” (relevant to this industry, no one needs to know how many sandwiches and pizzas I made in Subway and Dominos), and “education and qualifications”. Therefore I chose a layout that, at a first glance, would show all these pieces of information in one row.
Logo Design
I commissioned a local digital artist to create my logo for me. The character in the logo depicts a stylised version of my own appearance. I had noticed at the time that many local game devs and animators use illustrated profile pictures, so I thought this would be appropriate for my own CV/Portfolio website. I also wanted to get across a sense of personality with my CV/portfolio website, so I chose colours in the logo that I actually wear in real life.
Curating Content In My Portfolio
When I applied for my current job, I decided to update my portfolio as I had created some new 3D models since first creating the wordpress portfolio website. I added twitter links to posts from Silverstream Studio, as the social media manager had posted in-game footage of my models that I had created whilst working freelance with them. I also included renders of those models in my portfolio, and images of the UV layouts for some of the more complex models. My reasoning for this was so that my potential employer could see the standard of my UV unwrapping skills, as well as seeing my work being used in a game. It can be difficult to gain industry experience in game dev, so I knew the importance of proving that I was actively working on models that were optimised for use in games, and not just models that looked nice at a glance!
I decided to create two portfolio pages on the one site- game and animation work, and 3D modelling work. This was because at the time, I was looking for work as a 3D generalist. I wanted to be able to show potential employers that I had experience in animation as well as modelling and texturing. I also included 2D art I created for a game jam, additionally I demonstrated my rigging experience. I understood that when applying to roles in small indie companies, being “a jack of all trades” can make you seem a good candidate. Most small companies do not have the workload or the funding to hire a specialist- it can be good sometimes to show your breadth in skills. In fact when I was being interviewed by my current employer, he commented that the fact I had created a rig for a non-human character model was impressive, so I was glad to have included it in my portfolio!
I made sure to include my most up to date work, and I only used work I was really happy with. When I was first applying to university with a 2D portfolio, my teacher in school preached the importance of showing your very best work, but also showing your artistic range. I applied this same ethos to my portfolio curation. I tried to pick the best of my work, but also to show my range in aesthetics- low poly modelling to realistic renders, 2D animation and 3D animation, and my ability to closely follow concept art. I also dated all my work, so that potential employers could see how my skills were developing, and also see that I had met application criteria relating to 1+ or 2+ years industry experience.
I decided to include one youtube fan animation, and one model of Zelda fan art. This was to show potential employers where my interests lie! I was told in an industry talk in 2020, which was delivered by the hiring manager at Hypixel Studio, that in their hiring process they like to see fan art in portfolios. Game dev companies tend to hire likeminded people with similar interests, and I knew that by including a fan art model of a Zelda character, any potential employers could strike up a conversation with me about Zelda games during an interview!
Including References
References are incredibly important, as not only can a reference help an employer decide whether or not to interview you, but simply having references listed shows the potential employer that you likely have a good relationship with previous employers. However as data privacy has become such an important topic in recent years, I decided to list my references’ contact details as “available upon request”. My portfolio/CV website is public, and sensitive data such as email addresses or phone numbers, should not be posted anywhere publicly.
Creating a Business Card
Although I have my ideal job, and therefore have no intention of seeking work opportunities from the end of year show, I still appreciate the importance of networking and coming across as a professional! For this reason I created a business card. I used my logo on my portfolio/CV homepage, so as to create consistency in personal branding. I also used a free website to create a QR code that would lead directly to my portfolio/CV site. I felt that this would be more enticing for potential employers/networking associates than just a typed out link on a physical business card.
I decided to keep with the pink/purple aesthetic, and I also included my twitter handle for my professional/networking twitter account. I created this account in 2020, with the sole intention of using it for networking and posting photos of my 3D work. As many of the local game developers are active on twitter as a professional space, I felt that it was important to include my twitter handle. I want potential employers and my peers to be able to contact me in a way that keeps my personal data, such as phone number and email address, private.
Overall Summary
To conclude, I relied on years of experience applying to jobs/university courses, undertaking professional practise classes, and industry seminars to inform the creation of my portfolio/CV site. I was lucky to be able to attend seminars about hiring processes and CV/portfolio advice, as I was getting valuable information from local game developers. I feel that in the future, it would be in my best interest to create an art station account- this would help potential employers to get a better view of my 3D models. I would also like to pay for a domain name when I have more savings- this would appear much more professional than my current free website domain.
Rebecca Feeney MA Animation 