Elements of game design, part two: art direction for games

 An Art Director is the person in control of the art department of a game. They are responsible for the visual tone, quality, and style for the game. This means they are in charge of how everything appears in a game. Art Direction affects the game deeply, as how it looks can affect the feeling the player gets when playing the game. The art director makes sure that all Art department creates assets, environments and characters which are consistent to the tone of the game. They manage the other members of staff in the art department to

An Art director is responsible to the Game designer. During production, the members of staff in charge of teams meet up to see how the game is coming on and if everything is going to schedule.

I think it is a creative role in the industry. Even if the role itself does not involve must painting or drawing, it requires lots of creative decisions to be made. A game with good art direction often has something different and original about it, a unique style. This can be achieved by the creative ability of the Art Director. They have to be able to come up with lots of new creative ideas for  the style of each new project in order to be successful. Even though they don't implement their creative ideas, they are usually still  head of the art department.

Unlike in games, the art director in the film industry is not the head of the art department. Instead they work under the production designer. They are in charge of the look of the sets, costumes and some of the lighting. Their role is somewhat similar to that of a Art Director in games; they still are in charge of the general tone of the production and make it visually interesting. However, there are some changes simply because there is a difference in the final product they produce. Films have different things that need to be designed in a physical form, such as character costumes, so the film Art Director would be working slightly differently than game Art Directors.

Art directors need to be good communicators. This is because they will be working with a large number of people who they have to co- ordinate towards the end result of the game. They also need this good communication to convey their ideas clearly to everyone in the team. This is so all the things that the art department creates fits together well in the final product. Being a good manager of people and time is also a necessary skill. They also have to be really perceptive, as they have to manage how everything in the art team produces, even down to the little details. As well as that, they need to be very creative, as they must be able to come up with new ideas for each games look and visual design. These are some of the many skills a Art director for games must need for their job.