How to make COVER ART for Games!

Working in or alongside the game industry as an artist can be competitive and challenging BUT it’s also a lot of fun! If you have a passion for making games and/or want to become a concept artist or illustrator in the video game industry, then you probably already know this. If you’re looking to “break into” the industry, I’d always suggest finding fun indie game projects to join and be a part of because aside from the experience you’ll get, you’ll also probably work on some VERY fun projects and meet some super cool people! Most of you in my audience are beginners with very little experience and many of you don’t KNOW the several different roles an artist can take in video games. One of those roles is a “Promotional Artist” or “Marketing Artist” who’s job is create promotional material for the game such as asset packages for the marketing team. Very often, if this job isn’t handled “in-house” studios will reach out and contract artists like myself to create these along with other pieces.
Now key art is often referred to the art meant to sell the game, either to interior teams as they discuss their initial vision for the look of the game, or to the player base. Cover art fits pretty neatly in that umbrella term, but you can often use them interchangeably in regards to the cover art itself.
So in this video we talk about the process of making cover art as well as some good practices to keep in mind if you go about trying to make some yourself.

Check out my artist buddy Khan who helped make the thumbnails of that Halo/Destiny crossover piece in the background:

—–Socials—–
Commissions
Twitter
Twitch
Instagram
Tiktok
Prints
Downloads
Website
etc… 👇

00:00 Key art
02:17 Thumbnails
06:03 Good Directors
08:33 References
09:41 Fleshing out
11:55 Design
13:00 More art