Lili Ibrahim
Professional Contexts - Week 5
About the speaker
Works at UsTwo games
Position: Lead Artist
Background
Lili originally comes from Sweden. She came to the UK to study Illustration and Animation at Kingston University. She's been in a games industry for 8 years and has been working on a range of different projects. Outside of work, she's also a freelancer making some tabletop games, book covers and illustrations.
Working during pandemic
Since Lili was hired during lockdown she didn’t have a chance to meet her whole team. She has worked from home during her whole time there.
The tricky part here is communication.
The key is to start off with daily kickoffs in the morning and have a chat.
It helps to show how everyone is feeling and see that everyone is on the same page.
Art roles in games
[screen shot from Lili’s talk]
In the industry, an artist in one studio can have the same title as the artist in a different studio but might be doing a completely different thing so those titles are more like a guideline than a solid description what you would be doing.
Interview tips
ask specifically what you would be doing for e.g. as a 2D artist
how big is the team
who would I be reporting to
who would give me feedback
how is the iteration process
// All those questions will help you later to understand the working process in that company and you would fit your role better. Also, it is the way to make sure you have all the skills that they require.
Righ now Lili works as a lead artist but at the end of the day, she is doing the same thing as she was doing in the previous company under a different title (art director). She shared with us some of her key responsibilities.
Key things:
collaboration with other discipline leads
the top-down view of the project - is the biggest responsibility when you are a lead
having an overview of the project where are they going as a whole team
internal and external deadlines
problem-solving
forward planning overall project planning/management
leading the team of direct reports
distributing and prioritising tasks - admin
people management /career development
make sure that the staff is doing well and is satisfied with their work
communicating projects changes and goals
reviewing and directing daily work
-giving feedback
- doing art
- concepts
-paint-overs
-mockups
/being a lead is mainly about communication nans enabling conversation which doesn't leave a lot of time for art
Getting into the Games Industry
ways to get the job
Lily’s experience with getting into the industry is really interesting. Every job she got was through different ways which can give me an idea of how I will try to get into the industry.
look for posts on social media
recruiter
email spamming
network
For the first job Lili didn't have much experience so she relayed mostly on her portfolio.
// In my case, I hope that after uni I will have strong enough portfolio to get me through the door. Being a soon to be graduate I don't have much experience to put into my CV so I will have to rely solely on my portfolio.
Even when you get rejected try asking for some feedback on the portfolio and just keep improving it. Show your best work - better have fewer pieces with higher quality than multiple mediocre ones.
// Good thing to know is if you get an interview then they were happy with your artwork/portfolio.
Getting your first job is a big step in your life. You already got into the industry and can add it to your CV. Not only it says about you that you can work, show up on time and deliver your work but also communicate well.
// what I noticed in all those talks is even your job is not your ideal dream job it provides you with some big opportunities. Mainly meeting some really interesting people and building your network. This will help you in the long run, you might be introduced or recommended to future job opportunities. And once more what you learn stays with you and you will only gain more and more confidence with every project.
// note to self: there’s no shame in email bombing every company that you know
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