Beavotron
June 3rd, 2008, 02:44 PM
Hey guys
I was wondering if I could get a bit of advice.
Basically, I've taught myself up to this point, and in October of last year when I was shopping around for an art school to attend, I on a whim applied to a graphic artist position at a local game development studio.
I was given the position much to my surprise and the hunt stopped.
The studio I work for is a growing studio, the pay is pretty decent, above average from what I can see as a starting position in this field (36,000 Canadian/year) with an annual raise and quarterly bonuses. but I'm afraid that I'm going to fall into a rut and regret not going to school at some point.
I know I can teach myself skills to improve, but lately I've sort of stopped. Working 9-5 in front of a computer sort of kills the drive I guess. I want to progress and eventually work for other companies doing things more suited to my style (I'm doing front end design for mostly sports games right now) but I get mixed reviews. A friend at Valve told me that most companies look at your portfolio and really don't care about anything else, but on the same token, there are many American studios that want a degree or certificate. Especially since I'm a Canadian citizen who will have to apply for a Visa if I decide to work in the States someday.
I basically fear that I'm closing doors by jumping into what is essentially my career too soon. I'm 23, I did 3/4 years of a neuroscience degree and never finished it, so if it's a piece of paper an employer is after, they won't get it from me.
I read the great stickied post saying that a degree is just a piece of paper, but isn't it also required if I want to work in other countries other than Canada?
Some days I feel like I should count myself lucky, I managed to land a pretty good starting job in the field I want to be in with no formal education, I know I can grow from here, this job is going to look fantastic on my resume, but I also want to grow artistically. I'm doing a lot of front-end design, and the fact is, the only really front-end heavy games are sports games, which i frankly do not want to be doing for the rest of my career. I want to do more creative things like concept art and character design eventually.
I'm quarter life crisising all over the place, advice would be much appreciated.
Current work so you can sort of get an idea of where I stand: http://www.beavotron.com
Thanks in advance guys.
I was wondering if I could get a bit of advice.
Basically, I've taught myself up to this point, and in October of last year when I was shopping around for an art school to attend, I on a whim applied to a graphic artist position at a local game development studio.
I was given the position much to my surprise and the hunt stopped.
The studio I work for is a growing studio, the pay is pretty decent, above average from what I can see as a starting position in this field (36,000 Canadian/year) with an annual raise and quarterly bonuses. but I'm afraid that I'm going to fall into a rut and regret not going to school at some point.
I know I can teach myself skills to improve, but lately I've sort of stopped. Working 9-5 in front of a computer sort of kills the drive I guess. I want to progress and eventually work for other companies doing things more suited to my style (I'm doing front end design for mostly sports games right now) but I get mixed reviews. A friend at Valve told me that most companies look at your portfolio and really don't care about anything else, but on the same token, there are many American studios that want a degree or certificate. Especially since I'm a Canadian citizen who will have to apply for a Visa if I decide to work in the States someday.
I basically fear that I'm closing doors by jumping into what is essentially my career too soon. I'm 23, I did 3/4 years of a neuroscience degree and never finished it, so if it's a piece of paper an employer is after, they won't get it from me.
I read the great stickied post saying that a degree is just a piece of paper, but isn't it also required if I want to work in other countries other than Canada?
Some days I feel like I should count myself lucky, I managed to land a pretty good starting job in the field I want to be in with no formal education, I know I can grow from here, this job is going to look fantastic on my resume, but I also want to grow artistically. I'm doing a lot of front-end design, and the fact is, the only really front-end heavy games are sports games, which i frankly do not want to be doing for the rest of my career. I want to do more creative things like concept art and character design eventually.
I'm quarter life crisising all over the place, advice would be much appreciated.
Current work so you can sort of get an idea of where I stand: http://www.beavotron.com
Thanks in advance guys.