Why do Concept Artists say "Make Something New!" Then Draw Some Guy With Armor On....

[NoSeRider]

I'm having a tuff time determining why concept artists always say "draw something that I haven't seen before!" and then ultimately they end up drawing some guy with armor on.....paticularly in the game industry.

Seems to me concepts artists in the game industry repeatedly draw the same stuff, yet they want something original?...da wha?

I was taking a tour around a game studio recently....it'll name nameless since someday I'd like to have a job......narks dont' get jobs.

[look]

Well, what would you do then? What would be an original design to you then?

The problem with design is they have to take a lot of stuffs into consideration. A fancy design may crash the game b/c the 3D figures would be using up too much resource to compile. On top of that, not everyone can appriciate an "original" design.

One of my friend does commissions and his clients always ask him to draw something "fancy", and when he finishes, the clients will think it's weird and constantly ask him to make changes, and at the end, it'll just become a normal thing. If he doesn't try to create anything fancy, just make the "normal" thing as he always draw, the client will be happy.

So it's not just for one person's taste, sometime they have to consider for the majority in order to get the stuff to sell.

[Qitsune]

There is also the question of recognizability.

Say you have to design the cops of a totally alien civilisation, how will the person watching the movie/playing the game know it's a cop and not just another alien.

You can't stop to explain every little thing, which is why conventions are used.

[RobHughes]

Designed by committee, pitched at morons, and criticised by us. It’s very much like the Hollywood film industry. All too often vissionary individuals are excluded by comercial concerns. The illustrator or designer is most often just a tool of the machine it is unfair to tar them all with the brush of mediocraty, however it is only the very few, most gifted ,who will contribute anything new to the medium.

Keep yor eyes peeled, some of them post here.

Rob

[dfacto]

And just to be fair, it should be mentioned that ego and hypocrisy play a role as well.

Concept artists aren't immune to that; we're human after all.