Mockup Website Part 1 - Custom Banners

As part of this module, I’m going to create a mockup of a few pages of a website. The purpose of these mockups will be to give an idea of the overall style which I would like to use when it comes to creating my own online portfolio. I’ve taken my inspiration for these mockups from some of the better portfolios I’ve found during my research into them.

One of my favourite elements I’ve found on someone’s portfolio is the use of custom banners and graphics on the website found here, https://sharonsmith.carbonmade.com/. On most of the portfolios I’ve viewed, the banners linking to each section of work featured one of the work screenshots with just some basic text on top. However, on this portfolio, custom banners have been creating using a better quality render of the work with custom text, often with a genuine film or company logo used. These banners look so much more impressive than those found on other portfolio pages and instantly tell anybody viewing it that plenty of time and effort has been put into the website to make it look as sleek and professional as possible. When one of these banners is clicked, it takes you to a page dedicated to that particular project of work. At the top of each page there is a larger version of the banner which is used on the homepage.

I’ve decided that these custom banners are one element that I definitely want to include on my own portfolio so I’ve created a few simple banners for pieces of work I’ve done in the past. All three feature a scenic render of the environment and custom text over the top. For the Mad Max and the Le Mans environment, I’ve actually used the official logos of both in a similar way to the portfolio I took inspiration from. I’ve created two banners for each project, a small one which will appear on the homepage and a larger version for the top of the individual work pages.

The three thinner banners which will be put on the homepage. I've made sure to position the text consistently so that it all the looks the same when shown together on the same page.

The three large banners with the text repositioned to individually compliment each render as well as possible. The top two feature the official logos, combined with the text I'ved added.

I’ve also begun work on the style of the web pages. The style I’m going to go for will feature a dark gray or black background, with the text and any other features likely to be in a lighter shade of grey. The theory is that this more refined style will help the website to look professional, and also push the emphasis onto the work itself. 

Job Opportunities In The UK

After earlier looking at possible job opportunities in and around Lincoln, I’ve decided to look at 3D modelling jobs throughout the UK.

While looking for video game modelling jobs in the UK, I found that the main jobs roles available are for environment or character modelling. As I will most likely be looking for environment or prop modelling jobs, I’ve chosen a couple of the best to look at.

The first two jobs opportunities I found are in Edinburgh. Beside the two I’ve chosen, there are also a number of other modelling roles available in the Edinburgh area. This shows that in this part of the country, there is clearly a growing video game industry which is likely to expand even further in the future. 

The first job, found here http://gamesjobboard.jobthread.com/job/environmemts-artist-social-mobile-games-united-kingdom-scotland-interactive-selection-1cddc2cba0/?d=1&source=site_recent, is for an environment modeller at a company creating games for mobile platforms. Whilst modelling for mobile games isn’t something which I had considered, getting an entry level job at a company in a city with an expanding video games industry would undoubtedly be beneficial for my career. Another job opportunity currently available in this area, found here http://hire.jobvite.com/CompanyJobs/Careers.aspx?k=Job&su=f3Q9VfwH&c=qYo9Vfwa&j=oCCbZfw8&s=Indeed, is for a junior prop artist at Rockstar North. Rockstar North are one of the largest games companies in the company, so getting a job here definitely offers the possibly of a successful career. As this job would also involve modelling for games designed for next gen technology, I feel it would be much better suited to the work I want to do.

Moving slightly further south, there is a job opening, https://uk.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/74939528?trk=jserp_job_details_text, as an environment artist at Ubisoft in Newcastle. Ubisoft are another huge company, with a long history of successful games. Whilst this job role is aimed more at an intermediate level, in the requirements it does say that while industry experience is a bonus but ultimately a high enough quality of work could be enough.

The next job opportunity, https://cloudimperiumgames.com/jobs/48-Environment-Artist, is for an environment artist in Manchester. The company is called Cloud Imperium, a company who have only been going since 2012. As they are a much newer company than the other companies currently offering jobs, they are still going through a period of rapid expansion. Getting an entry level job here would give me the chance to be a part of this expansion which would no doubt help to improve my CV if I later went looking for another job elsewhere.

The final two jobs available, both as environment artists are at Rockstar Leeds, http://hire.jobvite.com/CompanyJobs/Careers.aspx?k=Job&su=faQ9VfwO&c=qYo9Vfwa&j=oM9tYfw6&s=Indeed, and Creative Assembly in Hosham, http://careers.sega.co.uk/careers/creative-assembly/environment-artist-0?source=Indeed.com, Both of these jobs are for entry level positions at some of the largest UK based video games companies. Getting jobs here would not only allow me to expand my skills and create the sort of high quality assets I’m aiming to make, but as they are such big companies, job experience here would likely allow me to get any high level job I applied for in the future.

The UK currently has a massive video game industry, which is ever expanding. There are numerous jobs available right across the country at companies ranging from rapidly expanding indie outfits to huge, world renowned video games studios. The video games industry how now become on the UKs success stories, with this trend of expansion likely to continue giving me a great chance of a starting a successful career after leaving university.

Job Opportunities in Lincolnshire

I’ve started to look into the current availability of jobs in Lincoln and Lincolnshire, the area where I will most likely be looking for work after university.

After searching around for games companies in Lincolnshire, I discovered that there is only one game studio in the area. Rockstar Lincoln is a game studio in Lincoln, part of the Rockstar company. However, this studio isn’t used for game development; instead it is used for quality assurance and localisation testing. Currently the only jobs available at Rockstar Lincoln are as localisation testers for German, Japanese, Russian or Spanish language versions of their games. While working as a localisation tester for a subsidiary of Rockstar Games would certainly be a solid career move, with this possibility leading to bigger things within the company, I don’t currently possess the necessary foreign language skills to work as a localisation tester.

Career opportunities at Rockstar Lincoln: http://www.rockstargames.com/careers/openings/rockstar-lincoln

Next I started looking at available jobs throughout Lincolnshire which involve 3D modeling but are unrelated to video games. Obviously I would much prefer a job in the games industry, however working in an unrelated 3D modeling job could give me the industry experience which would allow me to get a better games job in the future.

One job I found in the area is for a CAD technician at a company in Boston. This job would mostly involve using 3D modeling techniques to create models of bespoke doors and windows from the technical drawings given. This job would be a real possibility if needed, as any background or previous experience is accepted, with any job specific training being provided by them.

CAD Technician job in Boston: http://www.totaljobs.com/JobSeeking/CAD-Technician_job63758420

Currently, the job opportunities in Lincolnshire related to 3D modeling are fairly limited. While there are a few available currently, there are several companies in Lincoln in industries such as engineering, architecture and archeology which do to an extent use 3D CAD modeling and may at some point in the near future have a vacancy open up.

In a later post I’ll start looking at job opportunities slightly further afield.

Evaluating Online Portfolios

This task given this week was to find examples of good and bad portfolios and to evaluate why each one would be considered either good or bad.

One example of a poor quality portfolio can be found here, https://myportfolio101.carbonmade.com/. This is one of the least professional examples of an online portfolio which I have found. To begin with, the web address for the portfolio itself, ‘myportfolio101’ is highly unprofessional and very unlikely to ever attract the attention of a potential employer. When choosing the web address for an online portfolio of work, the most appropriate title for it should always include your name or perhaps just be your name on its own. Perhaps in some circumstances, an independent company name could be used if you have one set up. This is much more likely to create an initial good impression with employers.

The next area where the portfolio isn’t fit for purpose is the home screen. The home screen, as seen in the screenshot below, is mostly blank white with a single image linking to the Gaming Assets page and a menu to the left. The purposes of a homepage on a portfolio are to show employers that your portfolio has been put together and organised in a professional manner, as well as to perform the simple task of directing people to the more important areas of the site. In terms of its appearance, this portfolio isn’t at all professional. The lack of any sort of house style, combined with the vast amounts of blank space and lack of even a portfolio title show anybody viewing this portfolio that very little time or effort has been put into its creation.  This continues onto the page containing renders of the 3D modelling work itself. There is still no page theme or main page title. There are then a series of random images of models, with no explanation anywhere of what each model is supposed to be. The actual models themselves are not high quality either, and certainly not the sort of work you would want people to see if you were hoping to receive a job offer from them.

Perhaps the biggest flaw with this portfolio can be found on the About page. The only information which has been given by the creator of the portfolio is his name, location and a very brief history of his time at college. Although there is a contact page, allowing you to send him a message, there are no direct contact details to be found anywhere on the portfolio. This means that even if a potential employer had been impressed by the presented portfolio of work, they would have no real means of contacting the author.

Overall, this portfolio is particularly poor. It’s obvious that very little effort has been put into creating and customising it. There is no chance that this portfolio would ever encourage an employer to offer a job to the author of it, before even considering the quality of the work shown.

One example I’ve found of a high quality portfolio can be seen here, https://sharonsmith.carbonmade.com/. This portfolio belongs to a highly experienced concept artist and sculptor. As soon as you view this website, you can see just how much more professional this is than the previous portfolio example. The first page you are taken to contains a series of banners, each linking to a different set of work. These have been clearly categorised by the particular film or project the work was a part of. This use of high quality graphics for each set of work really does show that plenty of time and effort has been put into this portfolio, by not only making it more visually interesting, but by also making it incredibly simple to find the work on show. Perhaps most importantly, the homepage also contains a title banner at the top, showing the authors name and a few areas of work that they focus on. In terms of house style, the pages have a plain black background and white text with a basic font. By being so simple, it keeps each page looks clean and tidy, while at the same time putting more emphasis on the links to the work.

Each of the individual project pages features a full size version of the banner at top. This is a really nice feature which I will definitely look at using when it comes to creating my own portfolio of work. Another good feature is the each image has a small line of text underneath it, just to explain what each image is of. The bottom of each page also features a small paragraph which talks about each particular project and also details the purpose of the particular work on show.

Importantly, this portfolio features an extensive 'About' page. The page contains vast amounts of information about the authors history of employment including job roles and companies worked for, qualifications and skills. There is also a link to their 'linkedin' profile and twitter account. The contact page also includes and email address and a phone number, giving potential employers the ability to easily get in contact.

Overall this is a fantastic example of an online portfolio. The simple yet effect house style, the use of custom graphics such as banners, the captions explaining pieces of work and the extensive About page are all things which I will definitely be looking to include when I come to create my own portfolio.