Concept Art

Concept art is the practice of generating visual ideas for use in entertainment and product design: defining the look of characters, environments, vehicles, props and worlds before they are built in three dimensions, animated or rendered at full production quality. It is a discipline that sits at the creative heart of the games, animation and film industries, where the concept artist's work determines the visual language and aesthetic of the entire production. The role demands both technical drawing and painting skills and the creative thinking to generate original, inventive ideas quickly and effectively.

At Teesside University this part-time programme guides you through the range of tasks that professional concept artists encounter, helping you develop an effective working practice that addresses the unique challenges of the role. You will explore character design, vehicle design, prop design and environment design, producing artwork suited to the standards of the games, animation and product design industries. The programme develops your skills in idea generation through thumbnailing and iteration, your ability to present work clearly to a production team, and your capacity to adapt to different briefs and creative challenges.

You will build a portfolio of work across these areas that demonstrates your range and professional readiness.

The concept art pipeline is central to any major games or animation production, and well-trained concept artists are in consistent demand across the creative industries. The skills you develop are also transferable to related fields including illustration, storyboarding, graphic novels and product visualisation.

Graduates typically move into roles as concept artists, visual development artists, character designers, environment artists and production illustrators in games studios, animation companies, film production houses and product design consultancies. Building and maintaining a strong portfolio is central to career progression in this field.