Went to GDC this year, had a lot of fun. Met a lot of great people, expanded my knowledge base even more.
Advice
- If you worked at a studio over the summer, it’s likely better to wear some manner of apparel from that studio than to try and dress fancy. A lot of devs walk around the conference advertising the studio they work for through apparel, and if you can immediately implant the idea in the recruiters’ mind that you’re a dev, you skip the “Student” perception entirely. I didn’t do this, but it seemed to benefit others.
- Adapted from Seth Gibson: you spend all this time in school learning, and by the time you get out your portfolio might not look totally consistent because you’ve got work that spans over a year or more. If you’re struggling to get a job, you’d do yourself a favor by spending three months after graduation building a portfolio of new work that better reflects the current state of your skills.
- Different studios want different thing –
- Someone doesn’t care about lower poly-counts, whereas another does.
- One studio might want to see that you can take your own photo-source textures, while another doesn’t care that you use CGtextures
- Some studios will say “your work is good enough to get you hired”, while someone else rips you to shreds
- Your art director from over the summer might love the spaceship you did, while the hiring manager at Obsidian might think that very same spaceship makes you look like you’re coming straight out of college
- One wants to see concept art and process drawings, while another would just want models
- One may say your stuff looks unoriginal, but another might buy you a drink because of it
- You don’t want to be just a swiss army knife, nor do you want to be just a scalpel. Your best bet is to be a swiss army knife with a scalpel. Be really good at one thing, and have a good awareness of everything else.
- Use of Crazybump was noticed in my portfolio on a couple of occasions, and I was discouraged from using it. Additionally, I was discouraged from having black appear on my normal maps.
- When wandering the Career Pavilion floor, I would advocate that students ask for critique on their portfolio instead of asking about internships. This show’s you’re forward-thinking and can take critique, all plusses.
- Some studios who locate themselves exclusively in the business center may also have people who can look at portfolios! Don’t be afraid, it never hurts to ask
- Let your work speak for itself, if it’s really good stuff it’ll show. Beyond that, just make sure you’re not insane and you’ll have a good chance at making an impact on the people you’re talking to.
- Don’t forget to ask “what’s the next step” when at the Career Pavilion
- Offer business cards, don’t ask for them. This gives people the opportunity to stay in touch with YOU
- Follow up, follow up, follow up
- Your portfolio should tell whoever is looking at it what you want to do, if they have to ask your portfolio is probably too broad
- To that end, only show what you want to do
Conference Observations
- Not as many students bum-rushed the Career Pavilion on the final day, it was actually somewhat managable
- Lots of people end up at the W
- iPhone and Indie devs roamed the conference looking for artists lined up for portfolio reviews, seeing who they could snag to work on their projects. This is a trend I expect to continue in coming years.
- I got the impression that most parties ended between 10pm and 12am, make sure you get to whatever party you found out about before this time.
- 19,000 people this year, holy crap
Food and Drink
- Johnny Foley’s has a dueling piano bar, which was pretty fun on my last night there
- Gotta keep moving and operating in smaller units, 10 is probably the max of any one group going out to eat. We did 15 one night and that was madness
- If you’re in a pinch, the Metreon has a few quick-service places to eat, this ended up being my default most days. I would, however, recommend the Chaat Cafe if you have the time.
- Look into the Anti-Saloon League, 441, or Swig
- Osha Thai
- Fang
- Thirsty Bear Brewing Company
- Annabelle’s Bar and Bistro
- Mel’s Diner (good in a pinch, quick service)
- Canton Dimsum
San Francisco
- Bums were out in even greater force and fervor this year
- Cold and windy year, why was it so early?!
- The Musee Mechanique is no longer free 🙁
College
- 32 Students/Recent Ringling Alum attended, 8 times our 2009 attendance. Of those, 4 were Conference Associates, 15 seniors, 9 juniors, 3 sophomores, 2 illustrators, and 2 2010 graduates