Concept Artist Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Concept Artist resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
A concept artist is an integral part of any creative team, working alongside writers, directors, and other artists to help flesh out the look and feel of projects before they become reality. They create visual representations of ideas for things like movies, video games, toys, books, commercials, websites, and more.
Because concept art is so heavily based on imagination, it can be hard to know where to begin when writing one. Luckily, there are plenty of examples out there to help you understand how to write a good concept art resume. Here are some tips plus an example to follow when writing yours.
How to Write a Concept Artist Resume
Here’s how to write a concept artist resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When it comes to your resume, it’s important to be as specific as possible when describing your past work experience. Rather than simply saying you “painted backgrounds for video game,” you could say that you “painted backgrounds for video game using traditional and digital techniques to create photorealistic environments for sci-fi first-person shooter game.”
The second bullet point is much stronger because it provides specific details about what you did, how you did it, and the results of your work. It also includes a quantifiable result (i.e., “created photorealistic environments”).
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume for a concept artist role, it’s likely that your resume will be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. These programs look for certain terms related to the job like “illustration” or “drawing” in order to determine whether your skills are a match for the position. If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right terms, your application might not make it past the initial screening process.
To increase your chances of getting an interview, use this list of common concept artist keywords as a guide when you’re writing your resume:
- Concept Art
- Character Design
- Storyboarding
- Visual Development
- Illustration
- Concept Art & Visual Development
- Photoshop
- Art Direction
- Concept Design
- Illustration & Storytelling
- Animation
- Traditional Art
- Character Animation
- Matte Painting
- Art
- Game Art
- Concept Development
- After Effects
- Visual Effects
- Autodesk Maya
- Autodesk 3ds Max
- Game Concept
- 3D Modeling
- Texturing
- Video Game Concept Art
- Graphic Design
- Photography
- Concept Illustration
- Corel Painter
- Sketching
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a concept artist, you need to be proficient in a variety of software programs and tools to create your art. Programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are essential for creating digital art, while tools like graphite pencils and paints are necessary for traditional art. Additionally, concept artists should be familiar with video editing software and 3D modeling programs, as these can be used to create promotional videos and images for their work. so be sure to list all of the software and tools that you are familiar with and your level of expertise with each.