Whenever a gallery displays a new piece or someone starts talking about a new artist, the question of what art actually is arises.
Over the years, there have been many debates and attempts to work out what art is or highlight the absurdity of the market, such as when a pair of glasses were placed on the floor of a museum, and they were mistaken for a work of art.
For game designers, creating stunning artwork and building worlds for players is an art form, but many other professionals in the market disagree. Game design isn’t always considered the real skill it is, especially by those with limited knowledge of how game design works and what designers do to build the amazing worlds we all love to play in.
If you’re unsure if game design is an art form, keep reading. We’ve put together a comprehensive list of reasons why everyone should consider game design as art and the designers who complete it as skilled artists.
It’s The First Thing Players See
When exploring gaming platforms and perusing different online games, the first thing they see is the thumbnail with the game image on it. Therefore, the game artwork on this thumbnail needs to represent the entire game and entice players to want to open it. If it doesn’t look engaging and make the game seem fun, then the artwork could put off potential players or make it hard for them to understand the main selling points of the game. As such, game design is more important to enticing new players than you might think.
Game Design Requires Unique Skills
In today’s tech-focused world, art doesn’t just require paintbrushes and easels. Thousands of graphic design software products require great skill to use correctly, and these are the modern game designer’s version of paints and other traditional artistic equipment. Universities across the UK offer game design courses to help students to understand how to make the most of these tools, making it clear that they are not simple or intuitive. Just because some software products are easy to use and designed for everyone to make the most of them, doesn’t mean all of it is the same, and game graphic design tools are one software product that proves this.
Designing Games Needs Similar Skills To Other Art Forms
While the tools used to design games might be different to traditional art equipment, the skills you need to design games are similar to the ones required to produce oil paintings or charcoal drawings. You need to have a strong understanding of colour theory, the colour wheel, and the principles of drawing, such as traditional face shapes, textures and more. Additionally, it would help if you were imaginative and have a strong creative drive, thanks to the expansive nature of game design, as we explain below.
World Building Is Incredibly Imaginative And Creative
Designing the graphics for a game is part of the world-building process, which involves crafting a unique space where players can have fun and engage with the narrative of the game. As you might expect, creating an entire world and designing characters that have no basis in reality is a creative process that many struggle with. Great game designers build amazing characters and designs that become cemented in popular culture and are beloved by millions of players and game fans. As such, game design requires many creative skills, including writing, graphic design and many more, and the ability to manage them all in one project.
The Definition Of Art Is Broad
The key question when deciding if something is art comes back to what art is, and how you define it. Philosophers throughout the ages have questioned the definition of art, and none has been able to come up with a comprehensive definition that encapsulates what it means to make art. For most of us, we choose pieces to call art based on our preferences and how much we like them. Video and online games are incredibly popular, with billions of players from across the globe, so it’s clear that many people find game designs to be captivating and exciting, so it’s clear that they can be described as a type of art.
A Final Word On Why Game Design Is An Art Form
Ultimately, game design is a type of art for the modern age. It’s easy to dismiss online gaming as just a basic hobby, but creating engaging games and stunning game art takes exceptional skill and imagination. Thanks to the incredible skill needed to craft amazing, engaging games that are fun and popular with gamers in the vastly competitive market, it’s clear that game designers are artists in their own right. For companies looking to build games, either for the gamification of their existing service offering or to sell games to online platforms, it’s vital that you work to find experienced and dedicated game designers to turn your vision into a reality.
