2D Game Art Outsoursing

2D art here is digital art rendered in two dimensions. It’s considered a more affordable option than 3D art, but make no mistake: 2D is not less than 3D. It’s also not necessarily stylized: 2D art in games can be realistic. In fact, it can be everything you want it to be: beautiful, gritty, dark, mysterious, simple, viciously complex, etc. And it’s a great conduit for a story, like all art.

We’ve described the pipeline we use above, but different studios approach it differently. We start with storyboards and concept arts, collaborating with narrative designers, game designers, art directors, and our clients: to work towards the same image of what a game should look like.

We analyze the aesthetics of the game clients want to build from different angles: what is the story? What is the core game loop and what are other mechanics? What mood players would be in when they’re getting into the game? What is this character’s backstory and how it’s reflected in the way they move, talk, express themselves? What are the colors surrounding this location, this character, this action? What are the common visual solutions for this interaction in the genre and do we want to use them? How do we want to guide players through the world and what do we need to draw for it? It’s an extensive list of questions, to say the least. 

After we more or less agreed on the common vision, we divide the work into stages and go draw the stuff. Because the art team collaborates very closely both with a client and among themselves, the friction is minimal: we keep ourselves aligned with a convention we’ve chosen for the game, GDD, narrative. Animators work with the finished 2D art assets. Tech artists tune the graphics and work with visual effects.

Often, environmental art gets tested by level designers, because these two are so close in modern games. Often, artists collaborate with programmers to reduce the pressure on the engine, optimize graphics. At the end of each spring, a client approves a finished segment of work, gives feedback, — and we react to their feedback in the next one. 

IP-based art production is a bit different: more regulated and strict. Artists on IP projects need to accurately replicate all visuals known to the players (or, broader: audience) from the IP. The feedback loop is tighter; validation from the client or IP holder (these are often two different people) is needed more often. It’s hard but rewarding. You can take a look at our The Simpsons: Tapped Out case as an example of an IP-based art project we did in collaboration with EA.

It varies depending on the complexity of your project and the time you want to spend on getting artwork done. The hourly rate for freelance artists is around $30 per hour while studios charge anywhere from $20,000 to $200,000 per month for their services.

Our artists each prefer different art styles and techniques. We mostly use Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator for refining paintings, but not everyone starts with them. Some love to do initial sketches on paper, some — on tablets, in digital. Our illustrators can draw via cross-hatching and stippling (and utilize it in noir, horror stories, and detectives). Many artists like experimenting with composition, perspective, depth. Our techniques are many. 

We work with all possible styles — from variations on cartoon-like and stylized to hyper-realistic graphics. We also hand-draw art assets; create pixel art and work with vector graphics.