Artist Career Tips

May 23, 2016

Hi all! I've just updated and published new slides for my From Full-Time to Freelance: The Ten Commandments of Contracting talk. Ever wondered what life would…

May 5, 2016

UPDATED 2016-05-05! I originally presented this as the keynote speech at Gameacon 2015 , and I've since presented it at the Albany IGDA and updated the content…

May 6, 2015

Hi all! Here's a Facebook post I made about low-poly art and what we look for on the Unreal Engine Marketplace with regards to quality and content for low-poly…

December 22, 2014

Excellent introduction to Physically Based Rendering and what it means for artists. If you're a game artist that doesn't yet know what that is, or if you are…

November 17, 2014

What does your social media presence say about you to hiring professionals? That's a sobering thought. Check out this article, and especially the accompanying…

October 10, 2014

This is Jon Jones style hyperfocused advice for all freelancers. It's 2hrs of info in 13 minutes. Please share! http://buff.ly/1yRLLBj Jon Jones, in his second…

October 6, 2014

I posted this in a comment on Facebook earlier, but I thought I'd post a list of some of the video game news sites I read every day and what I like about them…

August 29, 2014

Anyone applying for jobs should read this, now. In job searches, people frequently look at the listed requirements, see a gap, and move on, fearing rejection…

August 15, 2013

I created and maintain an extremely detailed spreadsheet tracking video game industry layoffs for the last five years, so I decided to work up some numbers of…

August 6, 2013

Here's the latest episode of CrunchBites , which are highly-focused 15 minute long video podcasts about the game industry where we answer one viewer's…

June 25, 2013

Hi everybody! Here's another TwitterBlast I did on my @jonjones Twitter account on the subject of resumes and portfolios. Here's the info-dump, and I've…

June 24, 2013

Hi folks! I've been posting a lot on Twitter lately, especially resume, portfolio, and artist tips. I've been queueing up a bunch of individual tips and…

April 11, 2013

Hi everybody! Long time no chat. I did a 15-minute-long stream of consciousness braindump of artist advice on my Twitter account (@jonjones) and I'm reposting…

April 23, 2012

Whoa, awesome! My blog post about predicting layoffs is now a Featured Post on Gamasutra! Thanks guys! :D Predicting layoffs: How to check your studio's health…

April 13, 2012

One of the most important concepts I've learned as an art producermanager is this: If you want to get a specific answer from someone, make your best guess --…

April 10, 2012

Hi all! With the spate of layoffs recently, I've been thinking of how to assess a studio's health so you can predict whether or not doom will come, and when…

December 2, 2011

This week's CrunchCast is online and Chris Holden, Bryan McConnell , Jesse Sosa and I discuss indie games and what it's like to be "the new guy" and how to…

November 22, 2011

Hello, UI artists! I've been going over a lot of UI artists' portfolios -- particularly contractors, hint hint -- and I've noticed three things in particular…

November 17, 2011

Something I see from a lot of artists (and even some studios) soliciting their services for artwork is people with MSN, Hotmail and Gmail addresses. There's…

November 2, 2011

People underestimate LinkedIn as a business intelligence tool. If you're interviewing, ask for names of who's interviewing you. If you're looking to contract…

October 4, 2011

This week's CrunchCast is online and Chris Holden, Bryan McConnell and I discuss the ins and outs of applying for work in the games industry and why it can…

September 30, 2011

Contract artist tip: Your client's contact point for art management and direction is rarely the person that cuts checks. Their endgame is getting art done and…

September 28, 2011

Time for another CrunchCast ! Episode 14 is online now and viewable below. I was actually in Denver in-studio for this one! Chris Holden, Bryan McConnell and I…

September 26, 2011

Hi, everybody! I wanted to pimp out a game development video podcast my good buddy Chris Holden has put together. I've been a guest on it several times now and…

August 20, 2011

Hi everybody! I spoke at the IGDA Microtalks a couple months ago on the subject of job-getting, being noticed and generally how to market yourself better as an…

June 27, 2011

Hello, all! Here's article for artists seeking employment, contract or full-time. It focuses on using basic marketing techniques to stand out in the crowd…

August 9, 2010

I was browsing Reddit earlier today, as is my morning routine, and I came across an article called How to hire an artist (archive link). This article has been…

February 16, 2010

Hey, neat! I was featured on a list of 100+ Resources for Video Game Professionals. This looks to be a pretty solid list full of useful sites and really good…

February 25, 2009

Here's a small post culled from a question I received in an email. This is by no means an all-inclusive guide or a how-to, but just a couple thoughts on the…

February 23, 2009

Artists: Getting paid is important. If it's a small studio, they simply may forget to mail off a check in a timely manner. That sucks. It's usually not…

July 12, 2007

Here's an edited excerpt of an email I wrote for someone asking me for tips on putting together an environment artist portfolio. Focusing on environments but…

July 12, 2007

My friend Nate sent me a fantastic article that was right up my alley: 19 Things NOT To Do When Building a Website . The whole thing is so good I'd just paste…

July 1, 2007

I expanded a bit more upon the questions I was asked by Monster.com and had a few more bits of helpful advice to entry level game developers. Check it out…

June 29, 2007

There's a piece on game industry career advice from the Tech Jobs Expert on Monster.com. And guess what? The article in question features a handful of quotes…

May 18, 2007

Ever wished you were better at writing emails you want a response to? Here are a few handy tips: Get to the point. No one likes reading rambling emails…

May 11, 2007

I found something awesome on LifeHacker a moment ago that smArtists may appreciate. It's called The Freelancer's Toolset . It's a list of 100 web applications…

May 10, 2007

Here's the introduction of a new series of little thoughts that won't really fill out a full post. Everyone likes to get involved. If you have people in your…

May 10, 2007

If I'm your art director and you see that I've named files a specific way, that is for a reason. I've already sent you the file naming conventions... stick to…

April 24, 2007

I just found a great post by Gianfranco over at GBGames that's called What Would A Game Developer Do? Gianfranco starts out detailing focus problems we all…

April 23, 2007

Want to know how to make more money as a contractor? Here are some tips. Be fast. Show me you can produce good work quickly. Don't drag your heels and always…

February 5, 2007

I hate long emails in a job application. Resumes mean nothing to me. Include it but don't expect me to read it, because your artwork says more about you than…

February 5, 2007

Unless you have a lot of content of the same quality level, don't show works in progress. Especially not front and center. The implication is that it's the…

February 2, 2007

I was giving a friend of mine advice on how to really capture the imagination and interest of a contractor and (hopefully) negotiate a lower rate, and I broke…

January 15, 2007

This one should be pretty obvious, but most people don't think about it. I see this a LOT. I've even done this one before. :) Think about it: If you're…

January 15, 2007

This is a really important one that I only touched on briefly in my Your Portfolio Repels Jobs article. If you're emailing your portfolio around, or even if…

December 2, 2006

I found this over on LifeHacker today and thought it was pretty sweet. Here's the direct article link: A Primer on Electronic Communication Basically it's a…

October 7, 2005

I look at game artists' portfolios on a regular basis. These websites are usually designed so poorly that I close my browser out of disgust. They're even bad…

October 4, 2005

I had an interesting realization at work yesterday, one that applies to a lot of things. At Ready At Dawn we're all kept very, very busy and we're all given a…

August 24, 2005

Been thinking about this lately and felt like committing it to paper... so to speak. Smart people are dumb. Failure is awesome. Let me explain. I've given a…

June 23, 2005

[2014-12-04 UPDATE!] Post resurrection! I've updated the material in this post for a rapid-fire 13 minute long speech for the IGDA MicroTalks in Austin. While…