GDC 2025 Session Viewer
Art Direction Summit: Saving Your Gameplay Feedback Through Art Direction
Sarah Robinson (Associate Art Director, Behaviour Interactive)
Location: Room 2016, West Hall
Date: Tuesday, March 18
Time: 1:20 pm - 2:20 pm
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Summits Pass - Get your pass now!
Format: Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
Gameplay feedback (the visuals, VFX, and UI that we use to guide our players' actions in a game) can be a communication challenge between Art Direction and Design and is an essential pre-production consideration. Failure to think about the visual design of key game components early can cause significant roadblocks downstream. Experience has repeatedly shown that not concepting the look of your feedback early enough in pre-production can leave your team paralyzed as they encounter unforeseen conflicts and struggle to find solutions on the fly. This talk with show how to talk the same language as your game designers, common traps to we fall into, how we can correct our mistakes, and the lessons we can take into the future.
Takeaway
Coherent visual design of gameplay feedback is just as important as developing the look of your characters or environments. But how do you talk the same lingo as your Design team and avoid unforeseen conflicts that can be costly in terms of development time? In this talk, attendees will learn how to best prepare their VFX and UI in pre-production to ensure a smooth experience.
Intended Audience
This session is primarily for Art Directors and Art Leads as it approaches the subject with art in mind, but there are take aways for any discipline interested in how to conceptualize gameplay feedback. Some experience with the game production pipeline is useful, but not required.