Laguna College of Art + Design's Got Game
The Game Art program at Laguna College of Art + Design (LCAD) is unique and differentiates itself from other top-tier schools in many ways. The school's location in Southern California right on the Pacific Ocean is, of course, wonderfully inspirational for creatives, but it is the proximity to so many leading game development studios that really sets the school apart.
"A little over 80% of our current game faculty are working full-time in the game industry. Pair our talented teachers with small class sizes, and we have a proven recipe for success."
Jason Oualline
Chair of LCAD's BFA Game Art program
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LCAD Game Art students have a lot of flexibility in choosing the coursework that best suits their career goals, from concept art to 3D modeling to VFX design and scripting. In addition, LCAD's curriculum puts students in teams to work in a game engine within the first year of the program, which effectively develops a good sense of team dynamics and collaboration that helps them transition into the industry and become valuable team members no matter the size of studio where they end up working.
The Game Art program, and the college at large, also nurtures a culture of pursuing individual excellence while maintaining strong support for each other, and a team-oriented outlook on the craft. The department works to graduate artists who are highly capable in their chosen discipline, good-humored, team oriented, hard-working, and focused on the big picture.
"Real World" Curriculum
Being an art & design school founded with traditional art courses as its core, LCAD builds all of its programs on a rock solid foundation of skills. All students are trained in traditional drawing, painting, and clay sculpture before they dive into the new digital technologies that make that process more efficient. While they are drawing and painting traditionally, they are also learning the fundamentals of 3D modeling and digital painting. From there, they continue to draw and paint while they are learning traditional sculpture, all while taking their first game course where they apply those new 3D skills to create their first game in teams of four to five as an introduction to game engines. Over the course of the first two years, they dive deeper into both 3D and 2D art courses, and by the time they begin their junior year, they take a course called Development Team, where they apply to be artists on game projects run by students in the graduate game design program. Here they learn more about working in a team environment on a project that is not of their own design. They learn production methods and software, communication, task management, as well as how to fit an art style that might not be like their own. This course closely mirrors what their future job as a production artist will look like.
Students spend their junior and senior years further developing those skills that are going to build the portfolio that will help them land their first interview(s) in their chosen discipline. The Game Art program also has classes like Professional Studies and Senior Mentor that help the students better develop their resumes and portfolios and online presence. The courses discuss networking, financial literacy, job search techniques and interview prep. Both courses offer chances for the students to go through mock interviews with faculty and other industry recruiters and hiring managers. This is an invaluable experience that allows students to be better prepared for real interviews when they come.
LCAD Game Art graduates work at most of the top companies in the game industry, and are sought after for their solid foundations, commitment to excellence, and their ability to work well on teams.
Technology Builds Proficiency…Digital Pen Input Builds Skills and Saves Money
The technology used to make video games is now used in film and television, medicine, industrial design, manufacturing, and education. LCAD personnel keep their ears to the ground for new technology, new uses of current technology, and new opportunities to give their students an edge. The school's advisory board of industry professionals often points toward emerging tech they think students should be aware of down the road. All of this is evaluated for practicality, employability, and the ability to cost effectively implement in a secure collegiate environment.
Pen tablets and pen displays, along with the software that takes advantage of their pressure sensitivity, have enabled the LCAD Game Art program to meaningfully conduct foundation skills training digitally, rather than traditionally. LCAD students do some traditional training to begin with, of course, but the fact that they can paint or sculpt without buying, transporting, or safely disposing of traditional paint, clay, solvents, and dozens of tools and brushes means they spend more time making art, and less time preparing to make art or cleaning up. Digital pen input makes more iterations possible, more exploration possible, and enables the kind of scope of projects that might cost thousands of dollars and weeks of time with traditional media. Additionally, and perhaps most critical, LCAD graduates come away with the digital illustration and 3D modeling skills that studios will require of them once they start their first professional position. Xencelabs Pen Display 24, the company's flagship interactive pen display, can be found in a variety of classes/labs at the school, including Fundamentals of Digital Painting, Perspective, Animal + Creature Drawing, 3D Modeling, Digital Sculpting and 3D Character Design.
"It's an incredibly exciting time for students to be entering the game development field. We emphasize the underlying human art skills of design, color theory, anatomy, principles of architecture, and other creative principles as what should drive what is done with technology, even as the students master current software they will need to be proficient with from day one on the job."
Thom Olson
LCAD Assistant Professor of Game Art and Game Design
"The profound effect that Laguna College of Art + Design has had on me is hard to summarize. It wasn't just the beautiful location that was close to the beach that drew me in, but the small, intimate sizes of the classes. As a student, I was able to have more of a one-on-one experience with some of the most talented professors around.
I enrolled in LCAD to learn how to be an artist in the Game Industry and I learned more things than I ever thought I was capable of. The school's background of traditional art was a foundation for growing my abilities, and the unique classes sprouted new artistic avenues that I didn't realize were accessible to me. I fell in love with 3D and continued to pursue it as my emphasis, learning everything that I could about 3D character design and modeling, and still use the techniques I learned today with my current industry work.
LCAD isn't only a place that fosters creativity, it encourages community amongst its cohorts. Despite how competitive the game industry is, each student works together to help each other learn and grow. Not only the support from the professors, but my classmates were also my backbone behind creating a portfolio worthy of the industry. Without all this support I wouldn't be as strong as an artist as I am today."
Message from Ariel Fain
LCAD Alumni and Sr. Character Artist II at Blizzard Entertainment
Follow Ariel's work here:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariel-fain/
ArtStation - https://www.artstation.com/pushinverts
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To learn more about LCAD's Game Art program, please visit https://www.lcad.edu/ or reach out to admissions@lcad.edu.
You can find out about all the great programs and work with one of the school's kind and knowledgeable admissions counselors to help make an informed decision about which program is best for your future goals.
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