Game Designer = Game Artist?

Written by: Muhammad Ari Kurniawan

Most of the game developer is not a single person with multiple abilities to develop a game. Nowadays, game developer consists of team/s combining their skills and capabilities into one game project. Therefore, the team will most likely need a game designer and game artist. What is the difference?

Game Designer

UI design, UX design, game balancing and game mechanic are the examples of what a game designer should do. Basically, game designer is a person in charge of the big picture of a game. They plan the gameplay and the mechanic from the scratch, doing tweaks here and there before the development begins to avoid unnecessary things (however, designing during a development is also possible).

Game Artist

Responsible to the visual representation is what a game artist do. They living up the game by adding arts and animations. Their creation is the face of the game, how the game appeal the player visually and aesthetically. There are two types of game artist: 2D and 3D artist, each has unique job to accomplish based on the game project needs. Game artist may produce concept arts, models, textures, et cetera.

The Verdict

Design and art may look similar, but in a game development atmosphere: a game designer is not the same as a game artist, they have different responsibilities. One should design and manage the development team while the other should deal with the visual content of the game.