Béibhínn McCarthy – Gaining the skill set for design in the animation industry

Having previously worked in illustration and graphic design, I made the decision to transition to animation because I noticed that roles in “design for animation” required a skill set very similar to the one I had already developed working as an illustrator. It was important to me that I find a course in which I could focus on the goal of pivoting my skill set, as well as learning any new skills necessary, and ultimately making a portfolio in design for animation that I could use to immediately start applying to animation roles.

In the end, this became the premise of my final project: how can I gain and showcase the skills necessary to become an attractive candidate for junior design roles in the animation industry? After learning a bit more about the industry and roles available, I ended up deciding to focus on “background art” in order to specialise my skills.

The course itself has three elements in which to explore: a theoretical investigation, developing your creative practice, and engagement with professionalism. Personally, I’m also hoping to lecture someday, and so the theoretical element of the MA was right up my street. I decided to research into the different ways a background artist can aid in the storytelling of an animation production, and this became a sort of secondary thesis within my overall project. I thoroughly enjoyed this line of questioning because I felt like it would in turn improve my practical work, as I would be able to implement the things I had learned into my background designs.

After learning as much as I could about the expectations of a background artist, I decided to design two different projects to fill my portfolio. Both projects aimed to showcase the necessary skill set to become a background artist, but one portrayed my ability to match style (an important skill for a background artist), whilst the other illustrated my own style and voice (to hopefully help me stand out in the crowd). I hoped that with these two briefs I could build a portfolio of technically accurate pieces that are eye-catching and filled with storytelling.

The onus that the course placed on professional practice ended up becoming one of my favourite aspects. I felt that, over the year, I learned the most from engaging with established practitioners in the animation field. They were able to give me advice on my work in specific relevance to what was expected in the animation industry, and they could also give me a practical insight into how I can integrate into the networks of animators and artists in the UK and Ireland. Another fantastic network that I gained from the MA was with my peers; due to the broad nature of the degree, my classmates were multidisciplinary – from character designers to experimental animators – and I loved gaining insights and learning from each person’s individual perspective.

Finally, I liked that even the pragmatic lines that I wanted to go down – like writing my CV, how to display my website, and developing a professional network – were also welcomed as part of my studies. They weren’t something that I had to do on the side, but were a part of my overall learning in response to my goal. Being able to direct my own studies in that way helped me to feel very proactive in my goal of gaining employment.

After graduating, I returned to Ireland and took the portfolio, CV, and network I had built during the MA and put them to work sending out job applications. I was accepted into Screen Ireland’s Animation, VFX and Games Graduate Traineeship, where I interned at a Dublin-based animation studio creating concepts for and then finalising production-ready backgrounds for a new children’s TV show.

The animation and gaming industries are closely related, particularly in terms of their art departments, and after that internship ended I started working as a junior 2D artist in a children’s gaming studio. As it happened, my multidisciplinary background in illustration, design, and animation made me the ideal candidate for a role in mobile games, because it meant I could work on projects from graphic icons to designing in-game props and environments.