Together with our cooperation partners Design Zentrum Hamburg, PAGE Onine and the event's sponsor InnoGames, we took a deep dive into the world of game art - and learned a lot about what makes a good portfolio. Three young game artists presented pieces from their portfolios on stage and three experienced game artists gave their feedback. Meanwhile, the audience enjoyed inspiring presentations and decided which portfolio impressed them the most.

Reiko Groß, Art Director at InnoGames kicked off the evening with his keynote "How to land a job in the games industry? Do what you love.", sharing lots of practical advice for aspiring game artists on how to build up a portfolio, what pieces to select and how to present them when attaching your portfolio to an application, as well as how to find the right job for you, your skills and your likings. You can read more about his talk in this article by PAGE (in German).

Next up was the first slammer: Hasbi Adenan, currently studying at HAW Hamburg, presented his work as an environment artist, showing technical 3D pieces as well as sculpts and scenes in stylized aestehtic. You can see his work on Instagram and Artstation.

He was followed by Anna Folz, who has already worked as a freelance illustrator, storyboard- and concept artist for several years. She showed and explained some of her favorite work with different focuses: from a visual concept development for an interpretation of a H.P. Lovecraft story to concepts for the game project "Walk the Frog", to scenes from an illustrated campaign video. You can find her work on her website.

Last but not least was Maik Fraisler, Junior Concept Artist at Hamburg-based Goodgame Studios. He talked the audience through his growing portfolio from his work on several games as well as a glimpse of his personal project "Clay Heart". You can see more of his work on Instagram and Artstation.

Every participant received 10 minutes of feedback from the expert jury, made up of expierienced game artists: Reiko Groß from InnoGames, Marcela Versiani, Lead Artist at Bigpoint and Trevor Claxton, Freelance Art Director. Afterwards, the audience also had the chance to ask their questions about paths into the games industry to the three experts who shared their experiences. 

Then it was voting time: The audience was asked to decide whose portfolio they found most impressive. Anna Folz made first place, Maik Fraisler second and Hasbi Adenan third - but as Anna exclaimed: "We're all winners!". All three protfolios will be published on the creative industry magazine PAGE Online - who also already published an article about the event that you should definitely give a read! (in German).

After the "official" part there was time to network and chat over a drink and a snack - also, everyone from the audience had the chance to get individual feedback on their own portfolios from Frank Härtenhoff, Game Artists at InnoGames.

We'd like to thank everyone for this great evening, especially the three slammers Hasbi Adenan, Anna Folz and Maik Fraisler, the jury members Reiko Groß, Marcela Versiani and Trevor Claxton as well as our colleagues at PAGE and the Design Zentrum Hamburg and InnoGames for making the event possible through their sponsorship!

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