How Liverpool’s Digital Academy turns passion for games into professional careers

Like a lot of 16-year-olds, Charlie Beer wasn’t sure exactly what they wanted to do when they left school, but they knew it would be something to do with the twin worlds of art and creativity that had played a part in their life for so long.

Their post-GCSE choices bore this out, as they enrolled for A-levels in Media Studies, Film and Fine Art.

A keen interest in gaming, fostered by their Game Boy Color-toting father when Charlie was young, was subsequently able to bloom into a potential career for Charlie with a degree course in Game Design and Concept Art at The City of Liverpool College’s renowned Digital Academy.

“Games had such a big influence on me growing up. Combined with my love of drawing that would go on to be so important for my course, I ended up mixing the two together when I found out all about game art and game design being a route I could go down. After initially not being exposed to careers like that, especially in high school, I didn’t have much experience before I came to the College to start my degree,” they say.

Most technical choices after GCSEs at other educational institutions focused more on computer science rather than games. Charlie found that a lot of their new course mates who had already been at the College for the previous two years had already been developing their experience at the Academy.

They said:

“I was lucky that they took on people like me without the digital experience, but with the firm experience in art,”

“When I first started my course, I thought it would result in me being a concept artist because I didn’t have any experience of 3D modelling or game design. I thought I’d find a job drawing, but I fell in love with the modelling and character design side of things very quickly. It made my drawings become a real, moving thing which was really cool to me. There’s so much to learn about the niches and styles of character designs too.

“I can’t even bear to look at my work from the first year of my degree because it’s so boxy and horrible!” they laugh. “But as the course went on and we explored our specialisms, I got much better. By the final year, we weren’t really given prompts and we had the freedom to design what we wanted.”

The College’s more rounded provision in digital was also there to help Charlie develop other digital skills. “I helped in the design of an NHS clinical trials website which included receiving feedback from its future end-users. I was also heavily involved with a podcast by and for members of the gaming community,” they say proudly.

While it may not necessarily seem like the most formal of career paths, the burgeoning number of academic courses in game design are rooted in solid foundations. “It is vital that people have access to industry standard pipelines and programs like ZBrush, Maya and Substance Painter before they start looking for a job in the industry,” claims Charlie, who is now fully prepared to take on their first job in the industry.

“This experience gets people ready for working in busy studios. If you’re self-taught, you will most likely be using free-to-use programmes which might not be used across the industry.

“I wouldn’t know where to begin if I’d not done this degree, because of the support I’ve had from staff and other students from day one. The tutors have got so much experience and have been a huge help.

“Being in an educational environment also helps you build confidence in presenting your work and accustoms you to giving and receiving the kind of feedback expected in the industry. I’m taking that experience with me now as I’m taking my design document and portfolio around industry shows like the Liv Game Summit,” they conclude.

For more information on the kinds of academic courses related to gaming that are available nationwide, click here.

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