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Mobile Game Art 1: Buildings and Props

Mobile Game Art 1: Buildings and Props

An 8 week course where students will learn about the art of the mobile game industry and how to create tileable isometric buildings and props
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Overview Trailers Gallery Instructors Pricing Benefits Testimonials

Students will learn about the art side of the mobile game industry in general and how to design, research, and create tileable isometric buildings and props from thumbnail sketches to final renderings.  By the end of the course, students will be able to comfortably know how to design buildings and props with mobile phone limitations in mind. Specifically, they gain knowledge on how to go about the researching style, theme, pinpoint a demographic for the game, creating meaningful thumbnails, refining sketches, create effective color schemes, create stages and levels for modular isometric building and prop tiles and how to present them. Assets created in the course could be used for production art in 2D and concept art for 3D mobile games.
Registration Now Open
Registration Period
Jan 30, 2025 - Apr 21, 2025
Course Start
Apr 13, 2025

Course Format

Live

Skills Level

Intermediate - Advanced

Duration

8 weeks

Q&A

Once a week

Feedback

Individual recordings

Lecture Type

Live Lectures
Assignment
Due each week. Expect to spend 8-10 hrs/wk viewing lectures, Q&A, and assignments
PREREQUISITES
Dynamic Sketching 1, Perspective, Digital Painting, or equivalent knowledge
MATERIALS
Adobe Photoshop, digital pen display tablet or regular pen tablet

The more you know, the better.

Introduce Boom in Mobile game industry | Review some major popular game genres and what type of art is being produced | Introduction to my background | Introduction to mobile game building formats and modularity- Various types of building grids, isometric, top-down, fusion formats | How to draw within the grid
Background about demographics and establishing an audience for the game | Theme and story of the game influencing visuals | breaking down building style elements , going over various types of game themes | breaking rules of isometry and top down rigidity for style sake
Contrast mobile vs pc/console game visuals | mobile game limitations | Go over creating iconic representational tools to convey first read | 1st, 2nd, 3rd read
Introducing various gameplays and implications of building functions such as training camps, defense towers, or just an Inn to live in | creating stage and levels of buildings | how to visually design and create a succession of various buildings | designing to allow for animation and creating visual markers | scale | lecture on initial thumbnail creation/ silhouette sketches
Introducing various type of building props and functionality | creating visuals for props | give examples of prop stages and how to draw them and ways to make them visually effective
Picking out best designs from thumbnail variations | colors variations, adhering to overall game color style | provide examples of sketches and color storytelling
Rendering techniques based on style | Lighting ( direct and ambient) | material/ texture | Creating an attractive mock game screen shot from game tiles
Going over various layout techniques and principal | preview of mobile game art 2 class

Trailers

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Course Trailer

STUDENT GALLERY

Prepare to meet your master.

Isaak Lien
Art Director and Concept Artist
LECTURES BY Isaak Lien
Course Start: Apr 13, 2025
Isaak Lien currently works at Jam City as an Art Director and Concept Artist. He has been in the mobile game industry for 9+ years working on 2D concept and production art, visual development, UI design, and art leading at mobile game companies and studios such as Jam City, Kiwi, Ogmento, Kung Fu Factory, Mega Rock, Rising High Studio, etc. Some of the mobile game titles he worked on include Jam City’s top 20 grossing games, "Cookie Jam", Mega Rock’s Top 10 free games, "A Bike Race of Ninja Temple", Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob Moves In", and Konami’s "Slot Revolution".

Aside from having worked in the mobile game industry, he has been an illustrator for a storybook, founder, creative director, and designer of his own plush toy brand (Panda Yeah), creative director and artist for his own unregistered mobile game company(Orange Fun Games), visual arts teacher and tutor at various places. Although he currently works as an art lead, his passion for creating and teaching visual arts will continue to take center stage in his art journey!
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Instructor's Gallery

Concept Art
Concept Art
Concept Art

GET ONE YEAR ACCESS AND TRANSFORM YOUR ARTISTIC JOURNEY

Take your CGMA learning further with CGMA+, a companion add-on featuring over 70 new, stand-alone workshops—more than 250 hours of content you won’t find in your core CGMA program. You’ll learn from multiple instructors, each with a unique style, so you can see how different artists approach the same subject in various ways. This additional material builds on what you’re already studying, broadening your perspective and helping you look at topics from fresh angles. It’s a straightforward way to strengthen your studies and boost your skills.

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PRICING SCHEDULE

Even though our courses are the most affordable for the quality of education, these finance options allow you to focus on your goals instead of the barriers that keep you from reaching them.

3x Payments

$233

2x Payments

$349.50

Full payment

$699

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Spring TERM REGISTRATION Now Open
Jan 30, 2025 - Apr 21, 2025
COURSE BEGINS on Apr 13, 2025
Mobile Game Art 1: Buildings and Props

What makes this learning experience unique?

PERSONALIZED FEEDBACK

Receive personalized feedback on all assignments from the industry’s top professionals.

LIFETIME ACCESS

Enjoy lifetime access to the spectrum of course content, including lectures, live Q&As, and feedback sessions.

CERTIFICATION

Show off your Certification of Completion when you turn in 80% of course assignments.

FLEXIBLE LEARNING

Learn anywhere, anytime, and at your own pace with flexible, online course scheduling.

Testimonials

Isaaks great! Really engaged with the class and gave great advice about job searches, portfolios, etc! Great experience!

Jacqueline

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