How To Choose A 2D Art Outsourcing Studio?

A visual aspect of video game development is as important as its technical core, rich sound palette, intricate complex plot and engaging gameplay mechanics. Game developers understand that, and they hardly neglect the art direction, ensuring it will be eye-catching as soon as potential players open the store page. 

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Deciding upon the game’s look is important right off the start, and a large number of developers, from indie to AAA, tend to choose 2D art for their projects. To stand out among the other 2D titles, developers have to put a lot of effort into the way their two-dimensional art will look.

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Great visuals can be achieved by either gathering an art department that will be responsible for the art direction of the game or by outsourcing the task to a 2D game art outsourcing team. 

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Today we will talk about the 2D art outsource option, see the services companies provide and learn how to choose a studio that will help you achieve goals with your projects.

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What is 2D Art and which 2D services do outsourcing companies provide?

Despite 3D popularity and accessibility, 2D art is still actively used in video game development. One reason for its popularity is that it works well for particular genres, such as platformers, metroidvanias and casual puzzles. It also provides artists with big creative freedom and flexibility, allowing them to put complex ideas to life much easier and cheaper than 3D.

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Here’s a short list of services that 2D art outsourcing studios usually provide: 

• 2D Environmental Art/Background Art: Studios can create art that enhances the world you’re creating, making it believable, and telling a story through the environmental design.
• User interface: Creating an interface is a complex task: it should be readable and ensure the players get all the information they need. We wrote an article about creating HUD, so if you’re interested in it, do give it a read! 
• 2D Character Art: Designing a character requires artists to come up with unique, memorable characters that the audience will care about. Colors, silhouettes, even gestures – everything matters. 
• 2D Prop and Object Art: Props of all kinds of difficulty, from filler in the background to objects important to your story can also be done by 2D game art outsourcing studios, making them stand out from each other, matching your style 
• Pixel Art: It seems that popular retro art for a retro-inspired game will never fade away, thanks to its unique, simple look. 2D art outsourcing companies can create pixel art of any difficulty, making characters, objects, backgrounds and so on for a game inspired by previous generations of technology.
• Marketing Art: Using art to promote games is a great idea since the audience will love your project with their eyes, quite literally. 2D game art outsourcing studios can even assist you with that, making sure that the marketing art will look great and attract the required attention. 
• Concept Art: Creating the first seeds of greatness to come in the form of concept art is something that outsourcing studios can easily assist with, establishing the vision that later will be followed either by them or by other artists. 
• 2D Animation: 2D game art outsourcing studios can also bring your game to life with intricate, detailed animation of any complexities. It can be either cutscenes, cinematic trailers or something else – outsourcing studios have both artists and animators, who will ensure high-quality animation your project needs.

Why choose a 2D art outsourcing studio for your needs?

1. Access to experienced and professional artists: Outsourcing companies offer the services of an experienced team that does not need any additional training or onboarding and can collaborate with you after being familiarized with the project and goals. By collaborating with 2D art outsourcing studio you gain access to a professional team that already has all the knowledge, software, experience and equipment required for a job. 
2. Flexibility: 2D art outsource tends to provide you with the services and work you need, producing work for your particular project, custom-made for its goals, specifics and unique aspects are taken into consideration.
3. Fair pricing and time efficiency: Outsourcing 2D game art allows you to maintain your budget effectively and focus on other aspects of game-making, ensuring that an outsourcing studio will provide you with sufficient final results in the particular sphere. It tends to be cheaper than hosting and managing an in-house studio of artists and faster since outsourcing studios start working after the initial meeting and getting feedback from you.

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How to find and choose a 2D game art outsourcing studio?

Explore specialized websites and networking social media

Outsourcing studios can be found by looking them up on the internet. They tend to provide various services for all needs, not just 2D art outsourcing, but also 3D modeling, sound design or even full game development. In addition, freelance and social media websites like LinkedIn or Artstation can be a great option to find artists and examples of their work that may lead you to their services. 

Check portfolios

2D art outsourcing studios usually provide a portfolio showcase on their websites. Looking through them lets you see the scale and quality of their deliverables and the span of styles they can work with. Sometimes you can even investigate the genres they’ve previously worked with to see if they can handle the work if you’re aiming for an especially unique, rich, stylized art direction.

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Over the years, RocketBrush Studio has obtained experience in a wide range of genres and styles, building a portfolio and mastering the subtle details of providing services for both sci-fi and fantasy, challenging roguelites and family-friendly mobile puzzles. Whatever vision you have behind your project, we can support it with our skilled artistic touch. Check out our portfolio here. 

Read testimonials and previous reviews

Outsourcing companies rely on the reputation of previous collaborations, meaning you can always investigate testimonials written by satisfied clients to see aspects in which the studio you found interesting excels. 

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RocketBrush Studio has been working since 2016, establishing itself as a prolific collaborator working with big industry names: Romero Games, Supercell, Paradox Interactive, Applovin and many more. You can read our testimonials over here. 

Conclusion

2D game art outsourcing allows you to effectively manage the visual style of your project and get a look and feel that will be distinctly different from other competitors on the market. While having art teams can be great for further collaborations, detailed discussion of production and ensured longevity for particularly complex projects, 2D art outsourcing is a great solution to a complex endeavor that is a game-making process. 

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RocketBrush Studio will gladly assist you with your game’s visual code and help you establish particularly striking 2D imagery that will catch players’ attention and enhance the gaming experience they will have with your project. If you’re looking for a collaboration, reach us at hello@rocketbrush.com! 

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By partnering with game art outsourcing companies, you can reach an incredibly creative outburst that will make your game truly shine, immersing players into its dreamscapes and straight-up looking grand and individual. 

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