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Your gaming portfolio is immensely important: a quick investigation of it by a company is going to determine if they’re going to work with you. So how do you make sure it says the right things?
“What should be in my game design portfolio if I want to get into a game studio?” is a fairly frequent question. We decided to answer that in detail — with real advice based on how we review candidates, what we look for first and the mistakes that cost even great artists their shot.
To put it bluntly, a strong game art portfolio should be more than just something about technical skill or good-looking artworks. It’s about showing that you understand how to solve problems visually in a production environment.
Here’s a basic selection of things that game design portfolio reviewers, like art studios’ directors, HR and leads are usually looking for while analyzing your portfolio:
Have a look at some things that should definitely be presented in the game portfolio you’re going to show to potential employers.
That said, variety isn't always essential at junior or middle levels. In fact, too much variety can suggest you haven’t yet identified your strengths. Ask yourself: What do I do best? What do I want to improve on in the coming years?
We (and many other studios) appreciate junior artists who have a strong core skill — like concept art or character design — supported by secondary skills such as props, environments or animation.
As a junior, your game development portfolio can be simple, with a strong focus on the direction you're actively developing. For RocketBrush, this approach gives you a better chance to start collaborating and growing with the team.
Yes, companies like seeing variety. It shows you are capable of working in different aspects, genres, styles and so on.
But be careful, though, variety without quality is a red flag.
It’s better to show five excellent character pieces than five basic icons, a UI and a couple of environment sketches. If you’re not confident in a skill yet, leave it out. Your game designer portfolio should reflect what you can do well now, not what you hope to figure out later.
The narrower your specialty, the fewer types of projects you’ll be able to work on. Expanding your skill set is an important and valuable goal, especially if you're aiming for work at an outsourcing studio. Versatility is key — we often need artists who can take on a range of tasks.
Simply put: growth matters. If you're already doing something fairly well, continuing to improve in that area can help you eventually excel. That’s what companies and studios think as they look for signs of growth in your video game artist portfolio.
It's also highly encouraged to show the stages of your work — from sketch to final version. This is much more informative than just a polished result. If you have alternate concepts you didn’t end up using, include them too. Outsourcing studios value seeing your creative process. Showing your thought process to an HR manager or art lead is a big plus — do it whenever possible.
For RocketBrush Studio, progress in recent works can be much more significant than your overall experience. A rough early work with a steady difference in quality in recent projects is a great sign, which means you can continue growing further on.
We want our artists to grow with the studio. We are interested in artists becoming leads. That’s why it’s very important for us to see the potential growth you can have. Analyzing your work and expanding on quality is a great way to get hired.
Reach us at hr@rocketbrush.com and show your video game design portfolio!
A common mistake artists make is that they create gaming portfolios full of beautiful but non-game-related work. If everything you include feels like a children’s book illustration, a tattoo concept, or a fashion sketch, we won’t know what kind of game tasks you can handle.
Personal work is important — especially if you haven’t worked in the industry yet. But it should be in a game context.
A great basic thing you can do is create a mock mobile game and design its UI. Draw icons for imaginary upgrades. Rework your favorite game character or design a skin for a popular IP.
Work done as part of a class or mentorship is fine to include, but we give it less weight. Why? Because it often includes feedback or over-the-shoulder help that doesn’t exist on the job.
To stand out, you need to show:
It’s very important to keep in mind that art studios can be quite different from each other.
Some focus on stylized mobile games with a big emphasis on striking art that distinguishes the game from other similar titles on the market. Others are oriented to gritty, realistic PC first-person shooters or, quite the opposite, anime-style RPGs similar to Genshin Impact.
At RocketBrush Studio, for instance, we handle a wide range of projects and styles — pixelated 2D art and stylized 3D models, fully animated and game-ready. We cover lots of things – icons, characters, UI, environment design, concept art and more. We’re an outsourcing studio and we value variety.
So don’t send the same game art portfolio to all of them – try to tailor it to a particular studio. Start with casual games’ studios – if you don’t have any experience yet, it’s the easiest way to get it. Keep in mind that the competition is high there, though, and casual style can be easily imitated by AI nowadays.
Look at what the studio is making and check if they create stuff within the limits of a certain stylization. Are they making pixelated experiences? Or perhaps they focus on meticulously crafted immersive 3D modeling? Research the art leads and employees of a company on ArtStation. See which of your works can be matched with their aesthetic and direction. And then pitch your strengths toward their pipeline.
In case of art vacancies, game art designer portfolios mean everything. They speak for you. If your work doesn’t convince studios, they won’t even open your resume.
Some red flags we commonly see are basically all attributed to low overall quality:
Good signs we (and other companies) look for:
As you prepare your game art portfolio, you have to make sure you can also present it properly. Here are some quick but crucial formatting advice:
A game art portfolio should showcase polished, production-ready assets that reflect the artist's strengths — whether it's character design, environments, or props. Studios look for consistency, style versatility, and understanding of game-ready workflows like optimization and clean topology. Include breakdowns or wireframes, avoid fan art, and tailor your selection to the studio’s projects and art direction. It's smart to label your portfolio as a game artist portfolio and provide contextual information for each piece.
Start with understanding the responsibilities of the target role — level design, systems design, or narrative. Your game design portfolio should include clear documentation like flowcharts, level blockouts, or mechanics prototypes using tools like Unity or Unreal. Focus on problem-solving, user experience, and clarity. Add explanations of your design decisions and show how your work fits into a complete gameplay experience.
In 2025, studios value clarity, adaptability, and familiarity with current pipelines. A video game artist portfolio should include only relevant, up-to-date work — no unfinished pieces. Use ArtStation or personal sites to display assets that demonstrate technical skill and artistic sensibility. Ensure the portfolio is mobile-friendly, loads fast, and communicates your specialization immediately.
Organize your game development portfolio by role or discipline — art, design, programming. Lead with your strongest work, add a short bio with relevant tools and experience, and include links to playable builds or GitHub repositories. Make sure it’s easy to navigate and visually clean. Employers want to see results, not just effort — highlight what you contributed and what impact it had.
We hope these tips help you to make a truly great game art portfolio that you can show to employers.
One more piece of advice is, don’t think of your portfolio as just a gallery. It showcases an employer the way you work, think, execute and even grow. Try to communicate with it.
At RocketBrush Studio, we want to see who you are as an artist, what you're great at and what kind of tasks we can trust you with. If your portfolio answers that clearly, you’re already ahead.
If you’re applying to RocketBrush Studio, we’d love to see your work. And if you’re just starting out, don’t worry — build projects that excite you, improve consistently and show us you’re ready.
Reach us at hr@rocketbrush.com and let’s see if we can work together!
