Callum McMurray

GAME DESIGNER Sideplay Entertainment Ltd.

What does a typical working day involve for you?

Coffee. Always. Normally a morning meeting with the Art Team to start the day, catching up and going over priorities for current projects. The rest of the day is entirely determined by the stage of production my current projects are at which can lead to some variance of work, but a lot of my time is spent on visual research, creating game concepts, wireframing and creating art and UI assets for the games once concepts have been approved.

How did you get your job?

Design piqued my interest during my Media Studies GCSE and A Level, leading me to a Digital Media Design degree at university. It was a great course which gave me opportunities to develop skills in different design disciplines. After that I spent two years at a local agency as a junior graphic designer, which honed my abilities to suit the pace of a working environment before landing my current position.

What motivates you in this role?

Working on all sorts of different briefs for games, styles and themes. The reason I was interested in becoming a designer was for the variety of engaging creative work, and I think that is what still drives me dayto-day. It is a very satisfying feeling at the end of a project to be able to look upon a piece of work that you helped create.

Are there any future skills you will need to learn for your role?

Not a new skill but I am always striving to improve my creative work which is a constant process. It is about seizing the right opportunities on projects to push work just outside the area you’re comfortable with sometimes. Otherwise, you don’t grow. Also, I need to stay on top of new tools or software that help improve my workflow, in a digital industry there is always some new trick or tool.

What are the three most important skills required for your role?

Good foundational knowledge of design principles, and industry software. Flexibility approaching a brief and changing your approach when it is not working. Finally, an eye for detail, it’s something you learn over time with experience but it makes the difference between a good piece of work and a great piece.

What advice would you give someone interested in a career in your profession?

Build a quality portfolio that displays only a few case studies of your best work, ideally in the field of design you are aiming to work in. No work to fill a portfolio? Create personal projects or find small jobs that let you practise. Review your work and improve it next time until you are happy to put it in your portfolio.

Tell us a fun fact

The most expensive movie poster ever sold was Heinz SchulzNeudamm’s design for the film Metropolis (1927). It sold for $690,000 at auction.