1440X Visual Development for Entertainment

Ontario College Graduate Certificate Portfolio Package Requirements

Visual development or concept artists take creative ideas and generate visuals that explore stories created for entertainment. Experience in drawing fundamentals, digital painting, and 3D software is a requirement for the applicant to expand and focus their skills in a creative workspace. The most important factor in gaining acceptance into the Visual Development for Entertainment program is a demonstration of an iterative, researched and deeply explored approach to drawing, painting and technical proficiency.

Format & Labeling

Your portfolio will include a title page, cover letter, and 10 to 15 samples of work. Organize your work into a cohesive presentation and submit your portfolio online as a single PDF.

• Portfolio submission should be no more than 15 pages total.
• Portfolio submission can be either:
  • Portrait: 8.5” wide x 11” tall (all pages)
  • Landscape: 8.5” tall x 11” wide (all pages)
• Portfolio pages should have a clean layout and professional presentation. Utilize rules of graphic design to properly set up headers, labels, image alignment, orientation and spacing. Sketches and thumbnails should be presented at a visible size to clearly demonstrate the process of sample development.
• Each sample should include several pieces of artwork (e.g. roughs, thumbnails, final renderings, etc.) and should take up at least 1 page and a maximum of 2 pages. Avoid filling a page with only the final rendering. All process artwork must be demonstrated.
• Submit your portfolio below.
• Name your PDF: YourLastName_YourFirstName_VisDev_Portfolio.pdf
• Mislabeling or mis-formatting your portfolio may lead to disqualification.

VERY IMPORTANT: You MUST apply to the program through the Ontario Colleges website in order to meet the equal consideration deadline. You will be notified if you have met the academic requirements, and then asked to submit a portfolio. After the portfolio deadline, we will continue to accept portfolios until the program is full.

Academic Integrity

Any suspected cases of academic misconduct within portfolio submissions will be reported to the Algonquin College Office of Academic Integrity for investigation. Academic misconduct can include, but is not limited to, plagiarism, contract cheating, and/or misrepresentation. The use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not to be used for either written or visual content within submitted portfolios and would be considered academic misconduct. Acts of academic misconduct risk your disqualification from the program.

Please see Algonquin College Policy AA48 Academic Integrity for further information.

Requirements

Colour should be included in at least the final rendering of all samples. While the Visual Development for Entertainment program will focus on digital artwork, you can submit a mix of traditional and/or digital artwork if used in the development process of your samples. However, the final rendering must be executed with a digital tool.
Each sample must include pieces that demonstrate the process and exploration of your final rendering. Exploration pieces can include sketches, one- or two-tone silhouettes, greyscale value passes, thumbnails, character options, and alternative designs. Demonstrate how you moved through an iterative process to achieve your goal.

VERY IMPORTANT: Fan art will not be considered. Your portfolio is a demonstration of your originality, creativity and skills.

Each piece in your sample should include simple one line descriptors. Explain your thought process as you move through the development of your sample.

Title Page

A single page at the front of your portfolio that only includes your full name, email address, telephone number and student number (if applicable). Do not include any samples of your work on this page.

Cover Letter

Include a 300 to 400 word cover letter following the title page. The cover letter should introduce yourself and describe your professional career goals, area of interests, previous experience, and education. Tell us about yourself and what you hope to get out of the Visual Development for Entertainment program.

Digital Painting

2 to 3 samples of your digital paintings. Use digital drawing software (e.g. Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, etc.) to develop your digital paintings. Images can be environments, characters or props. You are strongly encouraged to use a variety of subject matter to demonstrate your versatility.

• Artwork should utilize your abilities with the fundamentals of painting techniques such as colour, light, value and texture.
• Demonstrate your ability to create believable forms without line art. Samples should demonstrate blocking, value placement, light systems and colour. Remove any line work from the final image.
• Showcase your proficiency with digital drawing tools. Utilize custom brushes, layer effects and other digital toolsets.

Environments & Perspective

2 to 3 samples that exhibit your skills in environment design. Demonstrate your skills in utilizing the rules of perspective, layout, storytelling, depth, and world building. Samples should be in colour and utilize digital toolsets for the final product.

• Samples should be a demonstration of your environment artwork. Include environment paintings, three-quarter perspective cutaways, structure designs, layouts, and architecture drawings.
• Final renderings should be executed in full colour. Use your favourite process but finalize using a digital creative tool (e.g. a line art sketch brought into photoshop, cleaned up and coloured).

3D Tools

1 to 2 samples of 3D work. Using a 3D toolset, submit samples of an original full body character or creature design. Artwork should showcase your understanding of 3D forms, anatomy, character/costume design, and proficiency with a 3D toolset.

• Models can be 3D sculpted or modelled using your preferred software. Samples should display a basic understanding of the tool used and the ability to work in a 3D space.
• Fidelity should be a moderate polygon count (average 2000 to 5000). Higher polygon count is acceptable and lower should be avoided.

Character Design

2 to 3 samples of your character work. These should demonstrate your knowledge of anatomy, form, pose and character design. Subject matter is open and a variety of designs are encouraged.

• Samples should include silhouette studies with a final full-colour rendered version of your favourite silhouette, expression sheets, character or creature design with multiple dynamic poses and different designs or outfits.
• Include character and creature exploration with several character designs from the same “world”.
• Style and process should be showcased. Take line art and sketches and apply paint in full colour.
• Showcase your abilities to light and shade the anatomy of your characters.
• Avoid multiple samples of headshots or busts. Always include a full body pose with your character along with facial expressions and other focused elements. Including their environment of the character is encouraged.

Personal Work

2 to 3 samples of any work that does not meet the portfolio requirements but you feel showcases your artistic abilities. These can be any medium and process you like.

Examples of personal artwork to include are:

• Still life, prop or object design
• Life drawing or similar
• Perspective and/or industrial design drawings
• Value studies of environments
• Character rotations
• Storyboard panels
• Etc.

Portfolio Submission