The term Concept Art is used nowadays as a selling point by every illustrator, designer, artist or simple amateur in hopes of attracting viewers and potential customers. The increasing popularity of video game, comics & movie production art, turned the term into another meaningless generalization. Is everything drawn concept art?
Let's start with some definitions:
Concept art is a form of illustration where the main goal is to convey a visual representation of a design, idea, and/or mood for use in films, video games, animation, or comic books before it is put into the final product. Concept art is also referred to as visual development and/or concept design. This term can also be applied to retail design, set design, fashion design and architectural design.
Design implies a conscious effort to create something that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
But with these terms being used left and right, we seem to have forgotten their meaning. Most work we will see on the web will be nothing more than beautifully executed illustrations, empty of any form of functionality. Why?
Basically, when designing for a virtual world, rules like gravity don't apply, you CAN draw and create outrageous and impossible things with little effort. But by doing so you are just thinking about aesthetics, about the medium. I would go even further and say that when you delve into this kind of illustration you're designing the medium, you're trying to create a functional and aesthetic pleasing image, you're working the style.
But Concept art is more then just delivery of ideas, it's the idea itself that you must work on. I find that the more your idea is unreal, the more detail and thought you must put into it in order for the viewer to believe in this fiction.
To improve concept art one must be willing to work both the message and the medium and try to use one to improve the other: although my initial design of The vision was a regular drawing, the animated gif gives a much more clearer view of the phasing costume idea.
Here is an example of one character (message) in several different styles (medium): The Yara-ma-yha-who
Comments and thoughts welcomed.
Here is an example of one character (message) in several different styles (medium): The Yara-ma-yha-who
