← Home
Design Self Promotion

AVC 248  ·  Michelle B.

AVC248 › Where to Put Your Portfolio › ArtStation

ArtStation

The Behance of the games industry. If you want to work in games, 3D, or concept art, this is where studios are actually looking.

Cost: Free profile, Pro is paidCode needed: NoneCustom domain: Pro onlySetup: ~1 hour

Goal

Get in front of game studios, which recruit off ArtStation the way ad agencies recruit off Behance.

Audience

Anyone headed for games, 3D, animation, character art, environment art, or concept art. If that is not you, skip this page.

Process

Make a free profile, post your best work, use the job board. Only pay for Pro if you want a custom domain.

Is this for you?

Only if you are going into games, 3D, or concept art. If you are doing branding, print, or general graphic design, your work will look out of place here and you should spend that hour on Behance instead.

But if games are your target, this is not optional. Studios recruit here. Character artists, environment artists, and concept artists get hired off ArtStation profiles the same way ad agencies hire off Behance.

What it looks like: dark theme, big renders, built for showing off 3D and illustration. Very field-specific and very good at what it does. The work posted here is strong, which is motivating for some people and demoralizing for others. Go in knowing that.

Set it up

  1. Make a free account at artstation.com.
  2. Fill out your profile completely. Name, location, what you do, and what you are looking for.
  3. Post your strongest work only. ArtStation is not a place to show your process or your class exercises. Lead with finished, polished pieces.
  4. Include your process shots inside the project, though. Studios want to see wireframes, turnarounds, and how you got there. Final image first, breakdown below.
  5. Tag properly so the right art directors find you.
  6. Use the job board. It is aimed exactly at these roles and it is one of the better ones in the industry.
  7. Optional: ArtStation Pro (paid) unlocks a real website with a custom domain. Only worth it if you are committed to this field.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Game studios recruit here. That is the whole pitch, and it is a strong one.
  • Free profile.
  • A job board aimed at exactly the roles you want.
  • An audience of other game artists. Good for feedback and networking.
  • Pro gives you a real site with a custom domain.

Cons

  • Custom domain requires paid Pro.
  • Very field-specific. Useless if you are not doing games or 3D.
  • The quality bar is high and public. That cuts both ways.
  • Free tier is a profile, not a website.

Resources

Platforms change their plans and their menus constantly. If a step here does not match what you see on screen, tell me and I will fix the page.