Chinese audiences are normally known to be quiet during
presentation Q&A sessions; people are polite and ask very few
questions. However, on March 19th,
after Justin Evans talk on Conceptual Design,
the floor lit up. Question after
question were thrown at him, until the host had to cut the Q&A session
short so as not to overstay the Beijing Institute of Technology’s welcome.
On Friday March 19th the second IGDA event on
Conceptual Design was held at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), a
university well known for producing exceptional engineers and software
designers in China. The University graciously provided an
auditorium for the event. The audience, made
up of both IGDA members and BIT students, started to fill the auditorium an
hour before the event to ensure that they would get a seat. There was quite a buzz in the air long before
Justin took the stage.
Justin Evans, CEO of
Virtual Light, a Beijing based
digital animation studio, spent an hour breaking down the steps of conceptual
design. From the five principles to six
forms of conceptual design, he impressed upon the audience that, although
talent is important, hard work is paramount.
The audience was captivated as he showed examples of how one of his
employees progressed over a six month period.
He began by showing an original character his employee had drawn when
first joining Virtual Light and then proceeded to critique the work, pointing
out areas of improvement such as posing, color, lighting, etc… He then produced a version of the same
character drawn by the employee six months later – the differences were
dramatic. The original character looked
like a child’s crayon drawing next to the more recent drawing. Justin deftly pointed out which basic
techniques that were used and how they enhanced the original drawing.
As soon as Justin announced that he was taking questions,
hands shot up in the audience. Many
questions centered around what it would be like to be
a conceptual artist. What’s the work
like? If I am a computer programmer now, is it too late? How much does a
conceptual artist get paid? What tools do you use? Etc...
Some struggled through asking the questions in English. Justin tried out his Chinese through the
exchange. Needless to say, much laughter
ensued!
The Beijing
chapter would like to thank Justin for an excellent talk and setting the
benchmark for future sessions.
