A Day in the Life of a Digital Artist
A digital artist makes art using the computer as his or her primary tool. This art can be
intended for a CD-ROM, video game, or website; but almost as often, it is printed out and
hung on a wall.
Individuals who crave stability, please note: Change in this field is constant. Whether you’re
an illustrator, graphic designer, animator, or game designer, the software you use is constantly
evolving. Depending on the company they work for, digital artists may wear many different hats
and contribute to five or six projects at one time. Most of
their day is spent developing an interface for a project,
drawing pictures, assembling the art, and making buttons
for users to click on. “The work atmosphere is like a
big clubhouse, and we can easily be there until midnight or two in the morning, particularly
when working on a deadline. We easily can put in a 12-hour day, and 10-hour days are the average.
That’s because we’re in the hot seat and clients want things yesterday,” says one artist at a
startup company.
Paying Your Dues
A general art education is a good first step, especially for networking, as so much of this
industry involves working with creative people in other fields. While a job with a print magazine
was once the best way to break into commercial art, the Internet now allows young
artists to land jobs as a junior/assistant designer, website designer, art director, illustrator, animator,
or game designer. Today there aren’t any steadfast rules or traditional channels to paying
your dues. You may be relegated to the toilet paper account as a junior art director at an
ad agency, but if you’re stuck in the same role at an interactive agency, you can make the toilet
paper talk, dance, and sing. You’re not going to be making complicated video games in the
beginning. There is much to learn about how to manipulate the software; it takes time to be
able to grasp the intricacies of its usability and understand a language that’s not totally developed.
If you can say that you are not only an illustrator and graphic designer, but also know
typography, understand color and page layout, and know how to optimize graphics for use
on the Web, you will be an extremely valuable commodity. Right now, the demand for creative
talent is immense, largely because the Internet is comprised of a world of technicians and
engineers, and the people who start companies and develop software generally don’t have an
understanding of how to create art.
Because every project involves teamwork, communication is as important as artistic
skills. In Web companies where technology often breaks inexplicably (particularly around a
deadline), being calm, practical, and logical is an asset. While creativity and imagination are
the most important attributes, understanding what makes things work and an analytical ability
to think like a programmer is often very helpful. In the Internet arena, an artist’s unbridled
creativity should be balanced with logic and analytical skills.
Present and Future
Commercial art began with the advent of modern advertising, and graphic design and
typography were the world’s original interfaces; it is from these interfaces that all modern
forms of graphical information are delivered. Internet art has already evolved from having
entertainment value to commercial value as an integral part of demonstrating and selling
products. “The people in this industry are taking part in creating a language just like filmmakers
did in the 1920s. In the future, the Internet will be regarded as an ‘age’ just like the
industrial revolution,” believes one digital artist.
How will the role of the artist evolve along with new technologies and forms of communication?
Many people are trying to predict its future, but all we know is that change is constant,
and it’s proceeding so fast that keeping up is no longer even an option. You just have to
ride the wave. Managing information, whether it is financial data or cartoons, is always going
to be essential. However, the world will always need artists. Whether we watch television
through virtual-reality glasses or ditch modern technology and go back to using paper to
communicate, someone is still going to have to draw the pictures.
Quality of Life
PRESENT AND FUTURE
Starting salaries depend on how many programs you know and the extent of your
experience. Knowledge of just the baseline illustrator programs will garner the lowest
wage. Competition is toughest for animators and illustrators; 3-D artists are the
most sought after.
FIVE YEARS OUT
On average, salary jumps about five dollars an hour for every two or three years of
experience. The further away you move from making art and the closer you get to
making software, the higher the pay—especially if you are adept at doing both. A
brilliant artist and programmer could earn as much as $100 an hour.
TEN YEARS OUT
Digital artists and their software have scarcely been around this long. Check back in
a few years to see what the next Internet revolution brings.