Anonymous Guest asked: how did you get into UI/UX? any tips for someone trying to get into this particular field? thank you!
oh man i'm possibly the worst one to ask this question lmao, i fell ass-backwards into my job harder than anyone on earth; i'll keep it brief because a lot of my success came from luck.
basically, it started with me doing fanart for no other reason than because i wanted to! i was a big fan of making fake videogame cartridges and box art, and just visualizing videogames i wanted to be real because i have no coding ability. someone who happened to work at a certain game studio liked one of my fake game carts and asked if i wanted to do some random art for a personal project he was doing.
he liked what i did and later passed my name to his boss, who was the creative director at the studio and asked me if i was familiar with UI art and wanted to work on one of their games 👀💦 i of course completely lied saying i had experience, and that's how i got my first UI art gig. after working with them on a freelance basis for a couple years they asked me to relocate to LA and work with them full time.
so yeah, this is the most 'your mileage may vary' scenario imaginable! i admit i'm not very proud of the success i've gotten so far due to this lmao.
I can only give one piece of REAL advice: give yourself projects to do. if it's the kind of thing you already find rewarding without getting money/fame for, keeping at it is easier and a great way to build your skills and create a body of work for a portfolio. if you want to do UI? make UI; doesn't even have to be for a real game, but nor does it have to be completely created from your head (I recently designed a hi-res HUD for a hypothetical Mr. Driller sequel, for example). obviously, real games are an even better portfolio piece; find a hobbyist who needs a graphic designer and collaborate with them!