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GDC 2003: Art Management For Artists

New leads take a while to settle into their position, and, based on their temperaments, there are certain patterns that they can fall into in dealing with their new responsibilities. Lead artists are less artists who manage than managers who are in charge of artists.

The manager is simply that - an administrator. His time is spent with graphs and charts, on the phone, in meetings and in frequent conferences with individual artists. The art load, if there is one, is very light, and likely to be off the critical path. The art lead needs to have good data on whether the project is on track, and where the problems are if it isn't. The manager thinks of himself as the one who keeps the wheels greased, management informed, and his team happy and well-supplied.

If you stay in your job long, this is the type of lead you will be. I have exaggerated a little from my own experience and that of some of my co-workers, but only slightly. Keeping up with data and keeping in touch with your managers, your team, and your outside dependencies makes up the majority of your responsibilities as a lead artist. Developing those skills will be the story of your career.

If you don't enjoy at least some of that, you're in the wrong job. And it's not impossible to maintain a creative life, as long as you are realistic about what is expected of you, and you plan ahead. But there are pitfalls that you need to be aware of in developing that position. Here are a few that I have seen, and that friends of mine and I have fallen into.

• The Minimalist. Some new leads believe that art is still their primary function. They have a hands-off approach to their people, giving out only the information that they feel others should need, and trusting to the other artists' professionalism to get the job done right and on time. Leads who run teams this way value their team members' time, and hate to bother them with any unnecessary interference. It was likely the way the lead preferred to be treated when he was a production artist. Because the lead is part of the critical path, however, any snag in the project that requires his time has an immediate impact on the production pipeline. The lead is gambling that such interruptions will be seldom and minor.
  
  The Minimalist is also the least informed of the leads in terms of where all the other artists are in their work. He must rely on their word for how well they are doing, because he does not allow himself time to stay current with their work. This can be a problem if artists miss deadlines without warning, and it can cause headaches for the Producer, who has no other window into the production of art assets. This can be a real problem, especially with new hires who need coaching and instruction to get up to speed.



• One of the guys. Another approach that beginning leads take to leading an art team is to stress camaraderie and diminish his own importance as an authority figure. These are usually newer leads, fresh from the pipeline, who are afraid of harming working relationships by pulling rank on their buddies. They value getting buy-in from the team most of all, so team members will believe that they are being heard and their contributions appreciated. A lot of enthusiasm can be built up in this way. The lead will also usually be more on top of the current art tasks, because he will be in regular contact with the team. In that sense, he is more prepared when dealing with other team leads than the Minimalist.
  
  Where the "one of the guys" management style falls down is when the lead comes up against the cold, hard facts of the job. The art lead is responsible for the conduct and productivity of his team, and when something goes wrong it is his responsibility to fix the problem. When that means telling a friend to straighten up and fly right, this type of lead gets very uncomfortable. While avoiding conflicts with people on the team may preserve friendships, it is likely to be at the cost of respect and effectiveness. Ultimately, the selfish desire to be liked and untainted by arrogance can leave the team unprotected and without direction.
  
  As uncomfortable as it may be from time to time, establishing the lead artist as the authority on the team can also have a calming effect. An artist may not always be happy with decisions that go against him, but there is more security in knowing that someone is in charge than to have the sinking feeling that the project is without a rudder. This is especially true of a larger team that requires firm coordination to be successful. Some problems are only appropriately solved by the lead, and everyone knows this. Do not shy away from those issues. Someone or something will solve the problem. If you rely on someone else to solve your problems, you harm your team's confidence that you can help them if they need you.



• The Dictator. The Dictator is what the previous manager is most afraid of becoming, or, at least afraid of being seen as. Dictators may be friendly or brutal, but in any case they will follow only their own vision. Other artists on the team are only present to serve that vision. His biggest fear will be that something will get out of hand, and that the Producer or Art Director will hear about it before he does.
  
  Before I point out the drawbacks to this style of management, let me point out the advantages. Usually, order is maintained, and few problems will occur that don't get noticed quickly. If the Dictator is a good artist with an interesting vision, then the game will likely have a tight look and coherent feel. This may even be the preferred method when dealing with a licensed property that requires everything to be "just so". The Dictator is also a micro-manager, or refuses to do anything that he hasn't approved, which amounts to the same thing. That means he really does have a handle on the art team and can be counted on to know absolutely every element of the art. He is the responsible party in every sense.
  
  The downsides are almost all on the team side. Having good ideas, or any of your ideas, constantly shot down is demoralizing for any creative person. Having the feeling that you have no direct impact on the project, or recourse to a second opinion, is also demoralizing, and can lead to a very unhappy team. Common wisdom says that a little freedom and buy-in goes a long way towards creating a good product. At the very least, a company who hires for creativity will be ill served by a team with only one active imagination, unless that imagination is truly phenomenal.
  
  There are downsides for the Dictator, too. Being a dictator is an exhausting, high-pressure job. Unless you are the sort of weasel who blames your own mistakes on others, you have to admit that all blame rests on you if something goes wrong. Delegation is not only a smart use of talent, but also a necessary pressure valve.
  
  My purpose in mentioning these potential problems is to get you thinking about what your role is. Where these management styles fall down is how they address issues of control and relationship to the team. In the Minimalist and "One of the Guys" the issue is a lack of dedicated energy or a lack of interest in dealing with the direction of the project and the individual artists. The Dictator is actually the same, but in a different form. In trying to keep personal control, the Dictator denies that he is the head of a team by keeping all control and responsibility to himself. Effectively, he operates as if there is no team at all.
  

The Other Leads

One of the purposes of the lead artist is to shield his or her artists from the other leads so that they are not interrupted in their work. That means that you will need to have a good relationship with all the other leads on the team, particularly the lead Engineer and the designer. You are the gatekeeper for the artists, and they should expect not to be pulled in different directions by your manager, the producer, or engineers.

Engineering

We've already talked a little about how important it is to be in synch with the Engineering lead. Art and Engineering are likely to have the most friction on a team. When dealing with engineers, remember that they need a different kind of information from you than other artists do. Find out first in any negotiation what the engineer needs to know, then work from that point.

My favorite story about this kind of thinking was from a talk by Dave Perry of Shiny. He asked an engineer if characters could ride motorcycles in the game they were developing.
"No", said the engineer.
"Could we have moving polygons?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Could they slide along the ground?
"Yes."
"Could an object be attached to that polygon?"
"Yes, …"
"Could a character be placed on top of the object on the polygon?"
Sigh "Yes."

A good Engineering Lead will act as a translator between you and his programmers. In turn, respect his boundaries and get permission to work directly.

Design

Designers are some of the most overworked people on a team at Red Storm. This fact and the fact that most design work is paperwork means that designers can become isolated from the team. Even the best designers can't predict all of the kinks in his vision. That means they will need to adapt as conflicts arise. Since adapting means re-design, the Art Lead needs to try to predict, to some degree, where changes are likely to be made.

At the beginning of the project, there are some things you can do to minimize future problems. Sit down with the designer and feel out how open he is to informed criticism. There will be areas where your particular expertise can help avoid problems or unnecessary waste down the line. After all, you as Art lead will probably know what is possible to build and what is the most efficient way for your artists to work. If you are not pushy or overbearing, you may find that the Designer is very open to good ideas. You won't know what parts of the design are most flexible until you ask. Be ready, too, to adjust your plans when the design cannot be modified in your favor.

Quality Assuarance

One part of the team we haven't mentioned to this point is Quality Assurance. Testing tends to be an afterthought at many companies, and Red Storm has certainly had the same problem. We quickly discovered that not including QA in planning and schedule discussions always led to headaches down the road. Why? Because testers have to verify everything that any other part of the team does.

QA develops a test plan that lays out how and when major features of the game are declared to be finished and functional. They must therefore know when to expect them and what they will have to work with. To release a bug-free product on time, they have an established system for rubber-stamping what the artists and engineers have done, so missing verification can mean major interruptions in the pipeline. Worse, it can mean that elements of the game are never tested until there is no hope of fixing them.

If anyone has faced the nightmare of finishing a game, only to find that it isn't fun, then you know why QA is important. Make QA's job easy, or they can make yours very difficult. You have been warned.

Wrap Up

Every company and every team is different, so it's unlikely that the answers you get to the questions I've asked will apply to every lead. Similarly, no amount of thinking on your own can replace experience, and no one has more experience with the problems you will face than other art leads. Use them.

Another excellent resource for pinpointing problems and finding possible workarounds is post-mortems from other teams. If your company doesn't do them, organize them yourself. If done right, they are a gold mine of information on process. Everyone on the team, not just the artists or your supervisor will review your performance. Odds are, people will say things they wouldn't have during the project, because they were afraid of getting fired or rocking the boat.

If you have ever read more than two post mortems, you will probably have a feeling of deja vu. Most projects have a set of problems that are almost identical - incomplete or constantly changing design, poor communication between art and engineering, missed deadlines, loss of staff, and short schedules are on almost every list. These can mostly be dealt with by proper planning, and are within your control.

What makes postmortems from other teams so useful is that they have specific problems, and solutions for them, that you might not have foreseen.

A good source for postmortems from other companies is Game Developer magazine. I'm sure you've seen free subscription forms all around the conference. Get it. It costs you nothing, and you won't be sorry.

I also recommend two articles by Dianne Davies about the particulars of being an art lead. They are still on Gamasutra.

My last suggestion is talk to the people who do it right. If you see a project like yours that looks like it was done well, call the lead artist and chat. If you see anything done well, if you see any product that shows real excellence, find out how it was done. Call the lead artist. Call the art director. Call anyone who will talk to you. As long as you are polite, people are very receptive. If you call someone who's not, what have you lost?

Other people have done this job before. Find out what they have to say.

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