XPBLOG: UI from the perspective of a 3D artist – 4/12/21

UI from the perspective of a 3D artist

By Emi Jenkens-Drake

I came into the MassDigi Experience Program (XP) as a 3D artist, but after managing director Monty Sharma assigned me the ‘Lead Artist’ role on Team Custard my job quickly expanded past 3D. One of my new responsibilities was the UI of the game in Unity, something I knew absolutely nothing about. As someone who went to a design school I did have a lot of the fundamental design principles under my belt so it wasn’t a huge shock. But what I didn’t expect was how much I enjoyed doing the UI design.

After the initial phase of learning how to implement everything correctly it was a blast to do. I think moving between 3D and 2D is really valuable and helps with assessing a game. How does this box work with the 3D space we are looking at? What’s the shape language like? Et cetera.

I really enjoyed it and I am looking to do more of it in the future. I think I would not have learned about UI or how much I enjoy it if not for XP. I think it forces people to try out different things in a good way. I would advise anyone taking part in any MassDigi program in the future to get out of your comfort zone because you never know who you might find.