West Nottinghamshire College digital media students have had the opportunity to present original character designs for online games to industry professionals.
Oliver Hall (4th left) and Amber Payne (4th right) with the students.
Former students and now online gaming creatives Oliver Hall and Amber Payne returned to share their professional insight and feedback with the next generation of digital artists.
They ran a session focused on student-designed characters which were created in response to a jungle-themed brief inspired by the fast-paced world of online gaming. The brief was intentionally broad, allowing students to explore a wide range of visual styles, influences, and creative approaches – from expressive animal characters to stylised humanoid designs.
Student's designs were vibrant and imaginative.
Oliver said: “We wanted to keep the brief as open as possible. The aim was to let the students explore ideas freely and take their designs as far as they wanted. What stood out was the variety and everyone approached the theme differently, and that’s exactly what we look for in creative roles.”
During the session, students presented their design processes, discussing inspiration, reference gathering, sketching techniques, and the challenges of working outside their comfort zones. Industry feedback highlighted the importance of clear silhouettes, expressive characters, and strong colour choices were all key considerations for artwork designed to be read quickly in online gaming environments.
Some of the designs looked tribal.
Amber also spoke to students about the collaborative nature of the games industry, explaining how concepts evolve through teamwork across art, development, and marketing departments, and how final game themes are often shaped by market research and player trends.
She added: “In the industry, ideas can come from anywhere. Concept art plays a huge role, but it also has to work alongside technical features, branding, and marketing. Seeing students already thinking about those things is really encouraging.”
While student designs may not be used directly in commercial games, Oliver and Amber explained that original concepts, including experimental ideas, can influence future projects when submitted through internal creative channels.
The group presented their work to Oliver and Amber.
Design and media learning company specialist Tony Hall said: “It’s really valuable to give our students industry engagement as it instils confidence in their skills as well as allowing them to practice working on live briefs in the creative sector.
“It was great to see Oliver and Amber again and to hear how well they’ve progressed since leaving the college, and it proved to be a really powerful example of what our current students can achieve.
“I’ve really enjoyed this collaboration between education and industry, to give our students insight into current professional practice while allowing them to showcase their creativity.”