FAQ
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Below are a few questions we’d like to answer here just in case anyone was curious about how we work. If you don’t see a question answered here, please contact us anytime at Click to reveal email. We’ll be sure to get back to right away.
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1. Where are your studio(s) located? At what location would contracted work be done?
2D pieces are managed in the Cincinnati, Ohio / Northern Kentucky area (EST). Contract work would be completed by various freelance artists around the country and managed from our office in Northern Kentucky – only minutes away from the Cincinnati/Northern KY, International Airport. 3D pieces are managed from Austin, TX in much the same way as the 2D art projects.
2. What art tasks are you capable in?
2D Concept art, Model Sheets/Orthos & Package art. 3D art, utilizing 3DSMAX, Maya, Lightwave 3D, ZBrush, Mudbox, Character Studio, Photoshop, Deep UV, Deep Paint, Perforce, SourceSafe, HanSoft, Confluence, Microsoft Excel, most standard forms of wiki software and some experience with Microsoft Project.
3. What is your area of specialty of the ones you listed above?
Concept art, Package art and 3D art.
4. What other non-art services (if any) does your company provide?
Consulting and development (printing costs, distribution, etc.) in regards to comic production.
5. How many artists can you make available for a project? What is a comfortable scope?
4-5 per project. This allows for us to truly manage each individual and also be able to consult with you effectively. We can scale up or down though efficiently, without affecting the studio who contracts us to produce art.
6. Are your artists full-time employees or contract employees or both?
We work with freelancers directly, many coming from the comic book and gaming industries. At this time we choose not to have “staff artists” to allow for flexibility for our clients so we can adapt to needs immediately. Our network consists of fresh, cutting edge talent, to seasoned vets whom we have an excellent rapport with.
7. Do you ever outsource work to other companies? If so please describe how you do so.
Yes, but only individual artists we work with that may have a studio system in place already. Some artists have their own “team” in place that can take their line art (for example) and have it finished as a painting or package art.
8. Please provide details of your internal team structure for working on a project?
Aaron Hubrich, Producer/Consultant: works directly with clients and talent, acting as Project Manager, Art-Director and Consultant.
Jon Jones, 3D Art Producer: works directly with clients and talent, acting as Project Manager, Art-Director and Consultant.
Wanda Hendrickson: Operations Manager, Bookkeeping and Finances.
9. How is the communication usually setup with your clients?
a. Who would a producer (contracts/logistics) be in touch with on your team?
2D art: Aaron Hubrich, Producer/Consultant
3D art: Jon Jones, Producer/Consultant
b. Who would our art lead be in touch with on your team?
2D art: Aaron Hubrich, Producer/Consultant
3D art: Jon Jones, Producer/Consultant
10. What is your preferred method of receiving feedback on work?
Email, Instant Message, or Phone.
11. What security measures do you have in place to ensure the confidentiality of the work of your clients?
All talent will sign Non-disclosure and WFH agreements and are thoroughly interviewed/screened beforehand. Typically, we only work with individuals who have worked with us directly in the past or come highly recommended with references or a solid work history. Only talent that has signed off on a NDA will have access to materials, or have access to our secure ftp server.
12. What is your average day rate for work in US dollars?
Conceptopolis does not have a “day rate” and chooses to price each project on a “per job” basis. Our rates are very competitive, as we can fit the right talent with most job’s budgets, while producing the work at a high level and on time. Being located in a lower cost area in the mid-west (USA) allows us more freedom to price jobs competitively, while producing a higher level of art for the project. We encourage anyone to compare us with most studios/agencies, as we can meet or beat most prices, while producing work that is at a very high level.
13. What software packages do you use?
For 2D art, the main tools we use are Adobe’s Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.). For 3D: 3DSMAX, Maya, Lightwave 3D, ZBrush, Mudbox, Character Studio, Photoshop, Deep UV, Deep Paint, Perforce, SourceSafe, HanSoft, Confluence, Microsoft Excel, most standard forms of wiki software and some experience with Microsoft Project.
14. What is the scope of the largest project you have worked on?
Over 200 card art images for a collectible card game, averaging 4-5 pieces of full color art per week. This included pencil sketches, feedback/approvals, line art finishing and coloring. This was also a coordination of 2 major companies and multiple art teams, all managed by Aaron Hubrich. For 3D: Jon Jones built and ran an entirely outsourced art team at NCsoft Austin on Dungeon Runners, a critically-acclaimed free to play MMORPG from the world’s largest MMOG publisher.
15. What is the average scope of projects you have worked on in the past?
Typically, 10-15 color pieces at a given time and 6-8 weeks to complete the work. Conceptopolis can adapt to fit just about any 2D art job, so ramping up or down in the middle of a project is not a problem, since we only work with contractors/freelancers who can be hired on a project basis.
16. Are you willing to take a test?
For new clients, we are able to be tested on a style and encourage them to do so. We can be tested to match a current style guide or style sheet, or create a new look as well. By producing a test piece, everyone from the art team, to the art director, can see how we flow.
17. Please list previous/current clients and projects you have worked on.
Wizards of the Coast: Dungeon & Dragons and Star Wars brand art
WB Games: Speed Racer video game art
Valiant: Color re-mastering of Harbinger comic books
Vicarious Visions: Marvel Ultimate Alliance II
NC Soft: Dungeon Runners concept art
Lucas Arts: Indiana Jones and Star Wars brand art
Activision: Marvel, Ultimate Alliance II
Hasbro: G.I. Joe, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Xevoz, Marvel brand art
Alderac Entertainment: Legends of Five Rings
Sony Online Entertainment: Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms and Legends of Norrath
Mattel: Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5, Hot Wheels: Monster Jam
Fisher-Price: Thomas the Tank Engine
2K / Firaxis: Civilization video game concepts
…and more to come!
18. Please tell us anything else about your group that you feel will be useful for us to know.
Our focus when working with clients is our strong belief that we can contribute new ideas and original pieces of art because our abilities and passion were developed in the comic book and role-playing game industries. Those industries have an incredible amount of new talent and that talent constantly hones their skills to tell stories in just about any environment…and it reflects in the art we produce. We want to be that bridge to keep new ideas coming in and we’re positive that once we show what we can do, any company would be thrilled at what Conceptopolis can create.
Please visit our website at:www.conceptopolis.com
We’d love to hear from you!
