Mari Kolkowsky (D&D Art Director) got laid off yesterday

[Roland55]

Hey sorry Wicht. Saw your quote, but not your question. I'm Paul Hebron. I had the pleasure of working on D20 Modern, Star Wars Miniatures and a few other fun brands. Don't get me wrong, WOTC can be a fun place to work... especially when compared to other corporations. When I first started there, it was unreal. The only place I know of where HR gave you a Nerf gun on your first day so you could protect yourself when walking down the hallways. Like a lot of companies, WOTC has changed. It baffles me sometimes why they do the things they do.

Anyway, I've done some freelance design for them since I was laid off. Most of what I've been doing has been away from gaming. Me? I expected to get laid off. I knew for about 10 months that we were not going to renew the license with LucasArts. I couldn't tell my artist who counted on me giving them a certain number of pieces of illustrations per release. It made me feel like crap. Several of them kept asking when the next release was coming out and I could only say I haven't been given additional assignments.

With Mari and Jon working on D&D, Jeremy on Magic, others on the brands they knew well... Better than me. I saw the handwriting on the wall. Most of the time, it's not that way at WOTC. I'll be having lunch with Mari this week. I'm sure she'll end up at another game company. Wizards has a lot of talent. A lot of talent left Wizards one way or the other. I've seen some great game concepts never get released. We use to say that Wizards has more good games in the graveyard than most companies have in the marketplace.

Anyway. That's me. Just another geek art director in Seattle trying to do good work and have fun.

And best wishes to you. Sounds to me like you have your head on straight. It's good to know the world you live in ... and to have no unreasonable expectations.

 

[Geek Art Director]

it is, though I think if you are an art director, you really should say more about what you did on each project. Presenting an artist's portfolio seems almost disingenuous.

That can be a tough call... to show or not to show illustrations you art directed. She did list the illustrator on every project when she shows their work. I think listing the illustrator can help promote their work. It's such a niche for directing game or fantasy art anyway. People outside of gaming often don't get it. She's definitely looking to go into gaming again with her book focused on what she enjoys. Made me want to go and re-think my portfolio.

BTW, are there any illustrators on this post?

 

[MJS]

That can be a tough call... to show or not to show illustrations you art directed. She did list the illustrator on every project when she shows their work. I think listing the illustrator can help promote their work. It's such a niche for directing game or fantasy art anyway. People outside of gaming often don't get it. She's definitely looking to go into gaming again with her book focused on what she enjoys. Made me want to go and re-think my portfolio.

BTW, are there any illustrators on this post?

I have no connection to your field, I work in developmental disability, and write music.
I do think some final work ought be there, and artists certainly appreciate exposure - my reaction though was also along the lines of wondering what the team(s) were for various projects, and just a brief bit about the art direction itself, maybe what some of the challenges were...some behind the scenes info would give people a sense of leadership qualities and soforth...
I guess the term "portfolio" throws me. I understand that what's being shown is analogous to, perhaps, a recording of a symphony as representative of a conductor's work.
I hope someone in publishing interviews her, with so many years at WoTC, culminating with the OD&D reprint, it would be interesting to hear some of those stories.

 

[Geek Art Director]

I have no connection to your field, I work in developmental disability, and write music.
I do think some final work ought be there, and artists certainly appreciate exposure - my reaction though was also along the lines of wondering what the team(s) were for various projects, and just a brief bit about the art direction itself, maybe what some of the challenges were...some behind the scenes info would give people a sense of leadership qualities and soforth...
I guess the term "portfolio" throws me. I understand that what's being shown is analogous to, perhaps, a recording of a symphony as representative of a conductor's work.
I hope someone in publishing interviews her, with so many years at WoTC, culminating with the OD&D reprint, it would be interesting to hear some of those stories.

Ok MJS, I understand what you mean now. Thanks for the explanation.

If and when we post case studies, all of that background can be detailed. It does make for an interesting read to some of us.If you go to Jon Schindehette's website, you'll see a case study about Castle Ravenloft, and also about the D&D Starter Set. Jon does a great job of presenting his work from that perspective.

I started to do case studies on some of the miniatures I worked on for Star Wars. I planned to present from character request to final figure. It never happened. So, I didn't show those single pieces in my book because I would want to explain what was involved.

 

[haakon1]

WA is an at will state, but that does not mean without cause. Termination for cause has to be clearly documented (3 verbals, 2 written, with a 90 day improvement plan). Temp workers (under 30 hrs (I think)) can we released at will with no cause.

If you release without cause under the guise the position is superfluous, that position is considered locked for 6 months and cannot be back filled.

INAL, but I've managed staff in large corporations in WA

Except for the specific rules on "clearly documented", all of that is correct from what I know about this issue in WA. I think those "clearly documented" rules are more likely a corporate legal department's CYA attempt to make sure they have a good defense if sued about termination for cause, rather than a detailed WA statute of precisely what constitutes "clearly documented". I've heard performance improvement plans aren't actually necessary if the performance issues are clearly documented, though they are likely common, especially if they can get the person to sign an agreement stating there's a problem they are trying to improve.

Also possible you are completely right.

 

[haakon1]

The tax agencies take a dim view of this arrangement since independent contractors suffer different tax treatment. A lot of companies have policies limiting the duration of contract work to stay on the good side of the regulators. Around here, a 2-year maximum is typical for a contractor filling for a particular role.

Nod, definitely true, and I thought the maximum timing was more like 1 year, but that may vary by state/how much attorneys want to push it v. taking risks. Most US law is not black-and-white clear, which is why there are so many lawyers.

 

[haakon1]

Technically, you only need to give 24 hours notice. 2 weeks is just polite.

I think you can legally walk out any time you like.

I knew a guy who just left a Post-It Note on his boss' desk saying "I got another job so I quit". I don't think anything bad happened to him, other than everyone thinking he was a jerk, which we already knew from working with him . . . not a good guy to go drinking with, if you didn't want to get banned from bars!

 

[Klaus]

BTW, are there any illustrators on this post?

Hi, there!

One of the things people forget: when an Art Director shows the projects they Art Directed, the very illustrations are proof of their work, because *that* artist only did *that* picture because the AD chose to make that match. Finding the right artist for the job is one of the prime aspects of the job. Barring showing the evolution from sketches to final (which would be unfair to both artists and ADs), I think this is the best that can be done.

I'll say this: I did two illustrations for this month's Dungeon that were art directed by Mari (Kate was on vacation), and her input made the pieces better than what they were.

Now that I think of it, this is the kind of stuff that could help an AD's (and an artist's) portfolio: short recommendations by established artists. Also, comments on the pieces that were art directed, pointing out the AD's contribution, would also be interesting.

 

[MJS]

Hi, there!

One of the things people forget: when an Art Director shows the projects they Art Directed, the very illustrations are proof of their work, because *that* artist only did *that* picture because the AD chose to make that match. Finding the right artist for the job is one of the prime aspects of the job. Barring showing the evolution from sketches to final (which would be unfair to both artists and ADs), I think this is the best that can be done.

I'll say this: I did two illustrations for this month's Dungeon that were art directed by Mari (Kate was on vacation), and her input made the pieces better than what they were.

Now that I think of it, this is the kind of stuff that could help an AD's (and an artist's) portfolio: short recommendations by established artists. Also, comments on the pieces that were art directed, pointing out the AD's contribution, would also be interesting.

I apologize for my confusion - the portfolio of final renders alone, to an outsider, leaves more questions than answers, and absent of understanding industry terminology, a "portfolio of my stuff" has narrower meaning. Then, you have "case studies", which is actually pretty funny from my pov.

Best of luck to all of you. I share in the difficulty of being an artist, in my case mostly musical. The old crunch of working full time for poverty wages, and still trying to find niches for one's craft is something I've struggled with over 20 years. That's love for you. Or insanity. Or both. : )

 

[Geek Art Director]

Hi, there!

One of the things people forget: when an Art Director shows the projects they Art Directed, the very illustrations are proof of their work, because *that* artist only did *that* picture because the AD chose to make that match. Finding the right artist for the job is one of the prime aspects of the job. Barring showing the evolution from sketches to final (which would be unfair to both artists and ADs), I think this is the best that can be done.

I'll say this: I did two illustrations for this month's Dungeon that were art directed by Mari (Kate was on vacation), and her input made the pieces better than what they were.

Now that I think of it, this is the kind of stuff that could help an AD's (and an artist's) portfolio: short recommendations by established artists. Also, comments on the pieces that were art directed, pointing out the AD's contribution, would also be interesting.

Hey Klaus... your work is fantastic. I enjoy the dramatic perspectives and different views. So often illustrators only work with the straight on view and miss out on making the image more dramatic.