Zoe Mode

Have you always wanted a career in the industry?

I've always wanted to work in games, even from junior school when the 'Games Master' and 'Bad Influence' TV shows were the only real source of information. N64's 'Goldeneye' made me look further into the games industry. But, it wasn't really until doing the Maya for Games course at Escape that I was able to enter the industry.

How did you find out about Escape and what was it like?

I heard about Escape while at university but it wasn't until a year and a half after graduation when I still couldn't get into the industry that I decided to really look into a course there.

The course itself was incredible. I was taught more technical knowledge than in 3 years at university and every day was a new artistic project. My modeling skills improved, as did my speed and understanding of how what I built would work within a game itself. I learned extra tips and techniques and could bounce ideas off my classmates.

What happened after the course?

After my course, there was an art test to get into the Pods to work on a next-gen game. I was chosen with 6 other graduates and began a 3 month contract for Escape and a well-known developer. The Pod was great because we got to apply all our newly learned skills right away and it was real industry experience. We impressed the client and I was offered a job at their company to continue working as a 3D artist on their next-gen team.

What are you doing now?

I'm just preparing for the move down to Brighton to start as a 3D artist for Zoë Mode to continue working on some great new next-gen projects. I'm really looking forward to seeing my work in the shops as a published title.

What advise would you give to prospective students?

I went to university before going to Escape, and though I had a good time, it was only after going to Escape that I realized that a lot of what I learned was several years out of date. For people thinking about working in 3D in the future, going to Escape instead of university would be a better investment. People who have graduated recently should look at Escape to build on what they've learned so far.