Concept Art

Award

MA

Location

Stoke-on-Trent campus

Stoke-on-Trent campus

Start dates available

  • September 2027
University of Staffordshire Courses

UK's #1 Games Institute

TIGA Best Educational Institution 2025

Designed for industry success

Develop your concept art skills to a professional level, tailored to meet the needs of creative industries

Outstanding development environment

Learn from industry professionals in sector-leading facilities

Extensive industry links

Gain access to our strong network of connections with leading international games studios

Develop your career as a concept artist by immersing yourself in professional visual development, design and storytelling.

Our MA Concept Art develops the advanced creative, technical and research skills needed for concept art across games, film, animation, publishing and related visual development industries. You’ll produce original concepts for characters, environments, props, vehicles and key art while building sophisticated design thinking and professional 2D workflows.

You’ll explore visual communication, style development, production art pipelines, studio simulation and industry practice. Through disciplined iteration, reference gathering, digital painting, paint-over techniques, mood boards, style guides and portfolio development, you’ll refine your own creative voice and professional process.

The course culminates in a major masters project, where you’ll plan, implement and evaluate an original body of concept art work aligned to your chosen specialism and career goals.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: MA Concept Art

Duration

This course is usually completed in 1 academic year when studying full-time or 2 academic years when studying part-time.

Part-time study

This course is available as a part-time study course. 

Course content

The course focuses on professional concept art and visual development for games, film, animation, publishing and related creative industries. You’ll develop advanced drawing, digital painting, design thinking and production-art skills while learning how to communicate visual ideas clearly to creative and technical teams.

You’ll explore abstraction, style adoption, pipeline and production art, studio simulation and industry practice. Through iterative visual development, reference gathering, mood boards, style guides, colour and value design, perspective, composition and production callouts, you’ll build a portfolio that reflects your specialist direction.

The course culminates in a major masters project, where you’ll plan, implement and evaluate an original body of concept art work. This could include character, environment, prop, vehicle, key art or other specialist visual development work aligned to your career goals.

Modules

The modules listed below are an indicative list of the modules that make up the course. Each module is worth a specified number of credits. Our teaching is informed by research, and modules change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. We aim to ensure that all modules run as scheduled. If for any reason a module cannot be run, we will advise you as soon as possible and provide guidance on selecting an appropriate alternative module. 

Entry requirements

You’ll normally need a 2:2 or above undergraduate qualification (or equivalent). Applicants must also submit a portfolio showcasing their artistic skills. For concept artists, we ideally look for evidence of strong foundational art skills, such as drawing, painting, visual storytelling, character or environment design, and an understanding of design iteration. Experience with digital painting software and the ability to visually communicate creative ideas.

We encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds, so even if your previous degree isn't directly related to games or entertainment design, such as fine art, graphic design, or illustration we're keen to see your portfolio and discuss your potential. Feel free to contact us for advice or more information!

Facilities

Games and Concept Art Labs

Explore your artistic creativity on the latest games development software in our Games and Concept Art Labs. Our industry quality workstations come complete with Wacom Intuos Pro mediums or 13QHD Cintiq tablets.

Virtual Production Studio

The Virtual Production Studio allows the combination of real-time games graphics with traditional film and video production techniques. Read more

Students are able to utilise the Virtual Production studio which comes complete with a 10m x 2.75m curved LED volume made of DigiLED DigiThin XS 2600 panels, Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12k camera with 35mm, 50mm and 85mm lenses, Vanishing Point Vector and Viper camera tracking systems, full RGB lighting system including LED Cloud, 1x Celeb 850, 1x Diva-Lite 41, 5x Diva-Lite 31 and 5x Q5 Color all controllable through a ChamSys MagicQ lighting desk, VR Scouting system using a HTC Vive Pro and audio system with speakers around the screen. HP workstations allow the process to be facilitated end-to-end by Unreal Engine to use photorealistic environments.
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Motion Capture Studio

Realistically capture multiple human movements simultaneously for the creation of high-quality games, animation and VFX sequences. Our industry standard facility features a 24-camera rig, Vicon hardware and Cara facial performance capture headset. This facility hosts sessions that show students how to set up and prepare shoots at a high industry level.

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Careers

On successful completion, you’ll be prepared for concept art and visual development roles across games, film, animation, publishing, advertising and related creative industries. Your portfolio will demonstrate advanced visual communication, design thinking, stylistic adaptability, production-art workflows and research-informed creative practice.

Potential career paths include:

  • Concept artist
  • Visual development artist
  • Character designer
  • Environment designer
  • Prop or vehicle designer
  • Key art artist
  • Art director
  • Freelance concept artist
  • Entrepreneurial IP developer

You’ll also be well placed for further academic study at PhD level. All students have access to Careers, Placements & Employability, our dedicated careers team.

Students on this programme have the opportunity to enhance their studies with a placement year, gain valuable work experience, and take part in international activities—potentially supported by the Turing funding.

All students have access to Careers, Placements & Employability, our dedicated careers team.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

This course uses a postgraduate, research-informed and industry-aligned approach to learning. You’ll develop your skills through active, practice-based teaching that reflects professional concept art and visual development workflows.

Teaching activities may include lectures, seminars, workshops, drawing and digital painting tasks, studio simulation, visual development exercises, peer critique, portfolio reviews, one-to-one supervision and independent project work. You’ll be encouraged to refine your artistic direction while developing a professional, reflective approach to your practice.

Our teaching is supported through our Virtual Learning Environment, Blackboard, where you can access learning materials and continue your development outside scheduled sessions. You’ll also use the Digital Academy to document progress, share work and receive formative feedback.

Assessment

Assessment is designed to reflect professional concept art practice. You’ll produce a range of portfolio-ready work, including concept art outputs, process documentation, workflow and pipeline evaluations, reflective critiques, presentations and a major independent masters project.

You’ll receive formative feedback throughout the course through workshops, Digital Academy posts, peer critique and one-to-one meetings. Formal assessments at the end of each module contribute to your module mark.

Learning support

Your course tutors will provide lots of support. But you can also take advantage of our Academic Skills team, who can help you with:

  • Study skills (including reading, note-taking and presentation skills)
  • Written English (including punctuation, grammar)
  • Academic writing (including how to reference)
  • Research skills
  • Critical thinking
  • Revision, assessment and exam skills (including time management)

Additional support

If you have additional needs like dyslexia or a sensory impairment, then our Student Inclusion Services are here to help make sure nothing stands in your way.

Staff

You will be taught by an expert teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes concept art specialists, games academics and professional practitioners with experience across visual development, drawing, painting, sculpture, animation and VFX.

Please note, teaching team staff members may change during your studies.

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Dr Kieran Hicks

Course Director

Dr Kieran Hicks is a game design lecturer, they are the director of the DEMI research centre. Their research explores games from user-based and design-based lenses, using games as a tool to engage diverse groups in beneficial activity.

Kieran's profile
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Tom Rush

Lecturer

I'm a lecturer in Concept Art for Games and Film BA and the Course Leader for the Concept Art MA. My specialism is traditional and digital sculpture, I've produced many examples of professional 2D design work, all with an emphasis on creature design.

Tom's profile
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Anthony Martin

Senior Lecturer

Anthony is a digital artist, animator and VFX technical director with over 20 years of industry experience. His current area of interest is the creation of realistic environments using a combination of 3D and 2D techniques

Anthony's profile
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Joseph Gronow

Lecturer

Joe is a concept art lecturer specialising in fundamental drawing and painting skills. He likes to blend traditional expertise with digital media.

Joseph's profile

Fees

For the course starting on 20 September 2027, the tuition fees are:

Study option UK / Channel Islands
Full-time £9,720 per course

If you would like to know more about the fees listed and what this means to you then please get in touch with our Enquiries Team.

Alumni discount

If you've previously completed a University of Staffordshire undergraduate degree (excluding HND and foundation degrees) you may be entitled to a discount of 25% off your course fees for any subsequent postgraduate taught course (terms apply, see the alumni discount page for details). If you have any questions about how this relates to you, please contact feesandbursaries@staffs.ac.uk.

Not included in the fees:

The estimated cost of text books over the duration of the course. All essential text books are available from the library, but some students chose to purchase their own copies.

Travel, subsistence, entrance fees etc. incurred by optional trips and visits away from the University related to the course.

The cost of materials for the development of a student’s individual practice and work. Additional costs vary dependent upon student’s own choice of materials and approach to their practice.

Optional personal insurance when borrowing equipment such as cameras, lighting equipment etc. for extended period of use off campus [Approx. £50-£100]. It may be possible to add some items to home contents insurance.
Accommodation and living costs

Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees. 

For more information on accommodation and living costs, please see: Accommodation

Sources of financial support

Providing you are studying towards a full Masters qualification you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan to help with tuition fees, maintenance and other associated costs. Student loans are available for many of our postgraduate degrees and are provided by the Student Loans Company (SLC). The loan can cover a wide range of postgraduate study options; part-time, full-time and distance learning. 

For more information and how to apply visit masters loan.

Apply now to Concept Art

Location Award Study option Start date
Stoke-on-Trent campus MA Full-time 20 September 2027 Apply now

Rules and regulations

If you are offered a place at University of Staffordshire, your offer will be subject to our rules, regulations and enrolment conditions, which may vary from time to time.

Students of University of Staffordshire enter into a contract with us and are bound by these rules and regulations, which are subject to change. For more information, please see: University Policies and Regulations. 

Have you considered?

Games Art MA

Stoke-on-Trent

Study options
Full-time
Part-time
for Career Prospects

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2025

for Social Inclusion

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026

for First Generation Students

The Mail University Guide 2026

in the UK for Games Education

Rookies Games Design and Development 2023, 2025

TIGA Best Games Institution 2024, 2025

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021