Niche 2019

NICHE takes place this Thursday in South West College, Enniskillen
Campus. NICHE is a digital creative expo event aimed at raising awareness of opportunities and practices within the design and development of creative solutions to modern business practices. In particular the event explores 3D design, asset creation, PBR texturing workflows, effective presentation of work and has a focus on game design and game art methodologies. This year is our biggest event yet with speakers from companies such as Ubisoft Massive, Ubisoft Reflections and Sumo Digital present. Our speakers have worked on AAA releases such as The Division 2. The event will also allow interested parties to have their portfolio reviewed by a number of artists and help perspective individuals gain insight into what working in the game industry entails.

The digital creative team at South West College have worked hard to make this an event worthy of your time. We hope all attendees find the experience worthwhile and greatly beneficial.

Attending talks from some industry experts will give invaluable insights not only only into the industry itself but also on how to get into it.
if you're already designing your own game graphics, taking your own photographs or producing illustrations, don't forget to bring your portfolio to be critiqued by some of the best in the business. At 2pm there is a portfolio review, where students can get feedback on their work from
Darragh Gormon (Photography & Sustainable Design).

One of the guest speakers at the event will be Rhianne Murphy, who works in Game Level and Narrative Design. Rhianne has worked on recent games such as #crackdown3. Her talk concentrates on what kind of design jobs are out there and how she got into game design.

Rhianne says: Working in video games is my biggest passion ever. And I can't see myself doing anything else in the entire world. I love the whole creation aspect. I love sitting down and working with my team members to create something that is indescribable and doesn't even exist. But yet, here we are making something for people to just immerse themselves in and enjoy.

John Griffiths is an Environment Artist who works in both the games and animated film industries in games such as
#lego#theforceawakensTT Games. John will be sharing a few words of advice that will help you stay current while investing in yourself and developing your own skills.

9:00 AM - Registration & Networking

9:40 AM - Session 1: Rhianne Murphy (Sumo Digital – Narrative Designer)
Shannon McManus (SWC to Game Industry - A journey)
Linda Fahrlin (Illustration & Graphic Design)

10:50 AM - Session 2: Leonardo Iezzi (Environment creation with a triple A mindset)
Kim Ava (Portfolio, insight into DICE practices & expectations)
John Griffiths (How to Level Up)

12:00 AM - Session 3: Karen Stanley (The Division 2: Building an Open World DC)
Hannah Watts (PBR Texturing of AAA Game Assets)
Donal Philips (Business in Game Development)

Lunch Break - 1pm - 2pm

2:00 PM: Portfolio Review Students get feedback on their work
Darragh Gormon (Photography & Sustainable Design)