Introduction and Career

Hello! My name is Justin Akiyama and I graduated from The Art Institute of California- San Francisco in 2018. I would like to thank CGMA and 80 Level for their interest in my work and providing me an opportunity to share part of my story. I grew up in Indonesia, but currently, live in the USA. I have grown up playing video games, but it took me a while to translate that into a potential career. I’ve tried a lot of other things, but nothing really stuck. What really attracts me in 3D modeling is that you get to take a 2D sketch or piece of concept art and turn it into an interactive 3D object. I think this process of creation is both challenging and exciting. Call me a kid, but there’s still a little magic in the process, for me. Visual storytelling is another aspect of modeling that I’m really impressed by and is something I am actively working on. With enough effort, I hope that one day I’ll be as expressive in this as some of the other artists I’ve seen can be. But tempering all of this, the process itself is very formulaic and structured. I think this becomes increasingly more important as your model gets more complex, which I appreciate because it means that any complex project can be broken down into simpler, more manageable components. In short, 3D modeling helps engage the side of me that likes being creative, but with a process that requires planning and intentionality. It’s sooooo much fun being a left-oriented right-brainer.

While at school, and the months following my graduation, I have had the opportunity to provide some contract work for a handful of indies and start-ups. Most recently, I completed some work for a UK-based studio, where I textured/modeled several assets for an unreleased mobile title, but have yet to attract any long-term offers. The silver lining to this is that I have the time to continue my self-education and keep improving the quality of my produced works.