BA Games Art and Design graduate wins Women in Games Award 2021

BA (Hons) Games Art and Design graduate Charlotte Beale was one of six winners to receive a Student Portfolio Award at the Women in Global Games Awards this year. The Women in Games Global Game Awards seek to recognise outstanding individuals and companies from all over the gaming world and are based on nominations.

We spoke with Charlotte to hear her talk about winning the prize and what she’s been working since graduating last year.

How did it feel to win the award?
When I found out I won I was completely over the moon. I am known for putting a lot of pressure on myself, so when work pays off like this, it is incredibly validating and certainly helps with imposter syndrome. It has gone straight on my CV, and I hope it will improve my chances at landing that first job within the games industry!

What inspired the work in the portfolio you submitted? 
A lot of my recent work has been inspired by things that scare me. I always enjoy making something that gets an emotional response from people, so I look for things which do that in real life and try to give out what gives it that effect. For example, the creature design on my portfolio is based on a bunch of insects but mixed with some vaguely human-like anatomy – just enough to be unsettling since it is so hard to recognise. I also find inspiration from research into history, art, and culture; one of my favourite sources being folklore and mythology.

What are you working on now?
I am working with Team Mischievous, from the two Ukie Game jams wins last academic year to see if we can make our first indie game outside of a game jam. We are hoping to become a small indie studio with some time! You can follow us on Twitter to see what we’re up to.

You can view Charlotte’s work on Artstation and LinkedIn.