In conversation with: Iz Head, BA (Hons) Games Art and Design

I’m Iz and I studied BA (Hons) Games Art and Design at Norwich, focusing on concept art and specialising in game user interface and user experience design and community management. For my third year project a group of us banded together to create our own indie games studio, Moss Monkey, and we continue to work together post graduation.

Still from OUTCLAW by Moss Monkey

We’re currently working on a project called OUTCLAW, where you play as a spirit cat named Giblet who was cast out of his pantheon of other god-like creatures for daring to be different. You command minions to do your bidding as you go around the university causing chaos, getting back at those who wronged you, finding others like you, and finding your place in the world. It’s been a really fun experience so far, and I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet such amazing people and develop such a great project without attending Norwich and connecting with fantastic people, and getting support from brilliant lecturers.

Moss Monkey at Norwich Games Festival. Paint over by Raida Hanifa.

Why did you choose to study at Norwich?

I initially visited Norwich University of the Arts to look at the Film and Moving Image Production course. In the end this wasn’t the course for me, but I had already fallen in love with the city and the University. I spoke with my mum and actually she was the one to suggest Games Art and Design! I always loved to play games (it was basically the only thing I did…) but had never considered delving into the practice further than that. We came back for another open day, this time looking at the Games Art and Design course specifically – and it was perfect. It had the academic background of looking at theories and critical thinking that I loved from studying Media Studies at A-level, mixed with a bunch of sessions that could push my creative and technical skills. All this based in a city that was just brimming with new and exciting things for me to discover (and tonnes of really wonderful coffee shops!)

What is life like studying Games Art and Design?

Every day here I find to be a unique day when I go out to explore the city or my creativity. I always feel supported by my peers to try new things and discover new ways I can be creative. So many of my current hobbies I can attribute to the friends that I’ve made here, and they always introduce me to the coolest things. The lecturers here are fantastic too; they’re great to have a chat with, always have insightful feedback, and are always motivating myself and others to continue exploring and have fun with our practices: never aim for perfectionism, rather aim to have fun and develop our skills to be the best creatives we can be.

Food truck turnaround sheet, Artstation ‘NeoTokyo’ challenge, by Iz Head

How do you find living in Norwich?

I find Norwich itself to be brimming with new and exciting things all the time. I’ve been here for four years so far and always find myself discovering new things at least once a month. My favourite discovery so far is The Yard coffee shop, hidden down an alleyway near the Warhammer shop. It’s such a nice place to study in, and it’s not the only place: another favourite is The Merchant’s House near the river where some swans and Egyptian geese have set up base. Everything in the city is super easy to access as well, with tonnes of bus connections and pretty much everything is walkable – a lot of the student homes tend to be around a 20-minute walk from the centre.

Furthermore, the city has a lot of interesting events going on. Some highlights have been the Norfolk & Norwich festival, plenty of pop-up art events, duck racing at Riverside, Pride in July, and all the events at The Forum: with the Norwich Gaming Festival being the primary one I’ve attended most. Moss Monkey were able to exhibit at Norwich Games Festival this year, which was super exciting! It’s really neat to see how much the city celebrates its creativity and the creatives who live in and around the city. The game development community is super prevalent here, and seems to be ever growing, with one of my favourite events to attend being the monthly Norfolk Game Developer meet ups. At these Moss Monkey have been able to show off work, and I’ve been able to see what other game developers are up to. Hint: there’s some really cool stuff being developed!

Moss Monkey a Norfolk Game Developers meet up

Where do you look for inspiration for your own practice?

For myself, what keeps me inspired to keep creating is seeing these unique and interesting games being created, the communities surrounding them, and the artist community generally online. There’s some really amazing work out there, with Hades by Supergiant Games being a huge influence for myself, as well as other online artists such as @Drizzledrawings and @_picolo. Comics have always been a huge passion of mine, especially in the current Nightwing run, with artists such as Daniele Di Nicuolo and Bruno Redondo. I love the boldness that they all have, especially showing off the creative personality behind them – aspects which I aim to reflect within my own creative practices.

Sketch by Iz Head

The Games Art and Design course has helped me to take these inspirations and influences, critically understand what I love about them, and how I can apply it to my own work. It’s helped me to take this thought process, and apply it to all of my processes, to achieve the best work that I can. Most importantly it has taught me how I can take my practice and apply it to my career: so that I can do something I love for my work. It has given me the skills to be able to set up my own indie studio with some of my best friends, and some of the best creatives I know.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about studying at Norwich?

If you are thinking about studying Games Art and Design at Norwich, the best piece of advice I could give is to be free, loose, and curious. Explore everything you can and don’t be precious or too much of a perfectionist as it will just hinder your development and creativity. Once I learnt to step out of my comfort zone, I really did become a better creative and got the best out of my experience here.

Follow more from Iz via their website, Instagram or LinkedIn. To learn more about Moss Monkey’s work and projects, take a look at their website or Instagram.