What's life like at an archviz company?

[Jinmu Staddon]

Hello everyone! I'm currently working in house at an AEC (specialized in industrial buildings) as an archviz artist and involved with graphic design, marketing, etc. I have about 12 years of experience doing mostly visualization, but some product design, 3D modeling for products, and other tangential work.

I'm curious about what life is like at creative firms like dbox, Binyan, Brick, and places like that. As an artist surrounded by engineers, it sounds like it would be awesome to be surrounded by people with similar passions and values. I'm sure working at a place like that presents its own unique challenges as well as some that are just ubiquitous in business. Can anyone out there who has experience at a firm like that shed some light on what it's really like? I feel like I probably have a romanticized view of it.

Also, just general life of the archviz artist discussion if people are interested. I don't know a lot of people in the industry (been living under a rock I guess!), so I'm just trying to get some perspective. Really curious about what everyone's experience has been. Cheers!

[Scott Schroeder]

It's all the same really since we all deal with clients. What you see on those companies social media feeds are probably a small fraction of the actual projects they work on. The projects you never see are the ones that keep the doors open, which are the standard a-typical visualization work. There was a great talk on this year's Academy Days from Pedro Fernandez (Arqui 9) called Visual Poetry, and he covers an image that started off great but was brutally mauled by client requests/directives. This year's Academy Days are free to watch if you sign up, so I highly recommend checking that one out.

We all have projects we just want to get out the door, regardless of where we work at. Despite what we may say, our clients keep our doors open so there has to be some give and take with them. I think the difference is in the culture of those studios you mentioned versus more traditional in-house architecture work. There is more opportunity for cross-training, and learning new skills than there is working at an architecture firm. As I'm sure you've experienced, change doesn't come quick in architecture.

[Jinmu Staddon]

Thanks for your response! I'll definitely have to take a look at that Visual Poetry talk.

Makes total sense what you're saying. Clients are always going to be clients. I freelanced for a while, and have definitely experienced the highs and lows of dealing with all of that. The struggle is real, and it's ubiquitous. But like you said, someone has to pay us.

Could you expand a little more on the culture aspect of the studios? In my current job, I was the first person hired to do renderings, and it has been up to me to grow the team and supply the creative culture there. Our company's focus is actually on engineering much more so than architecture, so I'm not even getting a lot of tangential design vibes from the rest of the company. A while back someone was trying to convince me that we didn't need to use the word design in one of our marketing pieces because we already used the word engineering and "they're the same thing anyway". So that's where I'm at... haha

[Scott Schroeder]

A good culture to me is where artists have the room to grow. When I worked in a place that was a visualization studio, you were encouraged to keep learning. You may even be offered opportunities with cross training with other aspects of visualization. Such as photography, film editing, scripting, etc. 

Working in architecture, you tend to get more walled into your specialty. You are a viz person, and a viz person you will always be. At times, there feels a lot less room for exploration with working in house architecture than working in a visualization studio.

[Jinmu Staddon]

Yeah that makes sense. I’ve been thinking about how to stay flexible. I know this has been discussed as nauseam, so I don’t need to do it here, but we’re going to be introducing twinmotion soon which has me thinking once again about what I can offer as an artist or manager rather than a technician. (Last time it was Keyshot when I was working in product viz.) Stagnating or losing options is the last thing I’d want in this situation. It’s tough to grow as an artist without any mentors or peers. Not saying it’s impossible of course. Just slower and often less fun. It can be an uphill battle being an artist at an engineering firm. 
 

Then there’s the subject matter. I know not every project is going to be interesting to work on, no matter where you work. But I have to assume the ratio would at least be better at a high end archviz company vs big box engineering. Do you feel like you’re satisfied as an artist by the work you’re doing in-house?

[Tommy L]

Its great working a studio. Between my time at an architecture practice and a dedicated viz firm, there's no comparison. As long as the viz studio holds their ground regarding deadline and treats the staff well, you are in a good place. When you're a 3d guy at an architecture practice your service is often a bolt-on at the end of the design process. This means you are always under pressure and seldom allowed to take time to create. 

[Jinmu Staddon]

Tommy L, thanks for the response. That’s very encouraging to hear! I’m often subject to the whims of project managers whose backgrounds are in engineering. Their interest usually only extends as far as pleasing the client or just checking the boxes (not sure which is worse). It’s nice to know that I’m not just romanticizing. Sounds like a some places at least live up to the expectation. 
 

Are you currently working at a viz firm? If so, has being remote changed the culture in significant ways? 

[Tom Bussey]

On 12/28/2020 at 2:32 PM, VelvetElvis said:

There is more opportunity for cross-training, and learning new skills than there is working at an architecture firm. As I'm sure you've experienced, change doesn't come quick in architecture.

The caveat, I would say, is there may be less people looking over your shoulder and telling you you're doing something in the 'wrong' way. Whilst I miss the cross-pollination that happens in a studio setting, on the occasions it is quiet, at an architect's I have free reign  to experiment with what I want. The architects know I can produce traditional visualisation, and that's usually what they come to me for but there are times when I'm pushed out of my comfort zone. For instance off the back of an animation I did last year, I'm now looking at doing a motion-graphics type animation and having to learn loads of after-effects stuff. That said I do miss hanging out with fellow archiviz geeks.

Studio life is fun, but it can be equally pigeon-holing if you're in the wrong one*. I think my last one got in to their head that I was something of a technician, whereas whilst I know it's not my strongest card, I love trying to push myself artistically. I think if you're young it's good place to be and learn, but there will always be times of just doing what the client wants even if you think it's wrong, there may just be a few more people for you to roll your eyes with ? 

At least at an architect's practice there are some armchair visualisers though, it may be my prejudices shining through but I can only imagine most engineer's not being the most 'aesthetically sensitive'. That said, there's a guy on the Tyflow facebook who does amazing animations of oil-refineries in a kind of Tron-esque style.

*FWIW I would love to work in a place like Binyan or Brick, and I do think they probably have good cultures that about a bit more than just making money.

[Jinmu Staddon]

Haha... yes, it would be unfair to generalize and say that all engineers lack a strong sense for design and aesthetics. But I think to say that most of them lack it is probably accurate ? - in my experience at least. This can be good or bad. On the one hand, even more so than in an architecture focused firm, there's almost no one telling me how to do my work. On the other hand, there's almost no one telling me how to do my work... haha  I'm a fairly independent person (freelanced for a decent while), but I'm definitely starting to feel that lack of camaraderie and creative environment. It can be pretty exhausting to be the only one providing the inspiration and motivation at all times. I'd love to be part of a group, department, organization, whatever it is, where people build on each other's energy and passion for what they're doing.

I totally get what you're saying though. Don't want to underestimate the value of autonomy and self-determination.

I was reading an interview with Eric de Broche des Combes of Luxigon recently. One of the questions that summed up the tone of the interview was, "What would you tell future designers who want to follow the same career path as you?" To which he answered, "Don't."
I know this is just one guy, at one firm--a pretty influential one--but I was trying to figure out if he's really that bitter, just trying to cultivate a tortured artist vibe, or if he was just having a bad day. It was a pretty pessimistic interview overall.  Just wondering if you guys had read it and what your thoughts are in general. Any regrets? I guess I'm trying to figure out my life here!

[Tom Bussey]

Thanks for the link, good read!

I wouldn't say he's pessimistic per se, I think that's just his sardonic humour shining through. To be fair, he's a 'proper' artist, and what I mean by that is he would be making great art even if the technology didn't exist, that's next level from a bog standard visuliser in my opinion, and something I can't claim to be (as much as I wish I was). He's probably fought enough battles with committees and red tape to develop a healthy level of cynicism, I can hear the humour in the way he talks about it though.

That probably comes around to your original question, in any good studio there will be people at the top, looking at the bigger picture in terms of business direction, but also hopefully an art director, who's job it is to critique and philosophize about the greater aim of what you're creating. If you find yourself in a studio, work out who that person is and listen to what they say. Technical knowledge you can learn on youtube, but that kind of subtle artistic learning is much harder to come by (and to learn).

[Jinmu Staddon]

Fair enough. Maybe I'm just projecting then. That subtleties of that interview would probably have come across better for me as a podcast or video. Still interesting to read though.

But yeah, I think I'm looking for that person/those people with who can give me and each other that subtle artistic learning. Ideally, of course, I'd like to work in an environment that it is crammed full of people with that mindset. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how to make those connections online. Do you feel like you have a support system like that? And if so, do you have any suggestions on how to build that sort of community for myself? I've been trying to get a little more serious about engaging on social media and putting myself out there a little more.