WHO WORKS HERE

People Staff Interview

• Following her father into art

  My father was a graphic designer who often took me to art exhibitions and his paintings were displayed all around our home. This environment of being surrounded by art and design had a big impact on me. As a child, I loved to draw and make crafts, and as I grew older, I decided I to pursue a career in art. When I was in junior high, I started studying painting with the goal of getting into a high school with an art program. It was during high school that I discovered Japanese-style painting, which I continued to study through university.

• From studying art in university to working at Polyphony Digital

  At the university I attended, we were taught the fundamentals, such as how to handle art materials, but beyond that, we were encouraged to make our own creative decisions. This gave me the freedom to study Japanese-style painting very freely. I also decided around that time to look for a job that would allow me to make use of my drawing skills, so I applied for a part-time position at Polyphony Digital, where many alumni and classmates from my year were working. I was hired in 2012, and four years later, in 2016, I became a full-time employee and have been working as a member of the Course Team ever since. With Japanese-style paintings, I mostly painted landscapes and people, but thinking back, that experience could have been the foundation for how I create courses and tracks today.

• From creating textures to working on the Tokyo Expressway

  Thanks to my father's influence, I was around computers a lot as a child so I picked up the basics of Photoshop and Illustrator pretty naturally. I also learned some basic video production in high school, but I had no experience with CG production using MAYA until I started working part-time at Polyphony Digital. So at first, I was just working on creating textures.
  My area of responsibility changed significantly when I was assigned to the production of the Tokyo Expressway for Gran Turismo Sport. The track was inspired by the real-life Shuto Expressway, and I remember how surprised I was when I was entrusted with the production of buildings, which are a vital element of the landscape in any track.

  As I mentioned, the Tokyo Expressway is an original course inspired by the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo and to incorporate a place that exists in the real world as a track into Gran Turismo Sport, it was crucial to determine the areas that required that we payed close attention to detail to, and the areas which could be approached more flexibly, while maintaining close communication with the other leads on the project. It was both very challenging and very difficult, but one of the rewarding aspects of working on an original track.

  I'm now working on another track, but looking back, I think that working on the Tokyo Expressway helped me develop in a lot of ways.

  

• A place where part-timers' voices reach the top

  I had heard from university alumni and my classmates who joined Polyphony Digital prior to me that the company had an open working environment with almost no hierarchy, and I was shocked to see that it really was like that. Here, part-time staff can easily voice their opinions, and unlike a lot of other companies, it would reach the producer, who in our case, is Yamauchi-san. I think this kind of freedom and vibrancy of communication are the foundations of Polyphony Digital.

• CG Artist Recruitment

  It goes without saying that you need to be good at drawing to create tracks. Being able to accurately capture details is, of course, also important, but being able to integrate those details cohesively throughout the entire track is even more of a strength.
  Also, I guess some people may be hesitant to apply if they are not familiar with video games or racing, but what's important is having the desire to want to create your own scenery for a landscape. I would love for people who share that kind of enthusiasm to apply.

• CG Artist Job Description