Professional Development: Portfolio Development

 Job role research-

Looking around it seems its quite difficult to find specific job listings for the job I would like to do [tabletop games illustrator/ttrpg illustrator] on the main job hiring websites [linkedin, indeed and artstation]. However, I was able to find two job listings for an illustrator role for Games Workshop [in the UK], and a concept artist role for a company called Grinding Gear Games [in New Zealand]. These are both job titles that are somewhat similar to what I would like to do in the future, so looking at these will give me a good idea of what kind of skills similar job roles will be asking for. These were both found on artstation, which allows me to search by job title, location and job details.

It is to note that during my research I did find several communities on both reddit and Facebook reposting links to smaller TTRPG job roles so those places, while not as reputable as linkedin, indeed and artstation, may offer some help in finding job openings.

This first opening was for an illustrator to work on the Black Library within the Warhammer IP specifically creating artwork for the front covers of the books. Some of the main skills that the employers are looking for is artistic skills in anatomy, rendering and composition in either traditional or Digital mediums, ability to communicate and receive feedback from the client and work to the IP rules of Warhammer. This job position is an in-office position for their branch in Nottingham. As the job application expired I wasn't able to see what they were expecting from a portfolio, however with their skill focus on Anatomy, Composition and Rendering, they would probably be looking for splash pieces and fully rendered pieces over concept art and 3D work.

Warhammer - Black Library Illustrator

This job application is for the Concept artist role for Grinding Gear Games, this position is looking for either 2D or 3D art relating to creating concepts for characters, props and other game assets. In terms of portfolio, this company is looking for artwork that demonstrates lighting skills, composition, all in a more "gritty" art style fitting for darker themed games. Along with this they are looking for team cooperation skills, problem solving skills and ability to communicate well with others in the pipeline.

Grinding Gear Games - Concept art

The application for portfolios does not specify what format they should be, meaning that any option from websites, artstations or Instagram accounts are viable for the application.

Portfolio application for Magpie Games

Above is an example of a company's hiring portfolio submission, they generally want to see both your portfolio and any notable projects you have worked on - applying this to the TTRPG industry, this is where you would include any books you've self published or worked on as a part of another company.

Examples of professionals and their portfolios

Looking at professionals in my desired field of work , I think by far the most popular site to create a portfolio on is Instagram. I think as the field of indie TTRPG development is heavily reliant on building a community and following of your projects, Instagram allows a more interactive and sociable platform to showcase your art on. The "stories" feature is especially helpful in keeping a informal and personalised posts away from your more professional work (stone maier games 2021).

Below are some examples of industry professionals and their instagram accounts. Something I notice about almost all of their accounts is how they post both the artwork by itself and the photographs of the books their art can be found in, this gives potential employers/customers the ability to easily see the projects they've made and how their work translates into a physical product. 

Johan Nohr - Creator of Mork Borg

Amanda Lee Franck - Creator of Mouth Brood

David Blandy - Creator of Eco Mofos

I think Instagram is probably the best option to build a portfolio on as someone who wants to go into the TTRPG industry, there is a pretty good community on this website and from personal experience with meeting with industry professionals in the past, most usually prefer Instagram over other social media. With this being said however, there are some downsides to using Instagram, especially if you are wanting to build a community. The algorithm on this platform is very hard to get on top of, generally if you want your content to be seen you need to be posting several reels per day and regularly posting, which can be hard to do for many people (stone maier games 2021). You should aim to keep your Instagram page relevant to the job position you're wanting to apply for, so make sure you have a separate account for personal posts and one for your portfolio. Much like you would for a portfolio, make sure your page and its posts represent you, only post your best work on your page, definitely still post your sketches and "less than perfect" work but make sure you do that on the Stories function rather than your main page.

Websites -

Another commonly used form of portfolio building is utilising websites such as Itch.io to show off your projects (there is also DrivethruRPG however that site has some issues with it being saturated with AI accounts so most people tend to use Itch instead). Itch is a great way for people to find and download your projects, which is great for employers to see your previous work in an accessible manner.

Rat Bastard Games

Some people also build their own websites to show off their work, this is less common as it is quite expensive to get your own domain however it can be a nice way to really customise the look of your portfolio and make yourself stand out from others. To make a website, hosting sites like WIX and Squarespace are great to really quickly set up a site without having to know much coding, and many of these sites offer free versions that have a lot of the same functions as the premium versions just without a custom domain. Although not a very popular option, it does have a bit more of a "professional" look it when compared to sites like Itch.io.

Leonardo Andrade

Artstation-

Artstation accounts generally seem to be less popular in the TTRPG scene, only really being used by artists who also do generalised freelance work or larger companies such as wizards of the coast who have colossal IPs under their name. Artstation is usually the industry standard in the games industry, so it may be worth making one even if it is not your main portfolio site, it's easy to use and find people, there's a job search option built in and there are great ways to network with people. I think in comparison to sites like Instagram, Artstation has less of a social focus to it, making it harder for smaller projects and artists to reach out.

It is however very good for having a middle ground between sites like instagram and fully customise websites, with the pro function you unlock domain and page customisation as well as analytics functions to track how your posts do with your followers. I think for freelance artists this is a great option to more professionally advertise your artwork, and the analytics functions give you more of an insight then what you might get from Instagram's creator section or Itch's overview.

Ultimately through all 3 options, uniqueness and accurate representation of yourself and your art is the most important thing to focus on.

Why is my chosen platform the right choice for me and my portfolio, how does this link to the industry I want to go into?

With all this in mind, I have already made [and have been posting to] 2 different platforms to build a portfolio. I chose to go with Instagram and Itch.io, having two separate accounts for both my personal art account and my business art account (I share this account with Francis, he does most of the posting for Itch.io whereas I mostly post to the Instagram, however we both have access to both sites so we can interact with the network we are slowly building :) ). Looking at my research and the people in the industry I have spoken with already, I feel these sites were a good choice as most people default to asking for your insta or your itch.io page. However, during the research for this project I realized just how difficult it is to find listings for jobs in the area I want to go into, so I think making an Artstation page would also be beneficial to me especially if I want to look into doing freelance work.

This is mine and Francis's business instagram account, we have our itch, my Instagram, Francis's Instagram and his Bluesky [I might also make a bluesky but i must admit I don't really know how it works, it seems quite popular in the ttrpg industry though] linked in the bio so it is easy to find all of our stuff.

My personal Instagram account : I have hearthvalley linked in my bio to make the accounts easier to find

This is our itch.io page which has all the game we have worked on posted, all the socials mentioned above are also linked on this itch.io page. I think doing this makes it easier for employers to find our stuff and makes it more likely to show up on a google search.

Hearthvalley instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hearth_valley/?hl=en

Hearthvalley itch.io -  https://itch.io/profile/hearthvalley

Deadnaiadd instagram - https://www.instagram.com/deadnaiadd/

^ For my Instagram I use a unique username just to make it easier to find me as I have quite a common name, however I have got my name mentioned in the profile itself just so people can identify it as being me.

How to create a Professional Portfolio-

In this section I will cover some Do's and Don'ts for building your portfolio as well as looking at some alternative software to build transferable skills for industry software.

Most job roles will require you to have some knowledge in relevant industry software linked to your job title. For example, 3D artists will likely need skills in Maya, Substance painter, Zbrush or 3DS MAX; Illustrators/artists may need to know Photoshop, illustrator, indesign, procreate, clip studio paint. These are all software that may be a bit pricey and take a long time to figure out. Obviously it is best to try to learn these software as soon as possible,but subscription prices and hardware capabilities [such as your pc not being able to handle the heftier programs like Photoshop] might cause problems. To make transitioning over to more professional software, Screenskills (Anon n.d.) recommends trying software like GIMP for artwork, Pixlr for photo editing, and Tinkercad for 3D (blender is also a good option with many smaller companies actually adopting it into their workflows) to help familiarise yourself with industry standard -adjacent UI.

Do's and Don'ts from a hiring perspective-

This information was gathered from both the in-session PowerPoint and points from the Screenskills  (Anon n.d.) website.

Dos:

- Quality over quantity, show only the work you are most proud of

- Make it accessible to your viewers, it should be easy to navigate your portfolio to see all your work

- Relating to the first point, only show modern work representative of your current abilities - You are judged on your worst piece of art is

-Fit your portfolio to your role, make sure you show artwork relevant to the field you want to go into/the job role you want to do.

- Make yourself easy to find, display contact details clearly - link other places you can be found to your portfolio

- Also relating to the point above- search your name, does anything come up that you don't want associated with it?

Dont's :

-Do not put work behind a "Splash screen", over designed portfolios are clunky and time consuming

- Be honest with your ability, don't misrepresent yourself, be open and honest and make sure to give credit if you've worked in a group

- Don't apply to a specialist job role pathway [3D artist/2D artist] with a generalist portfolio

Bibliography -

Andrade, L., n.d. Tabletop RPG Portfolio (Online). Leaoandradewriter. Available at: https://leoandradewriter.com/tabletop-rpg/(accessed at: 6 February 2026)

Anon, n.d., Building your portfolio (Online). Screenskills. Available at: https://www.screenskills.com/starting-your-career/building-your-portfolio/build-your-games-portfolio/ (accessed at: 6 February 2026)

Anon, n.d. Work With Us! (Online). Magpie Games. Available at: https://magpiegames.com/pages/work-with-us(accessed at: 6 February 2026)

Anon, n.d. Tabletop Jobs (Online). Facebook. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TabletopJobs/?locale=en_GB (accessed at: 6 February 2026)

Blandy, D., n.d. Davidblandyrpgs (Online). Instagram. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/davidblandyrpgs/?hl=en (accessed at: 6 February 2026)

Franck, A., n.d. Amandaleefranck (Online). Instagram. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/amandaleefranck/?hl=en (accessed at: 6 February 2026)

Games Workshop, 2025. Illustrator for the Black Library (Online). Artstation. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/jobs/bYwg(accessed at: 6 February 2026)

Grinding gears games, 2025. Concept artist at Grinding Gears Games (Online). Artstation. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/jobs/Jwdg (accessed at: 6 February 2026)

Ivanova, A. Aseagull (Online). Artstation. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/aseagull(accessed at: 6 February 2026)

JD (Pseud), n.d. Rat Bastard Games (Online). Itch. Available at: https://rat-bastard-games.itch.io/(accessed at: 6 February 2026)

Nohr, J., n.d. artbynohr (Online). Instagram. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/artbynohr/?hl=en (accessed at: 6 February 2026)

Stone maier games, 2021. Finding Your Style and Growing as an Instagram Board Game Content Creator(Online). Stonemaiergames. Available at: https://stonemaiergames.com/finding-your-style-and-growing-as-an-instagram-board-game-content-creator/(accessed at: 6 February 2026)