When you hire concept artists, it would be great if you analyze and research the candidates deeply before hiring them. Hiring a concept artist is not a daunting task. But, you need to search them well and do some deep research before making a final decision.
In this article, we will explain how to hire a concept artist for organizational or individual purposes. However, before moving to these tips, let us see who a concept artist is and their role.
What is a concept artist?
A concept artist is a designer who specializes in making visuals and creating art for an array of creative assets. They bring forth many creative concepts for the environment, characters, creatures, and more. In addition, concept artists visualize ideas that significantly work using software applications.
If your business requires a concept artist, you can hire them from the top freelance marketplaces. Depending on the project requirements, you can select and hire the most befitting concept artist for your project.
What things will a concept artist do?
When you hire concept artists, they do productive things such as drawing, artwork, etc. They perform the task according to the work you assign them and find something innovative within your project. They plan different types of artwork, including the environment, characters, and so on.
Your assignment will determine the style requirements needed for your work. They may either work on various concepts by themselves or take inspiration from your project or various other projects to carry on your work.
The main aspiration of the concept artist is to provide pieces of concepts included in the project. The concept art depicts something innovative and suitable for inclusion on the packages updated by a cool design.
They take part in discovering more approaches by identifying the remote concept for ideas and bringing life through artwork. They carry out things in a more productive manner, and they can implement them for the business as well.
If you wish to hire a concept artist for professional projects, remember certain things to keep in mind. Before you hire a remote concept artist, you need to ensure some important things:
- They must be capable of using drawing, anime, illustration, and modeling skills.
- A concept artist is likely to be imaginative and come up with innovative ideas on different types of artwork.
- They should have several years of experience working with artists and doing justice for personal and professional projects.
Eligibility of concept artists
A concept artist has fresh thinking and can discover a new approach for making a proper arrangement for an online or offline business. It’s important to consider a few crucial points before utilizing their services.
A concept artist is someone best at identifying a clear solution for making excellent drawing and visualization skills. They are familiar with working on a range of software for creating a Corel painting, Adobe Photoshop, graphic design, and so on.
As a result, their role is to design and manipulate proper themes for the business or anything else. They can work with dynamic visual mediums. It is fully organized well, with pieces of the concept identified well for development with different clients.
Which features you will get from the concept artist?
When you hire a concept artist, you get a set of certain benefits from them. Concept artists are great at giving accurate guidance. Within a limited timeframe, they can even turn the briefing into ideas and visuals. So, their role configures well with innovative ideas by carrying out some visual arrivals.
They can even create visuals to transform the business and help it reach the top level. They carry out films, video production, and more graphic designing within a wide range of purposes. Their services may be required for carrying out a wide range of architecture by focusing on web designing.
How to hire a concept artist?
You should hire a concept artist after knowing their benefits and eligibility. Concept artists make certain things productive, and you need to hire the right candidate for your requirements.
You can check them via online portfolios and identify the kind of candidate who fits your desires. They will work according to the requirements and enroll to tackle the successful creative ideas for the organization.
1. Identify the type of designer
At first, you have to identify what type of creative work you want from them. According to that, you should hire the type of designer who is suitable for your work. You have to choose the right candidate who is responsible for solving major issues and designing accordingly.
They work as per the requirements and find out something unique. The commercial concept artist will know about the customer’s ideas and mainly focus on them. They are experts in delivering quality work to the business. They design a fantastic logo, and it will automatically reach the top levels.
2. Know the scope of work
When you hire a concept artist, he/she must know the scope of work. Of course, it helps them to identify what type of work they want to do for creative designs. User experience is the main thing to keep in mind when doing concept work.
So, concept artists should focus well on the scope of work within the given time frame. They tend to change the layouts, popups, sign-up forms, and other visuals. Thus, it is capable of understanding the concept well before moving to creative design.
3. Finding artists
There are so many options out to connect well with talented and expert concept artists. But, you have confused about where to find them. Depending on the requirements, you can create a relationship with others who knows them well. If they are freelancer staff, they may know about the concept artist who works on many organizations.
It must be relevant to the media outlets and configure well on the changes in the industry. They must set forward in bringing lots of solutions to fit the niche well. If the business is specializing in visuals, the concept artist will take that into consideration.
Do you want a media-related niche for business? Then, there is a necessity for hiring a concept artist. When you find someone interesting in their creative or concept work, just recruit them. You can find out the name of the artists involved around your circle.
4. Find them via reviews
When it comes to hiring digital artists, you have to read the Google reviews and find them on great sources for potential artists in your area. Of course, you should find out professional concept artist near to you. In Google, you can search the top-notch concept artists who have only positive reviews from the customers.
As a result, it helps us to identify the right person who makes our project successful always. You have to find them who fit your requirements correctly. They depend on great sources for bringing potential artists to your projects.
5. Utilize social media
Social media, on the other hand, provides a hassle-free solution for hiring a professional concept artist. They discover certain things which help business owners to find their loyal customers. Most artists explore their work on social media. They get exposure and meet the clients as soon as possible.
As a result, we need to find the concept artist in social media within a limited time. Using social media channels is another handy way to hire concept artists. It delivers an excellent solution for us to recruit the concept artist for various projects.
6. Using job boards
However, certain job boards help business owners to connect well with the customers. When they want to hire a professional concept artist, utilize the job boards. Of course, it offers legitimate work which suits the requirements professionally.
By using the best places, you can post concept artists recommended on several job boards. So, it offers a quick solution to make your search easier and a trouble-free one. It offers a pleasant mood when you find a professional and talented concept artist for your project.
7. Calling agencies
Of course, some agencies are available that help us to recruit or hire a digital artist. We can get help from them and hire a professional concept artist for our business projects.
They can constantly help us to do something fresh, and agencies oversee the projects. As a result, utilize their services and get an expert concept artist for your work.
How much does it cost to hire a concept artist?
Hiring a concept artist can cost around $5k to $10k per month based on the artist’s experience and portfolio. Hiring AAA quality concept artists may cost up to $200k also.
Hire Capermint for Concept Art
Based on our outsourcing model, the gaming company Capermint can help you with professional-level concept artists swiftly and efficiently. We choose experienced expert concept artists for hire, considering the specifics of your request, the game’s genre and environment, and the affection that the player should experience.
Wrapping Up
Hiring a concept artist will allow you to get your concept art from experts. It is a cheaper alternative when compared to in-house concept artists. It also comes with a fair share of benefits like the proven experience of the company, getting your concept art by a team of experts, and so on.
Hiring a concept artist is very simple when you follow the above guidelines. It will be easy to hire them and get the work done. They must understand the scope of work and expectations so that they can offer quality work.
Follow the tips mentioned above to ensure that you find the perfect concept artist for your mobile game development.
Key takeaways
To hire a concept artist for your game, write a brief (style, asset list, engine, budget), shortlist from portfolios, run a paid test and sign a contract assigning IP to you. Freelancers suit small batches, studios suit ongoing production, and in-house hires take longest. Experienced artists cost about $5K–$10K a month.
Concept artist hiring routes and costs
| Hiring route | Best for | How you pay | Typical cost (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelance concept artist | A small, well-defined batch you art-direct yourself | Per piece or per hour | Varies by experience and region; agree a fixed price per piece before work starts |
| In-house concept artist | Continuous concept work across several projects | Salary plus benefits, tools and recruiting | About $5K–$10K per month for an experienced artist (market estimate) |
| Studio art pack (fixed scope) | A defined asset list with a deadline | Per asset list, by milestone | Quoted after a scoping call |
| Studio dedicated artist or team | Ongoing production that must hold one style | Monthly, per artist | Monthly rate quoted after scoping |
| Full game build, concept art included | Teams without their own art or development staff | Fixed-scope project, by milestone | $10K–$40K casual game MVP; $40K–$120K mid-scope multiplayer; $120K+ large custom platform |
Typical ranges in USD, not quotes. The monthly figure is a market estimate for an experienced artist; studio prices and dates are set after a scoping call.
How to hire a concept artist in six steps
Write the brief
Set the genre and target players, three to five style references, a prioritized asset list, the engine and platforms, how each piece will be used next (3D modeling, 2D sprites or marketing), the budget and the deadline.
Pick the hiring route
Use a freelancer for a small batch you will art-direct yourself, an in-house hire for continuous work across projects, or a studio when many assets must share one style or you also need 3D, animation and UI.
Shortlist from portfolios
Keep artists whose published game work already matches your style and who show process (thumbnails, iterations, turnaround and callout sheets), not only polished illustrations.
Run a paid test task
Give each shortlisted candidate the same small brief, such as one character or prop with references, and judge readability, the response to one round of feedback and whether the deadline is met.
Sign the contract
Sign an NDA before sharing unreleased material, then agree a written copyright assignment, layered source-file delivery, revision rounds, milestone payments and the policy on AI tools.
Onboard and review in milestones
Share a style guide, name a single feedback owner, set a weekly review slot in overlapping working hours, review thumbnails before anything is polished, and approve final designs before 2D or 3D production starts.
Contract and handoff checklist
What to put in the contract
- An NDA signed before you share unreleased story, characters or builds
- A written copyright assignment covering every approved design, sketch and test piece you pay for
- Delivery of layered source files as well as PNG exports
- The number of revision rounds per piece and the price of extra rounds
- Milestone payments tied to approved thumbnails and final designs
- Payment currency, invoicing terms and governing law, agreed up front when the artist is in another country
- Your policy on generative AI tools, and a commitment not to reuse your assets for other clients
What to request at handoff
- Thumbnails and rough options, kept for later reference
- Refined designs and key art at the agreed resolution
- Character turnarounds and pose or expression sheets
- Prop and costume callouts with colors, materials and scale
- Environment paintings and mood boards for level and lighting artists
- Files named and grouped to match your asset list
Art for real-money, sweepstakes or social casino games: real-money gaming is regulated jurisdiction by jurisdiction. In the US, online casino is legal in only a handful of states and sports betting in most states through state licensing, while sweepstakes and social casino games operate under sweepstakes law and a growing list of states restricts them. In Canada, Ontario runs a regulated iGaming market (AGCO and iGaming Ontario) and other provinces operate through provincial lottery corporations. In India, online money games are prohibited under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, so India projects are free-to-play or social. Ask your compliance team which content and advertising rules apply before designs are final. Operators are responsible for licensing; we build to the technical requirements of the target jurisdiction. This is general information, not legal advice.
For a studio route, see Capermint’s concept art services or hire concept artists on a dedicated monthly basis. Related work includes 2D character design, game environment design and slot game art services. Once designs are approved, you can hire 2D artists or hire 3D modeling artists for production, and compare finished work in the games portfolio.
Concept artist hiring FAQs
How much does it cost to hire a concept artist?
An experienced concept artist typically costs about $5K–$10K per month on a full-time or dedicated basis, depending on experience and portfolio. Freelancers usually price per piece or per hour, and studios quote per asset list or per artist-month after a scoping call. A casual game MVP with art included typically falls in the $10K–$40K range.
Should I hire a freelance concept artist or a studio?
Hire a freelancer for a small, well-defined batch of pieces that you can art-direct yourself. Choose a studio when many assets must share one style, when you also need 3D, animation or UI, or when one person becoming unavailable would stall the project.
Where can I find concept artists for a game?
Most teams search portfolio sites such as ArtStation, ask other developers for referrals, post on game-industry job boards and LinkedIn, or contact game art studios directly. Shortlist artists whose published work already matches your genre and style, because steering an artist away from their natural style slows every piece.
What should I look for in a concept artist's portfolio?
Look for game work in your target style that shows process, such as thumbnails, iterations and turnaround or callout sheets, not only polished illustrations. Strong concept work has clear silhouettes and gives a 2D or 3D production artist enough detail to build from.
Should I give a concept artist a test task?
Yes, a short paid test on your real brief shows more than a portfolio alone. Give every shortlisted candidate the same brief, such as one character or prop with references, then judge readability, how they handle one round of feedback and whether they meet the deadline.
What should a concept art brief include?
A good brief covers the genre and target players, three to five style references, a prioritized asset list, the engine and platforms, and how each piece will be used next. Add the budget, deadline, number of revision rounds and the handoff formats, such as layered source files and PNG exports.
What should the final concept art handoff include?
Ask for layered source files, for example Adobe Photoshop files, and PNG exports of every approved design, named to match your asset list. For pieces going to 3D, also request turnarounds and callout sheets that show colors, materials and scale, so modelers do not have to guess.
Who owns the rights to commissioned concept art?
Usually only if a signed written agreement transfers it to you. In the US, Canada and the UK, the freelancer or studio that created commissioned art generally keeps the copyright by default, so ask for a written assignment covering every approved design and delivery of layered source files. Have a lawyer check the wording; this is general information, not legal advice.
Can a concept artist use AI tools on my project?
Only if you agree to it in writing. Some clients ban generative AI tools outright, while others allow them only for early mood exploration and require final concepts to be drawn by the artist, partly because purely AI-generated images can be hard to protect by copyright. State your policy in both the brief and the contract.
How long does it take to hire a concept artist?
It depends on the route. A freelancer or studio can start as soon as a brief, a short paid test and a signed contract are in place, while a full-time in-house hire takes longer because of job posting, interviews and notice periods, so start before production needs its first approved designs.
Can Capermint provide concept artists for my game?
Yes. Capermint, a game development studio founded in 2014 in Ahmedabad, India, provides concept artists as a fixed-scope project, a dedicated artist or team billed monthly, or co-development and staff augmentation inside your pipeline. Its team of over 200 specialists (Capermint-reported) includes 2D and 3D artists and animators, and calls are scheduled in US and Canadian business hours.
Need concept art for your game?
Share your genre, style references, asset list and deadline, and Capermint will recommend a hiring route with a scoped plan and budget range. If your game is unannounced, ask for an NDA before you share details. We schedule calls in US and Canadian business hours.
