We recently connected with Cole Peterson and have shared our conversation below.

Cole, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I have taken a lot of risks in my life, some big some small but the biggest one professionally was probably getting into the field of video game art. It’s not every day you hear about someone who actually wants to get into a field where only the best are in it, lay offs are common, and you are constantly told how AI will replace you. It would be so easy to pack it in, give up, and focus on a different career path. But taking a risk isn’t about doing what’s easy. Taking a risk is about doing something because the prize is worth it. It’s about achieving something with a chance that you might fail but the only way to guarantee failure is by not trying at all. I left my family and friends hundreds of miles away to go to Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio because I wanted to achieve something that I thought as a little kid was the coolest job in the world, making video games and getting paid to do it. I moved to a place where I knew no one and basically started life over again in a new environment and I ended up making a lot of friends that I still talk to to this day (even after graduation) I was halfway through my college career when covid hit and shut down the world. Classes were now done on zoom calls, social activities in person were put on hold and I sports were flat out canceled. I used to think being one of the few student athletes that played soccer and was in a major that demands nothing but the best from you was a unique experience until I had to do all that but virtually. I gotta give God the glory because he blessed me with the optimism, perseverance and sheer faith to believe I in spite of my circumstances (tearing my meniscus mere weeks after the world shut down, juggling playing the sport I love and the travel required by it with also keeping up with my grades, battling home sickness, and adapting to a completely new place) that if I trust in him, he would help me succeed and I did. This was only the beginning of the real risk. After graduation there’s still so much work to do and even more to learn but that’s what excites me about video game design, the sky being the limit and watching yourself become better at something you’ve aspired to do since you were a little kid. That’s the passion you have to have to make it in an industry like this and I believe that’s the passion that God instilled in me from a young age that was cultivated by faith that let’s me know I’ll succeed

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Cole Peterson and I got into video game design after graduating from Shawnee State University. I am a Prop/Environment artist that specializes in anything hard surface and realistic. I think what sets me apart from others is my drive and dedication to a craft that I care about and have a passion for as well as the knowledge of not just creating video game art, but game design as a whole. I am personally most proud of this dedication and not giving up on landing my dream job in the industry when I have seen so many others search for careers elsewhere. It’s very easy to do that and I have thought about it at times myself but to me, that just means I’m on the right track. If it was easy, everybody would do it. I take pride in my work and I am always improving and always searching for ways to get better and create the type of art that impacts people. I am well versed in various game engines and techniques to create art and am seeking to get into a AAA studio and help them succeed. I have experience in asset creation and contract work with various studios in the past but I am currently looking for more of a permanent role. Personally, the real work didn’t begin until I graduated college. I’ve learned A LOT since then and only continue to hone my skills until I reach my goal. I am professionally experienced in Autodesk Maya, Blender, Unreal Engine, Unity, Substance Painter, Substance Designer, Zbrush, Marmoset Toolbag, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects, InDesign, WordPress among other programs.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think resilience is one of those things that’s best learned through experience as opposed to pep talks or anything like that. I believe that pep talks are powerful for motivation in the short term, but resilience is what kicks in and when the rubber meets the road. In trying to get into an industry that seems to get more exclusive by the day as opposed to inclusive, I feel like my resilience has been built up ever since I decided to pursue this career path. When I graduated, I didn’t move back home with my family and instead chose to move to Kentucky with someone. Immediately I put pressure on myself to find a job and get into the video game design world that I dreamt of. Looking back, I probably put more pressure on myself than the pressure that was actually there. Every day I would wake up, grinding. Keeping my body in shape by playing soccer and trying to create portfolio pieces to get a job. I somehow made $300 last 3 months (which is why you can’t tell me God doesn’t exist because there’s NO WAY that should’ve been able to happen) trying to find a job, the stress of not being able to, knowing I decided not to move closer to home in a bigger city where there were more opportunities, all the stressors began to take a toll on me. The stress of not knowing things I felt like I needed to master and trying to master them in such a short space of time began to try to take over my life. I learned that balancing your life and not just working only on art 24/7 is a CRITICAL part of being an artist and I don’t know if that’s talked about enough quite frankly. You can be an artist, just don’t sacrifice literally every waking second to it. I believe if you do something you love for a job you never work a day in your life (which led me to pursue art in the first place) but if you only do it and burn yourself out, it becomes work and can start to become unhealthy. During that time in my life I was hardheaded in my opinion looking back and I thought I knew the best way to get into the industry was my way. One of the good things about that however is that I’ve had this hard set determination to get into video game design and there was no “second choice goal” for me. I had my mind made up since the jump and only wanted to do 1 thing when I graduated. That’s the thing about resiliency and the things I’ve been taught since I was little, from playing soccer all my life to being an adult is that if you get your eyes locked on something and you take daily steps to get it, no matter how small, you’ll eventually achieve what you set out to achieve. I think resilience is best learned.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The best thing by far for me is being able to say you work and do something you love. I think that goes for any career choice out there. If you love something and you do it for a living, you’re already blessed beyond belief in my mind. It’s very rewarding to get to do something that not only impact others, but lets you express how you may be feeling in that moment or lets you draw on previous emotions to create something, a feeling in others. I am a strong believer that if you like what you do, you don’t have to work a day in your life and that’s been the driving force behind me wanting to get into video game design.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.artstation.com/ohhsoo_cole
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativecole/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/creative-cole/
• Twitter: https://x.com/creativecolep
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@creativecole
• Other: Graphic Design Portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/creativecolegraphic

Image Credits

Disclaimer: World Wrestling Entertainment owns the rights to the Monday night Raw logo, their WWE logo and all of their branding on the ring apron. I did not make the Monday night Raw logo or the logos on the ring apron. FantendoPressKits from imgur.com created the ring apron logo at https://imgur.com/user/fantendopresskits/posts