Seller Spotlight: Iggy-design

About

My name is Igor Puškarić. I am a 2D/3D generalist and a teacher, working with illustration, art direction, animation, 3D low poly modeling, sculpting, concept art, and model sales. I also run an outsourcing business, Iggy Design, which encompasses all of those skills in various freelance deals. I am currently completely engaged in a very interesting project I can not speak of just yet.

Creatively I enjoy doing everything I consider cool and fun to do, preferably leaning towards SciFi and Fantasy, thus avoiding humans and realism.Technically I strive to make quality, efficient models that work well on any platform. In terms of client work I create a custom pipeline to best fit the final need and role of the model, saving time and retaining quality. My main tools of the trade are 3DS Max, Photoshop, Zbrush and occasionally tools like Marmoset, nDo, Keyshot, Xnormal, Camtasia, and, of course, Sketchfab itself is an amazing presentation and sharing tool which holds a great value to me and to my work.

I started selling my models a couple of years ago, and I did it because I have a strong desire for financial independence and I was curious about how it would go, without any hardcore expectations, since that sort of thing wasn’t a “thing” at the time. With no guarantees, I was intuitively thinking, if I like the design I create, there is a chance that someone out there is going to like it as well. Today I am extremely grateful that this blind hunch of mine paid off in more ways than just sales or revenue.

Balancing Artistic and Paid Work

Achieving a balance between paid and artistic work is sometimes a big one for a lot of people. I like to believe I created a subtle system to avoid forcing it too much. I chose on purpose to not post anything I am not interested in doing, so the majority of my clients approach me with requests to do things that are in my style already. This makes my work enjoyable for the most part. As a generalist I can wear many hats, but luckily I don’t stray too far from my SciFi and Fantasy domains.

Asset Creation Strategy

My asset creation strategy is nonexistent. I am a very free-form type of artist and I create things I truly enjoy and typically don’t care if this kind of model is in demand or not. I like to keep everything my way and unique, trusting that the right people will notice my work, as long as I do it as well as I can and keep it original as can be. Copying is just not fun for me. After I like the design, I create it in a way that it can be used on a wide array of platforms, from mobile to consoles, or as additional elements for renders, conceptual paintovers or even comic book renders, and so other people can use it in their projects as well.

I also decided to create a model I would share for free, to both give something back to the community, to promote myself, and to have a demo model for potential future customers. Thus the “luminaris” model came into being and I accompanied it with a video tutorial that showcases all the creation steps from beginning to end.

How My Models Have Been Used

My models have been used in a wide array of projects,such as student projects,short animations, amateur movies, contests, game mods, comic books and others. Here’s a selection:

• Biomechanical Whale in Homecoming Neon Challenge
• Luminaris in a No Man’s Sky Mod
• Fantasy weapons like “Carnwennan” for the Battlespace project-in-the-making
• This awesome SciFi Scene by Stéphane Charré

Also there is an upcoming game, Fleets of Heroes that utilises my drones, like this Drone V2:

and Drone V0, which I edited and expanded for the game itself:

I was also the main artist across most of the project and created a lot of unique new content for it.

Regarding my assets – new and old – I don’t really have a specific preference for where I would like to see them used in the future, but probably some more known film/animation would be a great place, I think. :D

Pricing

Pricing is always difficult at the start, but it all comes down to pinpointing a balance between quality, rarity, multi-purposeness and competitors’ prices. I start with $5 for raw sculpts and can end up charging $150 for good low poly packs with 10 models and multiple texture skins.

If you price your models too cheaply, it can feel like the model is actually not well made, even if it looks good. Likewise, if you produce a low quality model that is too expensive, you can also push people away.

Reasonable pricing is important because most of my customers are students and starter indie game devs, solo programmers or even other artists. Plus you want to make your work approachable to a broad audience.

Promotion

After the hard work is done, the next, equally important part is promotion. For this I use every channel I can get. Other than Sketchfab itself, mainly I showcase my work on Artstation, DeviantArt, Instagram, Polycount, YouTube, and an array of relevant Facebook groups where I post in a way that most fits the platform. I have never spammed internet so much in my life. :D

Aside from the platforms, social engagement is very, very important for me. This means joining active challenges; even if you don’t win, it is a great opportunity to get some eyes on your products. Speaking of, I am pretty proud to have won several challenges and some nice picks on Sketchfab, which shows that it is a progressive but still human-oriented platform that always provides great opportunities for a growing artist.

Why Sketchfab?

Sketchfab is a wonderful platform for all things 3D and art in general. It allows the best possible expression for the kind of work I sell. Other than the fact that the user can see exactly what the model looks like and how it works, I can also suggest the intended use with a specific scene setup, background image and even sound, which I find pretty amazing overall. Plus, every now and then there is some cool new feature that adds to Sketchfab’s overall awesomeness.

Choosing Sketchfab as a sales platform was a no-brainer. I just took it as a natural transition that was bound to happen sooner or later, and I believe everyone benefits from this idea.