Well Good 5 Minutes!

Well Good Words Inspirational Stories

Read these inspirational peoples journey so far in life, on how they’ve used their mindset, learning &/ or kindness to achieve their dreams and get through challenging times!

1. What’s your name and job?

Hello, my name is Kev Bayliss and I've been an artist for video games since 1987. I currently work at Playtonic Games as a 3D and Concept Character artist, and in my spare time I Stream, make music, Teach and create additional content with composer David Wise for a small company called DK Creations Ltd.

I am known for characters including Diddy Kong, Battletoads and many more. I have also designed many of the characters of Killer Instinct, Diddy Kong Racing, Star Fox Adventures and others.

2. What would you say you were like as a child?

Like a lot of young kids I used to love Dinosaurs, Nature, Cartoons and Artwork. I wasn't sporty really, but enjoyed doing the usual kind of thing and playing football or cricket with my friends. I was quite into drawing and was fascinated by monsters and so I always wanted to work in the film industry creating special effects for movies, or draw monsters for cartoons.

3. Did you always want to do the job you do, in the industry you are in?

I spent a lot of time studying the nature in my back garden and often painted or sketched the animals that lived in my small pond. However, this all changed when I discovered small hand held video games because I found them so magical. I thought it would be really exciting creating the artwork for them, and so began learning to create graphics on my small home computer. I learned a little programming and created some art software to allow me to create pictures, and I guess that was what led me to follow this career.

4. Has your journey been an easy or hard one and why?

I was very lucky, because I had no idea I lived so close to one of the best video game developers 'in the world'. I managed to get an interview with them after sending some of the artwork I had created, but still had no idea who they were until I arrived at the company and met the managing director - who was responsible for creating many of the games that I loved. Because they were so welcoming, and very good at showing me the ropes, it was actually very easy to do the work.

The only problems I guess I had were the kind of issues that teenagers are faced with. I was a bit awkward, sometimes I lacked confidence, and sometimes I had too much of it. As I had only just turned 16 when I started work, I was still developing physically and mentally and so I had to learn a lot of things. I was surrounded by older professionals and met well respected almost 'famous' people in the industry and had no idea how to behave because really I guess I was still a kid!

After a few years interacting with people much older than myself, I learned how to be patient, how to work with others, and how to sometimes step back and let the best people do the job that was required. You can't do 'everything' and I think at that age I had an arrogance that I soon learned to let go of.

This got in my way a little, but as I got older, I was given more responsibility at the company and progressed from Head of the graphics department to the Graphics Director. Along the way, I helped others learn in the same way as I had, managed teams of artists and helped develop the company into a really strong team of like minded people. I worked very hard, but owe the company (Rare Ltd) a lot for giving me the opportunity to step into this fantastic industry.

5. What have you done or still do, when it comes to your mindset and keeping you focused and in a good frame of mind? Are there activities/resources/ quotes you use?

I think I am always guilty of getting so sucked into what I am doing, and so focused that I easily lose track of time and forget about the simple things that are going on around me. When I have a bad day (which we all do sometimes) or if I am struggling with something I can dwell on it a little too much which ruins my creativity and affects my state of mind. So I always try to remind myself of past 'disaster' situations that I had to solve, and remember that I always got through them eventually. There will always be problems, so there's no point in getting distressed by them because you always get through them one way or another. But to distract myself from them I like to play with my dog, listen to music and just get time away from the issue that I'm faced with. There's a lot to be said for having other team members you can interact with inside and outside of work, because once you share that problem with them you often find a way to fix it, and you often then laugh about the whole thing together.

6. If you were to give a young person some advice that you wish you’d learnt/heard sooner or at their age, what would it be? Be patient really.

I think I wanted it all very quickly and very fast when I was younger, and I had to realise that it doesn't all happen all at once. It takes time to learn all the skills you will need, and so don't be too hard on yourself or pressure yourself to try and learn it all at once. Just stepping into the world of 'work' after leaving school or college is a big change in itself, so take things once step at a time and enjoy your work that you love, and enjoy working with those people around you. Also remember that video games are fun to create, but also very difficult sometimes because you're creating something from nothing and along the way any number of things can impact development, often beyond your control, so get used to things changing along the way, learn from those changes and it will just make you more prepared for the next project.

7. Is what you thought would make you happy when you were in your teen years, actually what really made you happy if you got it eventually?

Nope. lol. I had always thought that I wanted Ferraris and Porsches after I saw my boss driving around in one, because everything looked so perfect from the outside.

However, after owning those items myself, I have learned that they don't make your life any better and are sometimes in fact a distraction from something that isn't quite right with your life. It's great if you can reward yourself with nice things, but as you get older you are less bothered about what you have and more bothered about what you are doing.

So - make sure you love what you DO! If you can reward yourself along the way with nice things, that's brilliant, but make sure you are happy if you don't have those things first, because you just love what you are doing each day when you get up and begin work.