Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational individuals from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Nadja Clauberg, 2D Game Artist at Studio Fizbin. Nadja speaks about her creative process, and the contrasts between freelancing and full-time studio work. She also addresses the importance of design theory, networking, and tailoring portfolios to specific goals. Read more about Nadja here:

Hi Nadja! Can you walk us through a typical day as a 2D artist at Studio Fizbin? How do you manage your creative workflow, and how do you collaborate with other team members to bring a project to life? Additionally, you‘ve been both a freelancer and a full-time artist. How do these two roles differ for you, and what have you learned from each experience?

My workday always begins with a daily team meeting that includes all departments. This routine helps align everyone on the current progress and sets a clear focus for the day ahead. After that, I dive into my tasks, which we plan out in advance during regular meetings. Having a solid plan means I can often get started right away, but I’ve learned that asking questions if something is unclear is still essential. Early in my career, I was worried about asking “too many questions”, but in a good working environment, communication should be encouraged.

Especially as a 2D and concept artist, you often rely on input from other departments, like game design or narrative, so avoiding misunderstandings through clear communication is key. After all, as a game artist, you’re visualizing the ideas of many people and bringing them to life. This communication is even more crucial because Studio Fizbin operates remotely without a central office. The studio has found effective ways to keep us all connected, like the daily meetings I mentioned earlier. From my own experience of co-founding a previous company, I know how important good project management is, even in smaller teams – it might feel like extra work at first, but it definitely pays off. In the art department at Studio Fizbin, collaboration is another important part of our process. We try to constantly exchange feedback with each other (“Peer reviewing”) and use tools like Miro for brainstorming. That collaborative element is something I particularly enjoy about working in a team compared to freelancing: the opportunity to learn from others. Another key difference is that as a freelancer, I often worked only on the early stages of projects, like creating initial concepts. Working at a studio allows you to see projects through to completion, which is an entirely different and interesting process. It also gains more insight into other departments. Freelancing, on the other hand, involves a lot of administrative work – like handling invoices, taxes, and insurance – which means you spend much less time actually drawing than you might expect. For newcomers to the industry, I’d probably recommend gaining experience in a team before freelancing. I actually did the opposite myself, and would change that if I could. But of course, freelancing does have its perks. I loved the variety of working on multiple projects and adapting to different styles, which broadened my artistic range. I also appreciated the independence of choosing where and when to work, like sitting in a cafe with my iPad. However, one crucial lesson I’ve learned in my career, not only as an artist in the games industry, but also as an illustrator for different kinds of media, is that being a professional artist isn’t about self-expression. You’re primarily a designer, working to fulfill a vision rather than creating for yourself. I think people who primarily like to express themselves in their art should consider that. For this reason, I always try to make time for personal art, even if it can feel draining after a day of work. But to me it’s important to keep my hobby and the reason I started as an artist alive. After all, most people in the industry pursuing that professional path did because drawing was their hobby from a young age. To me, it’s important to stay connected to that passion.