Take-away: FZD is great for some and horrible for others. If being a concept artist is your number one life goal, FZD will be awesome. The teachers are helpful if you work first and ask questions second.
Reading Time: 4 minutes.
This is a FAQ of the questions I get asked most often about FZD. I also have a post about applying and getting into FZD. It doubles as a review of the school!
1. How did it work out for me?
The FZD program was great and I’m working freelance now (busy busy busy). Oh, I also got married to a fellow FZD student. Going to the school was the best decision ever!
My freelance stuff is a bunch of small jobs, I’m not comfortable yet. I’m also doing marketing art, product design and illustration besides concept art.
2. Will I have a job after going to FZD?
Maybe. You do not have a guarantee of a job. It’s overall positive – fellow class mates get hired one by one. Even the student that was struggling the most got a job in-house.
But that’s not everyone. You’ll have to job hunt and keep crafting.
Feng told us that the average graduate has to apply 200 times before landing a good job. It seems a lot less, but maybe the average gets skewed by a few graduates having a hard time.
For me, without the school I would have 100% guarantee of unemployment (I tried to get commissions before FZD and landed a total of two times $20 bucks). At the moment of writing, I’ve got three ongoing projects. Prices:
1. open-ended illustration project, currently just crossed $1k.
2. a $500 product design project
3. a $750 illustration project
…I should be drawing instead of writing this post.
Anyway.
So yeah, the before-and-after is damn spectacular for me. But you see that it ain’t big bucks either. On top of that I hesitate to work hourly. I’m still slow.
3. What are classes like?
There’s a boatload to say about FZD. Have you read Alex Jessup’s post about his experience? Here’s an excerpt:
The workload is killer. What’s your studying style? Do you crunch and then crash or do you work with a steady daily schedule? People will brag about not sleeping, but then miss a full day when their body crashes. It could work for you, it might not.
The workload will be your strength when job hunting – being fast in delivering. Speed is still a weakness of mine, so I rely on communication as my personal strength.
4. Is it true that the teachers don’t help you?
Have you come across the angry internet guy hating on the teacher? I felt the opposite – everyone was so damn kind and helpful. Why the difference? You have to show effort first.
If you have questions, show the teacher your failed attempts. Be respectful, for example by arriving on time.
Two side notes: 
- People compare the school’s curriculum to Scott Robertson’s books (How to Draw & How to Render). Let me add some nuance: Scott Robertson is the theory, and FZD is the practice. The school showed me how to apply the techniques and then made me do a ton of exercises.
- Teachers change frequently. At the moment, Feng doesn’t teach personally anymore. His replacement, Charles, is a splendid dude though.
5. Is FZD a good school? Is it the right school for me?
I had all those questions before going. Will it be worth it? Can I handle the work? Am I good enough?
To know whether you will fit in the school, just ask one thing. Is becoming a concept artist your number one life goal? Yup? Then you’re good. You can have doubts, worries and insecurities. It doesn’t matter. All you need is that drive that this is what you want. You would be unhappy and die full of regrets if you don’t pursue this in your lifetime. A burning inside telling you that you want to work the very hardest that you can. That does not mean being confident. That means being ready to fight despite feeling scared.
You doing your research is already a good sign. Some people were surprised to find out what the school was like!
How do you figure out whether you have that obsession? It keeps haunting you. Maybe it’s only a small voice. When it was necessary to focus on studying, work, life, … a voice kept nagging. Even when I didn’t draw for months, that voice never stopped reminding me that I wanted to draw. Every single day. I tried to push it away. Until I finally caved. There was no peace in my life without delving into concept art. That’s obsession.
The school was good for me – I had fun, made friends and it launched my career. At the same time, I don’t recommend the school or a concept art career to anyone. It’s so damn competitive. It will kill you if you don’t love it.
Happy drawing!
Thank you for your insight it was really helpful <3
Glad it was helpful! The school still changes its teachers and exact exercises, but the work pressure and highly motivated classmates will be there forever. 🙂
Hi,
I’m currently on first term break at FZD. Thanks for your blog, it really encouraged me to make the leap and apply.
Do you have any advice for how students can prepare before graduating? Should I start posting term 2 work on social media, and emailing professionals? What surprised you most about life after school.
1. Ask the teachers for a one-on-one sitdown reviewing your resume and portfolio.
2. Target a specific range of companies. I get mostly hired by start-ups because my portfolio is a mix of many different styles and genres. A company loves to see your whole portfolio fit into their team. Examples of a possible focus: 2D art generalist for mobile games, prop design for Sci-Fi games or costume design for movies.
3. Surprised: I was a hard worker while in school, but I still struggled to work on my own after graduating. I was surprised how much of a difference it makes to be face-to-face with people in your field.
Hey thanks so much for the reply. I can very much relate to the working from home after the lock down. Good luck with everything.
Hey, I’m thinking of applying to FZD School and your website has been immensely helpful, so thank you very much.
I don’t have a lot of confidence in my portfolio right now, so I’m quite scared that they’ll reject me. But here goes nothing.
Don’t try, don’t win 😉
Good luck!
I agree with @K, your blog has been super nice to read as I head in towards the 2018 October intake. Thanks to your insight I feel better about making this leap. I’m sure your blog will continue to provide encouragement and affirmation others like myself and those who posted above. Best of luck to you as you forge forward in your career!
hello i’d like to ask what happened to shared googledrive links of FZD note you took .
can you reupload them
Those links cannot be restored and were never meant to be permanent. At the time two permanent mirrors were made. I do not know why those links were not saved or spread around by folks.
Here’s a link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bz2oiGlP6fo2ekZfTXJQem9ZVDQ
Please share that link on whatever forum you use so people are aware of the correct link.
Hi, My great thanks to you to share your work with us. Thank you so much!!!!
Im download all the stuff…. I think there are some images missing, could you see that? Thanks again!!!!
Thanks a ton for this… it was super helpful. I’m thinking of applying to FZD and this is one of the few writeups I’ve been able to find on it.
I do have a couple of questions that I was hoping you could answer…
1) How exactly is feedback given at the school? Does the instructor sit down with you one-on-one and do a live paint-over, send you an email, etc.?
2) How much access to the instructors do you have when you’re doing your homework (and in general, outside of lectures)? I’m wondering if I’d be able to talk to the instructors and have them point out mistakes and put me on the right track before I turn my stuff in, or if I only get feedback after I complete the assignment.
3) How experienced/skilled were most of your classmates? I know that it’s possible for total beginners to be accepted, but I’d imagine that most people there have some kind of drawing background?
Really glad to hear the school worked out for you… I hope you can find some time to answer these questions – it would be so incredibly helpful for me if you did.
It’s okay to go to FZD after finish high school?
If you have a good work ethic and project management (time management). Work ethic and project management are skills that most people picked up during their early twenties, so sometimes the younger students struggle in FZD due to the work load. That said, my batch had a 18-year old that had been working as a freelancer for three years and she was a fantastic student.
Hi! Thank you for your blog, it gives me insight on how FZD is.
If it’s okay I would ask for your opinion on 3DSense vs FZD, because I’m still confused where to go.
I had not heard of 3DSense before. What is your goal for going to school? FZD is focused on concept art. The 3DSense page for concept art shows a lot of character art, some of them not looking like concept pieces, which is a bit weird. The program they describe on their website is similar to FZD. But because I don’t know the school nor know anyone from the school, I can’t give you advice on which is better.
Wow! Thank you so much for this! Been struggling wether to go for 3dsense or FZD but since I someday want to be a concept artist you’ve convinced me, also planning to go to Art Center in LA after FZD if ever!
Good luck!
Thank you so much for this write up! It’s real informative. One my biggest concerns right now is the financial cost as I’ll have to save to attend. If you’re comfortable with sharing, approximately how much did it cost you to go? (Including tuition, cost of living, etc.)
There will be large individual variation, but I recommend having at least $60 000 in your budget. Some people saved up, some took loans.
My recommendation if you’re unable to save up that much money, is to get a 0% loan from a family member, if you have the privilege of family members able and willing to give you such a favorable loan. Then for repayment you can repay at 15% of your income (if you are at least earning more than 15% above your local poverty line) based on your tax filings. Do get a written & signed contract even with family. I have a similar arrangement for a $50 000 loan with my parents that I needed for legal fees.
Thank you so much for your detailed feedback about FZD school. It’s a bit scary so any news from the field is awsome. I see they suggest a macbook, is this mandatory ? like to have everyone has same screen display quality and everyone be compatible to access/share some files…? or you can bring your pc laptop?
Yes, the MacBook is mandatory but you can contact the school to have your own hardware approved. When I was at FZD, there was one single student who got his own laptop improved.
Hello Iris again, I’ve been through some of your notes from the art school. Damn the school is rough! at least they are very clear and they don’t try to lie. It sets the mood on the first day. I think I would wanna cry and I’ve survived a bootcamp style school in my original studies. Do you know if we can get refunded partially if we get burn-out during the year ? I’m afraid to ask them.
I’ve also read few more recent posts about you yesterday , I hope you’re doing better? because you must be a person of heart, sharing your work and notes is really warming. Your work in FZD is good, so I hope you are back on your feet/hands. (I hope a professional could help you go through what you’ve been through, they have some methods so shocking events don’t stick in your mind so you recover more quickly).
FZD gives no refunds for any reason. However, back in 2015 payment was due in two parts. I did have two classmates who dropped out mid-way, meaning they got the full value for the money they did spent even though not completing the program.
I’m still working on getting back on track & have a team of professionals, thanks for the well-wishes <3
Hi, i have clicked on your drive for the fzd notes, but unfortuantely it requires your permission, can you open it again?
my gmail is tgyapsheng@gmail.com, i hope i can get the file as i really wanted to do it
Are you logged into a gmail account while trying to access?
Can you try this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0Bz2oiGlP6fo2ekZfTXJQem9ZVDQ?resourcekey=0-Ka2lyItTJcp35l46Mb35Ag&usp=sharing
?
Hi, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience about FZD and your art journey.