Chapter 2: Writing Callouts & Case Notes that Show Thinking

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Writing Callouts & Case Notes that Show Thinking — Prop Concept Artists

Portfolio, Careers & Ethics · Targeted portfolios · Communication · Contracts

Why callouts and case notes matter

Great prop images get you noticed; great callouts and case notes get you hired. Recruiters and art leads are looking for evidence that you can reason under constraints, anticipate downstream needs, and communicate with clarity. Callouts and case notes make your thinking legible: they show how you balance taste, mechanics, readability, memory budgets, and production realities. For concept‑leaning artists, they prove you can translate exploration into buildable intent. For production‑leaning artists, they prove you can deliver handoff‑ready instruction without throttling creativity. This article shows you how to write callouts and project case notes that support a targeted portfolio, strengthen collaboration, and respect ethical and contractual boundaries.

The difference between callouts and case notes

Callouts are short, targeted annotations attached to images—orthos, exploded views, material sheets, or hero frames. They answer what, why, and how at the point of need: dimensions, mechanism cues, material intent, assembly order, and interaction beats.

Case notes are the narrative spine of a project page or PDF: a few compact paragraphs that state the problem, constraints, decision logic, trade‑offs, and outcomes. Where callouts de‑risk execution, case notes de‑risk you: they show maturity, scope judgment, and teamwork.

A recruiter’s reading pattern

Most reviewers skim first and drill second. Above the fold, they should see one hero image and a few crisp callouts that shout your priorities: readability, mechanism, material, handoff. As they scroll, your case notes should answer bigger questions—target audience, camera context, platform budgets, collaboration touchpoints, and what you’d improve. Sequence matters: put high‑leverage notes first so a 60‑second skim still lands the right message.

Anatomy of a high‑signal callout

A strong callout is one sentence, one data point, and one implication.

  • Sentence (why): “Latch rotates 30° to clear gasket and maintain IP54.”
  • Data point (what): “Ø18 mm knurled thumb wheel; 1.2 N·m target torque.”
  • Implication (how this helps): “Edge chamfer softened for FPP readability at 1.5 m; FX glint on leading edge.” Keep punctuation clean, avoid stacked clauses, and place the pointer so it never hides silhouette or vital detail. If a note is longer than a line, it belongs in the case notes.

Visual standards that make callouts readable

Use a consistent annotation kit: type scale, leader lines, arrowheads, color logic. Reserve one neutral color for dimensions, one for mechanism flow, and one for warnings/safety. Keep contrast high for dark/light backgrounds. If you work stylized, your annotations can be friendly; if you work realistic, keep them technical—but never let style undercut legibility. Export a “callout legend” once and reuse it across projects so your portfolio feels like a coherent system.

What to cover: the five pillars

1) Readability. Note silhouette logic, value grouping, and specular control per camera distance (FPP, TPP, isometric, VR). Mention how icons, glows, or decals reinforce the read without noise.

2) Mechanism & interaction. Mark hinges, cams, springs, lock paths, and clearances. Indicate user affordances: grip texture biased to thumb, latch reach distance, haptic or audio cues. Animation teams should infer sequences directly from your notes.

3) Materials & surface language. Define material stack with intent, not just labels: “anodized aluminum 6061 · bead‑blast ~120 µin Ra · roughness 0.5–0.6 for diffuse read.” If stylized, translate to rules: “single broad specular lobe, edge highlight only on primary silhouette.”

4) Scale & tolerances. Provide key dimensions and fits where they affect function, rigging, or animation. You don’t need every measurement—just the ones that constrain the solution.

5) Integration. Note hooks for UI (iconography, meters), VFX (glints, steam vents, lensing), Audio (bleeps, hiss points), Design (pickup radius, craft inputs), and Tech Art (pivot locators, constraint bones). Integration callouts are a hiring multiplier.

Case notes that demonstrate judgment

Write three compact paragraphs: Context, Decisions, Outcome.

  • Context. Problem statement, audience, camera, platform, team constraints, and timeline. Keep it under 60 words.
  • Decisions. The 3–5 choices that mattered and why you chose them. Show trade‑offs: what you simplified, what you protected, and how you stayed within budgets.
  • Outcome. What shipped or what you validated (readability tests, performance targets, handoff feedback), plus what you’d improve on a second pass. This structure scales from indie one‑offs to AAA kits without bloat.

Targeted portfolios: tuning the writing, not just thumbnails

When you curate for a studio, mirror their language in your notes. A cozy sim cares about charm, noise control, recolor systems; a tactical shooter cares about FPP readability, service access, and safety standards. Rewrite callouts to emphasize the right pillars. For mobile, compress materials and note icon legibility and texture atlases. For VR/AR, call out comfort rules and interaction reach. The image stays; the emphasis shifts.

Concept‑leaning vs production‑leaning emphasis

Concept‑leaning artists should use callouts to prove design systems: silhouette banks annotated with role tags (“core, variant, seasonal”), exploration walls with arrows showing how feedback pruned options, and shape language rules that can be handed to another artist. Case notes should highlight how constraints guided taste and how you protected gameplay reads while exploring.

Production‑leaning artists should use callouts to prove handoff quality: orthos with datum alignment, exploded views with assembly order, decal sheets with naming, and LOD suggestions. Case notes should highlight documentation logic, version control, and how your files reduced iteration time downstream.

Language guide: from vague to operational

  • Vague: “highly detailed.” → Operational: “secondary forms suppressed beyond 3 m; micro‑detail reserved for hero close‑ups.”
  • Vague: “realistic materials.” → Operational: “brushed SS · anisotropy aligned to stroke; clearcoat omitted to avoid flicker at distance.”
  • Vague: “easy to animate.” → Operational: “hinge axis at world Y; 85° travel; collision‑free with 2 mm clearance; latch snaps at 30°.”
  • Vague: “stylized shading.” → Operational: “single lobe, low roughness; painted gradient to bias value to gameplay‑relevant side.”

Contract‑aware writing (not legal advice)

Your notes should never disclose proprietary data or reverse‑engineer confidential systems. If a piece is under NDA, annotate the how (reasoning and principles), not the what (specific tech or pipeline details). When freelancing, ensure your contract clarifies permission to show work, what you may annotate, and timing (e.g., “after public release” or “after portfolio review by studio”). Keep a redacted version ready. If an art test was unpaid or resembles production, record scope in an email and decide whether to proceed; your case notes can reference the learning without showing assets: “Private test under NDA; notes reflect approach to FPP medical kit readability.”

Ethics & attribution

Credit collaborators. If you photobashed or used scans during ideation, say so and describe how you transformed them. Separate AI ideation experiments from production deliverables and disclose provenance. Avoid “speculative” annotations that imply internal knowledge you don’t have. Precision builds trust.

Micro‑templates you can paste today

Callout sentence templates

  • “Specular deliberately muted on secondary forms to preserve read at [distance].”
  • “Decal layer authored at 2× for in‑engine mip clarity; color‑blind safe palette tagged in legend.”
  • “Exploded view shows assembly order (1→4); gasket compresses 1.5 mm at closure.”
  • “Pivot locators match rig; constraint bones named hinge_A, latch_B.”
  • “Trim sheet reuse: 68% of surfaces mapped to trim_mech_02; unique UVs reserved for hero panel.”

Case notes scaffolding

  • Context. “Design a readable [prop set] for [camera/platform] with [budget/time]. Audience expects [tone]; team needs [hooks].”
  • Decisions. “Chose [shape strategy] to [goal]. Simplified [X] to protect [Y]. Allocated [budget] to [area] for [reason].”
  • Outcome. “Validated [metric] via [method]. Handoff doc cut iteration time for [team]. Next time, I’d [improvement].”

Visual hierarchy in annotation layouts

Group related notes near their subject and keep lines short. Use numbers for sequences and letters for variants. Avoid intersecting leader lines; if you must cross, vary line weight. Keep text left‑aligned and ragged right to avoid rivers. On small screens, prefer caption bands below an image to dense on‑image labels.

Readability across styles

Stylized: speak in rules not physics—big shape ➝ mid ➝ small; warm/cool pairing; edge economy. Avoid real‑world jargon that doesn’t apply to the shader model.

Realistic: name materials and processes; cite finishes and engineering intents (radius, clearance, torque targets) only where they drive decisions. Don’t drown the page in specs—pick the ones that avert mistakes.

Mobile and PDF considerations

Assume your work is viewed on a phone at arm’s length. Minimum 12–14 pt equivalent for captions, 10–11 pt for on‑image notes. Keep PDF under ~10 MB for email. Compress via vector annotations and careful image export (no double compression). Name files cleanly and version them.

Versioning and change logs

Add a tiny footer to case study pages with version and date. Keep a private change log noting what you updated (thumbnails, captions, order). When targeting a studio, save a variant with a suffix and note the emphasis shift (“_stylized‑focus”, “_FPP‑focus”).

Review checklist (copy/paste)

  • One hero image + 3–6 high‑signal callouts visible without scrolling.
  • Case notes in three paragraphs: context, decisions, outcome.
  • Integration hooks for UI/VFX/Audio/Design/Tech Art are explicit.
  • Dimensions only where they affect function/rig; avoid noise.
  • Annotation kit consistent (type, arrows, colors, legend).
  • NDA‑safe: no proprietary specs; redactions applied.
  • Mobile legibility verified; PDF variant ≤ 10 MB.
  • Credits included where relevant; provenance disclosed.

Common pitfalls

Over‑annotating to signal intelligence, mixing jargon from unrelated domains, burying the “why,” and using decorative arrows that don’t convey sequence. Another trap is writing case notes that read like marketing copy. Keep them operational and humble: what you decided, why, and how it helped the team.

Final note

Callouts and case notes are not decorations; they are leadership in text form. They prove that you solve the right problems, respect other disciplines, and can be trusted with production. Write them to be skimmed, structured to be remembered, and precise enough that another artist could build from them without a meeting. That’s how your portfolio communicates value—before you ever get on the call.