Interview with Hong Ly

Recently, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Hong Ly, a solid Concept Artist who has worked for big game companies on many big titles. Here’s a summary of it.

Sunder Iyer: Let’s get started. Can you tell us your job title, description and responsibilities?

Hong Ly: I am a Production Designer/Conceptual Artist. My responsibilities include creating original content for game companies, character designs, design of the game and environments. It also involves making 3D models and texturing them.

SI: Can you tell us about your past experiences?

HL: I have worked on titles such a Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb and recently, I designed half of the characters for Wrath Unleashed. I have worked on various confidential titles as well.

SI: What software do you use?

HL: I use 3D packages such as Maya and 3DS Max. For 2D purposes, I use Photoshop and Painter 6. I do almost all my work in the digital medium.

SI: Where can we see your work? What do you think is your best work till date?

HL: You can find some of my work online at CharacterDesigns.com. My best work? Truly, I don’t have one. I try not to get attached to my works. You don’t fall in love with your works. Liking your artwork will stop you from growing. All my artworks can get burned; it won’t bother me.

SI: One of my friends went to your website and immediately looked away. He liked it very much but was afraid of being inspired by someone else’s work. Care to comment?

HL: I am honored your friend liked my work. I think lots of people want originality. Artists tend to mimic and copy other artists. It’s okay. There are no original ideas. Just get the best from everyone and work a lot. One thing, the average industry person works at least 8–10 hours a day. Any student who puts in fewer hours is making things difficult for them. When you start working, if you have an ego, it will get crushed fast. Being humble is good.

SI: What should a portfolio consist of?

HL: If you are doing 3D modeling, make sure you have 5–8 solid, polished character models with unique textures. If you wish to do animation, have some good animated cycles for bipeds or animals. No vehicles and no spaceships. If you are going in as a concept artist, you need works that demonstrate strong traditional art skills and human anatomy.

SI: What about a demo reel?

HL: Nothing over five minutes. Use disposable media. Putting your stuff online works well too.

SI: Did you review many portfolios?

HL: Not all the time. Our job is to finish production. We receive 100 portfolios a week. HR looks at it and whatever they like is sent to the Art Director. Sometimes it takes a year! These people are very busy so one shouldn’t take it personally.

SI: What’s the stress like?

HL: Varies from company to company. Many times you will work 8+ hours, 7 days a week.

SI: How do you deal with stress?

HL: Love the project. I am really lucky to do what I do and get paid. It’s really rewarding to see products you worked on at Wal-Mart or Target.

SI: Have you been in a shut-down project?

HL: Yes. I work on the initial concepts and see many projects get turned down. 80% of all games get proposed and shut. Few games get made and published. It has a lot to do with funding, publishing and marketing. Everyone tries to get shelf-space. It gets complicated.

SI: How do you deal with such projects that get shut down?

HL: I move on. Lay-offs are common.

SI: Thanks for your time.

HL: No problem.