Today we’d like to introduce you to Hing Chui.
Hing, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up on the East Coast in a little university town in Delaware. I’ve always been interested in art and storytelling from an early age, and I used to draw my favorite characters from anime, books, and TV series all the time. I ended up going to art school with dreams of becoming a children’s book illustrator or comic book artist, but after a great internship experience making games with a bunch of other students, I changed over to game art. That led into my first job painting textures for game environments and eventually into the west coast working for Riot Games.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I’ve been fortunate in having been able to transition smoothly from my education into my career, thanks in large part to being adequately prepared for opportunities that have come my way. In college and in my work, I’ve sought out extra classes and workshops to supplement my knowledge and experience, and learn skills from other professionals to help my work stay up to date and relevant. My mentality is also that I would rather front load all my effort and over-prepare in the beginning. During college, I focused heavily on what kind of training and work I would have to do to become employed early on so that when it came time to graduate, I had fewer challenges to overcome.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I work for Riot Games, a PC gaming company in West LA largely known for the online game League of Legends. I’m a senior concept artist, where I’m responsible for producing drawings and paintings of environmental maps and characters that the rest of the team uses as a blueprint to build.
As a company, I’m most proud of our commitment to constantly asking ourselves how we can do better. Videogames are a volatile industry, where accountability, fairness, and healthy practices can be hard things to find and hold people to. At Riot, the heads of the company hold an open discussion every few weeks where employees can ask them questions. Though the questions are usually discerning and layered, the amount of transparency in the answers is something you would be hard pressed to find in the leadership of other companies.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
For the most part, I’ve concentrated on my career and skillset for much of my adult life, and although it’s been rewarding, it has also sometimes resulted in getting tunnel vision. Much of what I’ve learned recently has been how to make time for myself and invest in my personal relationships. If I could start over, I would put have aside more of my time earlier on to invest in being a more well-rounded human being.
Contact Info:
- Address: 12333 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064
- Website: www.riotgames.com
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