Hong Ly

Hong Ly serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor specializing in Entertainment Design, bringing over 25 years of industry experience from leading roles at Naughty Dog and Riot Games. His professional trajectory bridges high-profile creative studios with academic instruction, focusing on applied entertainment design practices.

Research and Creative Focus: His expertise spans Art Direction, Concept Art, and Character Design across video game development and animation. He has directly shaped major franchises including The Last of Us, Uncharted series, League of Legends, Fallout, and Lineage, alongside animated features like The Incredibles and SpongeBob SquarePants. His work integrates commercial art direction with narrative-driven character development for global entertainment properties.

Industry-Academia Integration: As founder of CharacterDesigns.com, he provides free educational resources for emerging artists worldwide. Through Captive Style, LLC—where he serves as Creative Director—he produces professional character designs for clients including Samsung, demonstrating applied industry standards within academic contexts. His R&D leadership at Riot Games directly informed merchandise division development and character skin art direction for League of Legends.