Interview with Christopher Campbell, Riot Games Art Lead

At Lucca Comics & Games 2016 we interviewed Christopher Campbell, Art Lead and Concept Artist for the Riot Games Champions Team. Chris is currently involved in the team that is responsible for designing the iconic champions of League and is one of the pencils behind characters such as Bard, Ekko, Tahm Kench, Kindred and the very recent Ivern. What will he have answered our questions? Enjoy the reading!

Resources4Gaming: Tell us how your adventure with Riot and League of Legends began.

Christopher Campbell: Six years ago I was passionate about the game, I was already playing it. I was actively following him on the forums and saw an ad from one of the developers asking: “Are you passionate about the game? Can you program? Send us your CV. " I did and here I am, six years later. Six and a half years later, I'm part of Riot.

GL: How is your work done? For example: Riot sends you a draft of the lore, or do you have to invent based on the mechanics of the Champion? 

DC: When a new Champion has to be invented, the members of three different Teams, the Design Team, the Narrative Team (therefore the writers), the Art Team (therefore the artists), which we call DNA, get together and start working together with the idea of ​​the Champion. We take it from various points of view: from the narrative point of view, from the artistic point of view, from the point of view of development. We carry out this new idea of ​​Champion together and then gradually involve other teams, such as other graphic designers, animators, developers and so on.

GL:  What is the crucial step in your job, the one you focus on the most? The choice of shape, silhouette, details, coloring?

DC: There is not a single element from which we start that guarantees the success of the Champion or a good result. Often many elements have to be evaluated and each Champion is unique, so it has something that makes it special. Many times we follow an idea and carry it forward only to realize, once we have the final result, that it doesn't work and therefore we have to take some steps back and start over. For example, sometimes we only eventually realize that a fire phoenix is ​​not the best choice for a character; maybe a block of ice would be, so we really need to revolutionize the concept.

GL: Ok, which Champion did you have the most fun with during the making and the one that gave you the most satisfaction?

DC: Bard is definitely the Champion that amuses me and that amuses me the most. Not only from a gameplay point of view, but also because he is a very special Champion, he is truly magical. His history is not well known, he has these Mippi characters who follow him making strange sounds; so he is a character who from many points of view is truly unique and this amuses me a lot.

Resources4Gaming staff would like to personally thank Riot Games Art Lead, Christopher Campbell, for this interview.