Mike Henry

Creative Director @ Riot Games

About

22 years in the industry 13 years in management I've led small and large teams, worked on small and large projects, and directed multiple projects across an entire studio. In my career I've shifted between everything from freelance to in-studio work and from long development cycles to rapid pitch and prototyping environments. I'm well-versed in developing IPs from the ground up, but have plenty of experience inheriting and maintaining existing projects. I'm still a working concept artist which allows me to take a project from conception as an Artist to completion as an Art Director. I work hard at fostering a creative and highly functioning environment where artists are supported and challenged.

Country

United States

City

Chicago

Industry

Computer Games

Skill

Adobe Creative Suite, Character Animation, Rendering, Art Direction, Game Design, Game Development, Video Games, Conceptual Art, Digital Painting, Computer Animation, Animation, Traditional Animation, Illustration, Concept Design, Graphic Design, Layout, Gameplay, User Interface Design, Flash Animation, Storyboarding

Experience

Creative Director

Riot Games

2022-6 - Present · 4 yrs 4 mos

Remote

Responsible for Art, Narrative, & Audio on 2XKO

Art Director

Riot Games

2020-8 - 2022-6 · 1 yr 11 mos

San Francisco Bay Area

Responsible for Art on 2XKO

Studio Art Director

King

2018-10 - 2020-8 · 1 yr 11 mos

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Oversaw the Art discipline for our New Games division in Barcelona, including games like Rebel Riders

Director of Art

Bigpoint GmbH

2016-4 - 2018-9 · 2 yrs 6 mos

Hamburg, Germany

- Started as Director of Art for New Games then moved to overseeing Art company-wide - Part of leadership creating studio strategy - Built groundwork for numerous new IPs - At peak, oversaw Art for 6 simultaneous projects across 3 locations - Worked on 10 projects during my tenure

Art Director

Zynga

2014-4 - 2016-1 · 1 yr 10 mos

San Francisco

Art Director for several projects: - Zynga Poker - New Games Pitch Team - FarmVille: Tropic Escape - Two other unreleased projects

Co-Founder

Big Menace Industries

2010-3 - 2014-4 · 4 yrs 2 mos

San Francisco

Pre-production, concept art, development studio. We had a lot of fun. Please visit us at http://bigmenaceindustries.com

Art Director/Concept Artist

Freelance

2003-9 - 2014-4 · 10 yrs 8 mos

San Francisco

Created artwork for various projects in video games, animation, toys, and comics. Duties include Concept Art, Art Direction (general look and Game Design), Sub-Contracting, and color work for sequentials and covers (Comics). Clients include, but are not limited to: Angels & Airwaves Bigshot Toyworks Blink-182 Blizzard Activision Booyah Disney Mobile Hasbro Kabam LionSide Mattel Natural Motion NCAA NBA Promethean Works Tapulous To The Stars Inc. Ubisoft

Studio Art Director

Booyah

2012-1 - 2014-3 · 2 yrs 3 mos

San Francisco, CA

Maintained art direction on existing live titles and built several new titles from the ground up. Projects worked on: Early Bird Early Bird and Friends Hostile Takeover Miniguns: Assault My Town 2 My Town 2: Getaways My Town 3 My Town: Animals No Zombies Allowed

Concept Artist

Slipgate Ironworks

2006-3 - 2009-12 · 3 yrs 10 mos

San Mateo, CA

Developed an unreleased tween MMORPG called Project Redwood - Foundational role in Character, Building, Environment, and UI design as well as minor roles in Game Design and Art Direction - Laid groundwork for look and feel of the game under the direction of the Art Director *Slipgate Ironworks was the original incarnation of Gazillion Entertainment