Here's what people say about working with Zoë:
Illus: Tomasz Jedruszek
Product: Battles of Westeros, Fantasy Flight Games
Ben Zweifel
Artist
I’ve worked with Zoe for quite a few years now and I can say with out a doubt that she’s my favorite AD.
Zoe’s art direction reveals a keen intellect and a skillful, confident eye. She manages to take loosely thought out ideas and numerous technical requirements and condense them into tangible, actionable art direction that yields great results. More importantly she has a deep understanding of style and design that serve her well as a guardian of complex intellectual properties. This is reflected in the large and diverse group of artists she shepherds into making a very consistent, high quality product.
Access is something I take for granted with Zoe. Her patience for answering dumb questions, or hunting down someone else with the answer is astounding and her willingness to collaborate and problem solve makes her a joy to work for. Most importantly though her ability to act as a conduit and a single stakeholder in my projects means that I never have to worry about parallel or conflicting direction from different departments and I’m insulated from any office politics.
Simply, Zoe has had a hand in all the pieces I’ve done that I’m most proud of.
Ramsay Young
Senior Producer
Zoe has unmatched passion and creativity. When facing problems she does well understanding the entire situation and presenting well constructed solutions that are people oriented. She addresses breakdowns head on and makes it her mission to establish sustainable process. She quickly joined the team and fostered many positive relationships with myself and our colleagues and it truly helps push her above others in our space. I would recommend Zoe to all teams as she will individually foster a positive work culture.
Paul Hunt
Producer
In my personal and professional experience, Zoe has shown tremendous dedication to the craft of art management, with great talents including strong personal relationships with artists and the ability to always ask the right questions. Whether managing large group projects or staff members, Zoe consistently demonstrated enthusiasm, patience, and a friendly but professional demeanor.
One of her most admirable qualities is the way she connects with all the artists under her wing. Zoe is always available to listen to the needs of every team member, and she makes sure to stay connected to each artist and their career ambitions. She understands how to motivate them to reach their maximum potential and is always advocating for their well-being in the workplace. Zoe has an impeccable way of identifying everyone's strengths and weaknesses, directing them to the right path, and providing continuous constructive criticism to create the desired transformation.
Zoe is also passionate about creating an atmosphere of support and positivity in the workplace, and she is always willing to advocate for her team's artistic needs. Zoe's expertise in advocacy and her ability to ask the hard questions truly sets her apart from the rest, showing that she is willing to go above and beyond to achieve her targets and ensure her team's success.
Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend Zoe Robinson to any organization that is looking for an Art Manager with the passion, enthusiasm, and drive to materialize new heights of success. Her unwavering commitment to excellence, her unmatched interpersonal skills, and her exceptional managerial abilities would make her a remarkable asset to any team or organization.
Steffen Vala
OS Art Manager
When Zoe joined our team of artists, we were like a ship without a rudder in rough seas. The impact of her presence was immediate. Zoe's unparalleled ability to inspire and guide artists towards their optimal creative selves has set her apart in my professional experience.
What distinguishes Zoe is her adeptness at listening and understanding before offering suggestions that prove pertinent to the team's goals. During a critical transitional phase, her confidence in the leadership role proved invaluable in stabilizing our team.
Zoe's approachability and active engagement with her work elevated the synergy among our teammates. Her positive attitude and hands-on approach cranked up the teamwork to its peak when we were in the thick of it.
I would feel lucky with her again!
Sam Hogg
Art Director
Zoe is one of the most well rounded ADs I've had the pleasure of working with, and while our professional paths might only have crossed a few times, I'm lucky to call her a friend and have leaned on her extensive art advice more than a few times across my career. She has always been sensitive to the ways that work best with my skillsets and has a wonderful depth of knowledge not just of art but also of team management that would benefit any future employer. Not to mention her extensive, long list of artistic contacts! Zoe knows and loves the SFF market and often brought new perspectives to my work that others could not. I think she would be a wonderful team member and AD for anyone looking for someone who know their role inside out with years of experience in the entertainment space.
Martin Lutz
Concept Art Lead
Zoe is an excellent leader -- while at Scopely she was a force for change as she supported the people and improved processes across the art department. She's the rare combination of dedicated, thoughtful, and fearless that allows her to to make everyone around her more effective. We spoke often about management and process, and each time I walked away with greater clarity. You can always go talk to Zoe, and she will always help, whether that's by making some cross team collaboration happen, or getting management to align on a plan, or by rolling up her sleeves and wading into a problem herself. I was also struck by how much she cared not just about her team's effectiveness, but about everyone's professional development and general happiness and well being. I highly recommend Zoe; if you hire her she will quickly become a fixture of your art team and become the person people talk to when they want to get something done.
Matt Hubel
Artist
I was an illustrator who worked for Zoe at Ghostfire Gaming and then we also ended up being colleagues at Scopely by happenstance a year or so later. As an AD, Zoe was phenomenal. She gave me excellent criticism and feedback, kept the team organized and was super supportive. I feel like Zoe really cares deeply about her work and it shows. At Scopely, she was a process powerhouse organizing the art team's pipeline and making life easier for everyone. She excels at helping everyone. Most importantly, I feel like Zoe is someone who REALLY listens to you, who REALLY cares. These days, that's so hard to find in someone. I would trust Zoe with my team without a question. She is an absolute gem.
Magali Villeneuve
Artist
Zoë Robinson hired me in 2010 to work firstly on Fantasy Flight Game’s “Game of Thrones” Living Card Game, after I sent her my portfolio.
At that time, I had been a pro for more than 4 years, and art directors’ doors were not easy to open in my country. I was not “used” for the type of jobs my style was made for at all, and I took it as an incredible opportunity to get to work with a company outside the country.
After about 5 years of working with Zoë, and more than 200 pieces painted, I can genuinely say that this collaboration did everything for my career. Not only Zoë knows how to motivate illustrators, even when deadlines are tight, or the commission is not easy going, but she’s also especially good at “grasping” an artist’s profile. The consequence of this aptitude, is that she always commissions in a smart way : some comfort zone with a touch of challenge at some point.
This way, I could at last be happy doing my job and learn more and faster in a few years than I ever had. Working under Zoë’s direction especially, dramatically took my skills to whole new levels.
She’s the type of art director who can create a trustful relationship so that I never hesitated to reach out for her for some piece of advice (while I’m on the “shy” side with my art directors, so this is saying a lot, in fact). She is also especially good to “unblock” situations, when she feels you’re having a hard time on a piece: she’s always ready to take some time, to explain, send extra references to illustrate her point, or even shoot reference herself, and has a very keen eye to find out the necessary tweaks. And doing all that, she’s still very encouraging.
She is exigent in the most constructive way, stimulating and above all, she understands artists. In my opinion, a real good art director is able to make a change in an illustrator’s career, by bringing something positive, sharing their experience, their artistic culture, and by making them feel they can do well and even better than that. That is exactly what Zoë Robinson did for me.
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James Haeck
Lead Writer
Zoe and I joined Ghostfire Gaming at the same time for a brand-new product line the company was releasing. Her unimpeachable industry experience and knowledge of game production was invaluable to me. There's no one I would have rather had as a creative partner. Similarly, her skill as an art director helped me feel entirely at ease that high-quality work would always be delivered from her artists. Zoe's vast breadth of contacts with illustrators and video producers meant she was always able to quickly overcome any unexpected personnel challenges that arose in the course of our new line's development.
I would eagerly recommend Zoe for any job that involves game production or art direction. Her standard of quality, knowledge of industry best practices, and ability to cultivate a sense of community and camaraderie among freelance creatives (artists especially), is second to none.
Tony Foti
Artist
Zoe is easily one of the best, if not the best, art director I’ve been fortunate enough to work with. In regards to working on licensed stuff, she’s great at picking up on all the little details and making sure everything feel properly in-universe. Art-wise, she’s great at picking up whether or not a piece is working as well as it could. I’ve turned in assignments that most of my clients (some very large) would has totally just accepted, but she’ll give a little more information on the mood, story or composition that leads to a much better painting in a short amount of time.
Anna Christenson
Artist
I have known Zoe Robinson since 2008, when she gave me my first “big break” in the game industry. Zoe has always been a fantastic art director to work with. She knows her product lines, gives thoughtful feedback, does not hold back if a piece really is not hitting the mark, and yet she is always incredibly tactful in doing so. In moments when the artist themselves may be struggling initially, Zoe has always proven capable of steering the ship in the right direction. In the past I have seen her do this by providing past art examples from the company, photographic reference- both from online searches and taken herself, and verbal feedback- on the phone, through email, or via instant messenger. Zoe handles a huge amount of art and different products at Fantasy Flight Games, but I’ve always found her easy to communicate with, and she always responds in a timely manner.
Through the years of working with Zoe I have also seen her be active within the art community, bringing on board and mentoring many new artists. At conventions she demos games, gives portfolio reviews, and even meets with artists after the convention hours are done. She certainly goes above and beyond her job requirements to stay involved with the pulse of the art community.
Zoe has incredible motivation and dedication to the field of art, she has an amazing eye for the needs of the project and its limitation, and she is really wonderful to work with. I can’t recommend Zoe enough as an addition to your team.
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Kevin Wilson
Game Designer
"I worked with Zoe Robinson at Fantasy Flight Games from 2006 until 2012, when I left to pursue a freelance career. Prior to that, I’d been in the tabletop game industry since 1998. So, I’ve been making games for around 17 years now.
In all that time, Zoe is the best art coordinator I’ve ever worked with. She shows a keen interest in each project, doing extensive visual research without prompting, and maintaining good relations with artists even when the company couldn’t pay them as competitive a rate as they’d like.
Zoe has a real passion for her work, helping each artist she coordinates with to grow as an illustrator and skillfully helping to shape the look and feel of every project she works on.
Android the board game, in particular, is a project that benefited greatly from her skills. She brought a level of attention to detail and inclusiveness to the game and its universe that wouldn’t have been there without her. Zoe has my highest recommendation."
Daniel Lovat Clark
Senior Writer
Zoë is devoted to her projects and to her people. She forms lasting relationships with her artists, protects them when they need protecting, and slaps them around when they need slapping around. (Verbally. She’s only violent at the game table.) Zoë doesn’t settle for “good enough” and she especially doesn’t settle for what was good enough in the past.
Zoë is always thinking about how the system could be improved. She builds new ways to keep records. She is focused on figuring out how her team can work together to make the project better. She’s part art director, part teacher, which means she trains in new artists, new producers, and when necessary whole departments.
Zoë knows a good idea when she hears it. She also knows how to get down to the good part of the idea and throw away the chaff, and when to spice it up. She brainstorms fearlessly and is an excellent creative partner, a sounding board or a source of ideas or a sanity check. She knows when a concept isn’t there yet, and is unafraid to throw out what isn’t working and try a new approach. Like all good collaborators, Zoë shares credit fairly.
Zoë has made me better at my job.
Katrina Lee
Creative Director
Working with Zoe Robinson has made me spoiled when it comes to art directors. She does her research, she helps the developers ensure the art is sensitive and inclusive, and she’s amazing at fostering collaboration and managing several different personalities in a meeting. But the best part of working with her is knowing that she’ll take whatever you’ve given her and return the best art she can based on her available artist pool. You don’t have to worry about the caliber of the art she’d directing, because you know it’s going to be high, which isn’t always the case for some of the art directors I’ve worked with.
I’ve worked with Zoe on three different properties: Star Wars and Fantasy Flight Games’ Android and Arkham Horror. Each has a very different tone and style, and she’s helped me to compile visual guides that I’ve shared with writers to get a better feel for the setting. She dives into the source material and does her own legwork to figure out the specific type of grip to give to the lightsaber wielder or what clothing the 1920s bootlegger should be wearing in a cave. In addition to finding out the existing requirements for a property, she also does a tremendous amount of visual worldbuilding that helps shape the direction of the property in turn. She pays exceptional attention to detail, even going so far as to quickly model herself (or get me to model) the correct anatomy for the pose an artist is struggling with. On multiple occasions I’ve had to field questions from other art directors that could be easily answered by a simple Google search, but when Zoe asks questions it’s usually because I haven’t fully considered the implications or elements of the art brief I’ve supplied.
Zoe is highly sensitive to the statements and assumptions that the art makes about people of different sexes, races, ages, and ability. She helps us stay mindful that any character whose sex or race isn’t specified is liable to end up a white male. The extra effort we’ve put in to portraying women and people of color hasn’t gone unnoticed by the fans, and we’re helping to represent the true diversity of our audience in the very products we make.
Finally, she is one of the few people I know who is able to help foster creativity and smooth over egos when disagreements arise. She is willing to set aside the time to gather everyone together in one room to jointly develop the concepts behind the art, and she’s able to ask questions that get us to think about an art piece in a way we might not have considered before. She helps multiple developers or contributors find common ground or figure out what is truly needed in an art piece from a product or gameplay perspective. By soliciting and incorporating to the input of the developers, she gets us on board with the artistic vision and gives us joint ownership in the end result. She pioneered the new art brief development process that involves the developers in from the get go, and that process also allows the developers to let go of the art assignments after the project’s needs are defined and our ideas have been tumbled. That way, we developers can spend our energy on the rest of our workload. It’s a huge thing to be able to trust that the art is going to turn out great without having to follow up with her at a sketch or rough draft stage to make sure it’s what we’re portraying in the writing that’s been commissioned.
Cynthia Sheppard
Artist
I had the pleasure of working with Zoë Robinson for several years as an illustrator for Fantasy Flight Games, and have come to know her even better as a peer since I transitioned into an art director role at Wizards of the Coast. We’ve had many discussions about elevating quality in the fantastic arts, and I’m particularly fond of Zoë’s passion for helping and inspiring young, up-and-coming artists. I am equally impressed by Zoë’s goals toward furthering inclusivity and positive representation in games. She is a true asset to this industry with her great attitude and skill.
Matt Zeilinger
Artist
I have had the great honor of working with Zoe Robinson over the past six years as a Contract Artist for Fantasy Flight Games. During that time, Zoe was the Art Director on a wide variety of projects that I participated in that featured diverse deadlines, needs, and styles. Even with her impressive workload, I could always count on Zoe to respond quickly with clear, concise, and creative feedback that enhanced the quality of the work. On many occasions, she would even take time out of her day to meet online for more in-depth workshop sessions with some of the more complex and demanding work. Zoe is truly one of the most dedicated, passionate, and creative Art Directors I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, and as a result, I have enormous pride in the work she has helped me produce.
Over the course of the past six years, one thing has always been clear when working with Zoe – she truly cares about the projects she oversees. Never content to simply “get the job done,” she’s always looking for ways to innovate on established themes and push the work into new, unexpected, and exciting areas. She accomplishes this through a keen artistic eye, a highly creative mindset, and a finger on the pulse of the industry in conjunction with an almost preternatural ability to coax the best out of her artists. I could always count on Zoe to inspire when inspiration was needed, to point out weaknesses when I could not see them, and to be the torchbearer for any IP or creative vision we were working on.
It is with great confidence that I can say that Zoe would not only be an asset to any project she is a part of, but her addition as a team member would actively push it to the next level. She brings not only creativity, but creativity with relevance and innovation, forged by many years of experience with countless major properties. She brings not only passion, but passion for an industry she truly cares deeply for - borne out through her numerous and high quality contributions to it. She brings an understanding of what it takes to manage large, diverse, and sometimes remote teams in a highly productive way while maintaining a cohesive, creative vision and a positive attitude.
I greatly admire Zoe Robinson for the work she does, and highly recommend her for any position she applies for.
Jay Little
Game Designer
"Let me get the easy part out of the way. Zoë Robinson is one of the best people I ever worked with. And she’ll be one of the best people anyone else gets to work with, wherever she is.
Over the years Zoë has managed and cultivated a growing pool of amazing art talent in a demanding industry. The hobby gaming community has increasingly high expectations when it comes to the quality of game components and art. These expectations are even higher for a company with Fantasy Flight Games’ reputation for stellar art and presentation. And even higher when dealing with such well known and recognized properties as Middle Earth, Warhammer, Game of Thrones, and Star Wars.
Zoë has thrived at the center of this demand. Once people get to spend more time with her and learn about the role of Art Direction, I think they come away surprised by just how much responsibility she takes on, managing current artists and contracts, negotiating rates, handling revisions, working with licensors, coordinating with in-house project managers, and signing off on approvals, as well as establishing quality standards and finding and evaluating new talent. And what makes Zoë so exceptional is that she is able to do all of this—as grueling as it may be at times—while maintaining a positive attitude, a sense of humor, and a willingness to pitch in and help out with others.
While all of this makes her a great co-worker, she’s more than that— Zoë has made an impact on the industry with her dedication to a more fair and equal representation of different genders and ethnicities in character art, and other efforts to bring game art out of an outdated age of objectification and into a more modern sensibility."