Jen Zee
{{Short description|American artist and game developer}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jen Zee
| image =
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| other_names =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| nationality = American
| occupation = Artist
| known_for = Art director for Supergiant Games
}}
Jen Zee is an American artist and the art director for Supergiant Games. She joined Supergiant Games in March 2010 as a contractor on Bastion and was quickly brought on as the full time art director for the company. Her art has received positive accolades from critics, and for her work on Hades she received numerous awards, including the 2021 BAFTA Games Award for Artistic Achievement.{{Cite web |date=2021-03-01 |title=2021 BAFTA Games Awards: The Winners |url=https://www.bafta.org/games/awards/2021-nominations-winners |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=www.bafta.org |language=en}} and nominations at the D.I.C.E. Awards.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4679352/awards/ |title=Jen Zee - Awards |publisher=IMDb |access-date=March 14, 2025}} Jen Zee is known for her vibrant use of color and distinctive art style, which has been widely praised across her projects, including Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and Hades.{{cite web |url=https://nerdybutflirty.com/2013/07/11/unicorn-sparkle-an-interview-with-jen-zee-of-supergiant-games/ |title=Unicorn Sparkle: An Interview with Jen Zee of Supergiant Games |author=Nerdy But Flirty |date=July 11, 2013 |publisher=Nerdy But Flirty |access-date=March 14, 2025}} She continues her role as art director for Hades II, maintaining the artistic vision that defined the original game while evolving its aesthetic.
Career
= Early work at Supergiant Games =
Zee was inspired to become an artist by Tetsuya Nomura's character art for Final Fantasy VII at an early age.{{Cite magazine |last=Wallace |first=Kimberley |date=2023-04-16 |title=The Story Behind Supergiant Games' Bastion |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/04/16/the-story-behind-supergiant-games-bastion |access-date=2023-03-16 |magazine=Game Informer |language=en |archive-date=December 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219222609/https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/04/16/the-story-behind-supergiant-games-bastion |url-status=live }} Before moving to work at Supergiant Games, Zee worked for Gaia Online in her first job and made isometric environmental designs.{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo7TcJ2E0-I |title=The Making of Bastion – Documentary |date=2023-12-19 |type=Documentary |publisher=Noclip |time=11:13 |access-date=2023-03-16 |via=YouTube |people=Jayne, Jeremy |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316181944/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo7TcJ2E0-I |url-status=live }} She joined Supergiant in March 2010 as the company's third employee, initially as a temporary contractor, to work on Supergiant's first game, Bastion.{{Cite web |last=Sarkar |first=Samit |date=2012-04-13 |title=A 4-week-old Bastion looked ugly but played beautifully |url=https://www.destructoid.com/a-4-week-old-bastion-looked-ugly-but-played-beautifully/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=Destructoid |language=en-US |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316181952/https://www.destructoid.com/a-4-week-old-bastion-looked-ugly-but-played-beautifully/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Dreskin |first=Joel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5ZACwAAQBAJ&dq=jen+zee&pg=PT51 |title=A Practical Guide to Indie Game Marketing |date=2015-12-22 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-317-62550-6 |language=en |access-date=March 21, 2023 |archive-date=March 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327143050/https://books.google.com/books?id=h5ZACwAAQBAJ&dq=jen+zee&pg=PT51 |url-status=live }} After seeing Zee's work where she drew "The Bastion" for the game, the two co-founders at Supergiant immediately asked her to join the project full time. Zee later called it "serendipitous" as she was considering a career change anyways, and took the position as Supergiant's art director. Her artwork for Bastion often went straight into the game, and she later described the work as "super empowering" because of the ownership she was given. Reviews for Bastion repeatedly praised the game's striking visuals.{{Cite web |last=Dyce |first=Andrew |date=2011-07-20 |title='Bastion' Review |url=https://gamerant.com/bastion-reviews/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=Game Rant |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316181944/https://gamerant.com/bastion-reviews/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Greg |date=2011-08-22 |title=Bastion Review |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2011/08/22/bastion-review |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=IGN |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316181946/https://www.ign.com/articles/2011/08/22/bastion-review |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=McGee |first=Maxwell |date=2011-07-19 |title=Bastion Review |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/bastion-review/1900-6323664/#:~:text=It%27s%20a%20beautifully%20detailed%20action,for%20what%27s%20coming%20up%20next. |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316181952/https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/bastion-review/1900-6323664/#:~:text=It%27s%20a%20beautifully%20detailed%20action,for%20what%27s%20coming%20up%20next. |url-status=live }} Game Rant
Zee described her work on Supergiant's next game, Transistor, as a love-letter to William Waterhouse, Gustav Klimt and other classical work, while intentionally eschewing Cyberpunk aesthetics despite the game's futuristic setting.{{Cite web |last=Hansen |first=Steven |date=2014-05-22 |title=Transistor's sword was a briefcase at one point |url=https://www.destructoid.com/transistors-sword-was-a-briefcase-at-one-point/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=Destructoid |language=en-US |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316181946/https://www.destructoid.com/transistors-sword-was-a-briefcase-at-one-point/ |url-status=live }} Her work on designing the main character Red took time and coordination with the story team, with Zee landing on having Red's companion be a sentient sword. Again, critical reception praised the game's visuals.{{Cite web |last=Sliva |first=Marty |date=2014-05-20 |title=Transistor Review |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/20/transistor-review |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=IGN |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316181944/https://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/20/transistor-review |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Donlan |first=Christian |date=2014-05-20 |title=Transistor review |language=en-gb |work=Eurogamer.net |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/transistor-review |access-date=2023-03-16 |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316181944/https://www.eurogamer.net/transistor-review |url-status=live }} The Mary Sue
For Supergiant's third game, Pyre, Zee noted that she was inspired by pen-and-ink artists while developing the game, but was not able to incorporate that style into the design.{{Cite news |last=((MCV Editors)) |date=2021-06-09 |title=Behind the art of Hades: "We value artistic integrity and excellence in artistic craft at Supergiant, however we're first and foremost a game design-led team." |language=en |work=MCV |url=https://www.mcvuk.com/business-news/behind-the-art-of-hades-we-value-artistic-integrity-and-excellence-in-artistic-craft-at-supergiant-however-were-first-and-foremost-a-game-design-lead-team/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |issn= |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316181946/https://www.mcvuk.com/business-news/behind-the-art-of-hades-we-value-artistic-integrity-and-excellence-in-artistic-craft-at-supergiant-however-were-first-and-foremost-a-game-design-lead-team/ |url-status=live }} Zee noted that the team was "sick of doing worlds where there was only one person" in discussing the inspiration for her work on the game.{{Cite magazine |last=Wallace |first=Kimberley |date=2021-04-30 |title=The Story Behind Supergiant Games' Pyre |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/04/30/the-story-behind-supergiant-games-pyre |access-date=2023-03-16 |magazine=Game Informer |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316181944/https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/04/30/the-story-behind-supergiant-games-pyre |url-status=live }} Reviews again reacted positively to Pyre
= ''Hades'' and ''Hades II'' =
Hades, Supergiant's fourth game, is an action roguelike set in Greek mythology with the main character Zagreus attempting to flee the Underworld. For the game, Zee said she was inspired by the work of comics artist Mike Mignola and Fred Taylor, a 19th-century poster artist. With a larger team than she had previously managed on earlier games, Zee oversaw the artistic concept for the game, along with its character and environmental designs, while members of her team handled other pieces. They originally made the game with a painterly aesthetic, but changed to a pen-and-ink look after the narrative changed in post-production. The Guardian
Zee has been nominated for and received numerous accolades for her work on the game. Zee received the 2020 BAFTA Games Award for Artistic Achievement for the work of her and her art team.{{Cite web |date=2021-03-02 |title=Hades - Artistic Achievement |url=https://www.bafta.org/games/awards/artistic-achievement-2 |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=BAFTA |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316181954/https://www.bafta.org/games/awards/artistic-achievement-2 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Rosario |first=Alexandra Del |date=2021-03-25 |title=BAFTA Games Awards: Supergiant Games' 'Hades' Takes Home Top Prize – Complete Winners List |url=https://deadline.com/2021/03/bafta-games-awards-2021-hades-takes-home-top-prize-complete-winners-list-1234721128/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Deadline |language=en-US |archive-date=March 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326001145/https://deadline.com/2021/03/bafta-games-awards-2021-hades-takes-home-top-prize-complete-winners-list-1234721128/ |url-status=live }} At the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, Zee was nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction", and received awards in four other categories where she was specifically credited as part of the larger development team, including for "Game of the Year".{{Cite web |last=Rousseau |first=Jeffrey |date=2021-04-22 |title=Hades wins Game of the Year at DICE Awards 2021 |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/hades-wins-game-of-the-year-at-dice-awards-2021 |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |language=en |archive-date=December 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226002419/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/hades-wins-game-of-the-year-at-dice-awards-2021 |url-status=live }}
Zee remained art director for the game's sequel Hades II, which was released into early access in May 2024.{{cite web | url = https://kotaku.com/hades-2-release-date-early-access-chronos-melinoe-1849876057 | title = Everyone’s Hot As Hell In Hades II, As They Should Be | first = Isaiah | last = Colbert | date = December 9, 2022 | accessdate = May 7, 2024 | work = Kotaku }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|4679352}}
- [https://twitter.com/0jenzee0?lang=en Twitter account]
{{Supergiant Games}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zee, Jen}}
Category:American video game artists
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)