Hello Yameng! Could you tell us a little about your career journey so far?

I came to the UK from Shanghai in 2020 to study MA Illustration. After graduating from Kingston School of Art in September 2021, I came to Sheffield and joined Peek & Poke. Before that, I was a digital designer and illustrator in advertising agencies mainly doing commercial graphic design and illustration.

Although this was not the perfect job for me, as a self-taught illustrator (my bachelor’s degree was in finance) I have accumulated a lot of work experience in the past 3 years. When I first saw the work of Peek & Poke, I felt that it was more consistent with my work background and abilities. I had always been interested in games, so I came here. For me, this job opens a new page in my career life.

What is your job title at Peek & Poke and what does your role involve?

My job title is 2D Game Artist/Illustrator. My responsibilities include designing characters, backgrounds, and UI panels for games. At present, I am working on the white-label games to make their visual style meet customers’ needs. In addition, I do some interior designs for our website, exhibition stands, etc.

What are you looking forward to?

In terms of work, as a newcomer, I’m now working with the successfully built game frameworks. Everything is fresh and interesting. In the future, I hope to participate in the development of a project from scratch, contribute my own abilities and unique perspectives to the team, and present brand-new ideas for games.

Having moved from Shanghai to London to Sheffield in the past year, it feels like unlocking new maps in a game. Especially at night, overlooking Sheffield city centre from higher places, it’s like seeing countless clues and side tasks waiting for me to explore.

What keeps you busy outside of work?

I like to work on some small projects of my own (comics and clay toys). My personal style is very different from what I do at work. I like to draw things that are both childish and fun, but have a dark sense of humour.

I also really enjoy cooking. I cook mainly Chinese food and occasionally some Southeast Asian or Italian dishes. I’m not into creating fancy dishes, but instead try to make authentic home-cooked food.

I also started to pick up some outdoor activities recently, including bouldering, camping, and hiking.

What is your current / all-time favourite game? Digital or physical – there are no rules!

I prefer solving puzzles and exploring than battle and competition when playing games. I have completed 100% of Breath of The Wild, stepping on almost every spot on the map. I also love horror games like Inside, Devotion, and Little Nightmares. Sometimes I like to play indie games for something a bit different, such as The Convenience Store – a Japanese horror game.

Last but not least, and the one thing we all really want to know is, in the event of a zombie apocalypse, what’s the plan?

I am a fan of zombie movies, and I actually considered this topic very seriously! Considering the population density of China, my former plan was to join the zombie team asap without enduring too much pain. Now that I am on an island surrounded by water, perhaps the government can figure out a way to achieve herd immunity, with mild zombies going to work normally, mutated ones being isolated at home, and violent ones being held captive. Then hope everything returns to normal.