Zephyr’s sweeping art brings an alien world to life
How Federico Sohns went from learning to paint to illustrating a whole book.
Federico Sohns’ Zephyr: An Anarchist Fantasy Game of Fleeting Identities wrestles with stateless societies, gift economies, the work of David Graeber and James C. Scott — it’s got a lot going on. It’s also a very beautiful book. Each spread is a full-length illustration that sweeps across the pages. The text almost exists in the shadow of the characters in the illustrations. So many TTRPGs feel like coffee table art books nowadays, but this is one of the art-est. And Sohns did all of it herself, alongside the layout, design, and writing. The game’s only specific credits outside of her own are for the games’ editors.
Sohns says that they learned to draw and paint for this book. They’ve worked as an art director at Modiphius on the adaptation of the Dishonored video game as well as for Imagining Games’ Chew, which was based on the hit comic book series. But making tabletop games on IP-based games is a very different ball game, mostly involving the manipulation of official art work from the licensor. Zephyr, like Sohns’ previous game Nibiru, is much more a labor of love, starting from a blank page and exploring themes and ideas that personally appeal to the designer. As per their estimate, Sohns would've spent potentially a thousand hours just on the art for the book.
Rascal sat down with Sohns to talk about their journey as a visual artist, the role that art plays in a game like Zephyr, and advice for people who work to learn art themselves.
(This interview was edited for length and clarity.)
Thomas Manuel: How and when did you start thinking about the art direction of a game like Zephyr?
Federico Sohns: It starts from the fact that I'm approaching fantasy in a pretty non-conventional manner — the degrees of separation from fantasy conventions necessitates more depictions of the world, more art. [But] I was just super happy to draw so much, and I enjoyed the process so much that I felt like I could be drawing this forever. I drew Zephyr for four years. There's a big aspect of just bringing forth weird worlds that necessitates using the expressive space as extensively as possible.
Manuel: So, what was the first part of the visual identity that came to you?
Sohns: Just the Windfolk — actually, the mask. This was back in 2018, I think. I just drew a mask, and I was like, oh, I want this mask to be a character sheet, and I want people to essentially be carving traits into that mask and stuff. That didn't actually happen but the masks and just a little Windfolk guy was the thing that started it all for me.
Manuel: Was that even before the design of the game was in place?
Sohns: Yes, it was just sketches of these little guys!
