I'm Melanie Zimmermann, creative leader with a passion for gaming and a player-centric approach to developing brand strategies.
I have spent over two decades in the creative industries, with 12 of them in games. Having worked in both product and publishing teams, my goal is to inspire connected cross-team collaboration and results-driven thinking, while always putting the player first.
My career has taken me from creating in-game art for Club Penguin to spearheading innovative out-of-game products and experiences for League of Legends players in EMEA. Today, as Director of Brand & Marketing at Wooga, I lead multidisciplinary teams that develop and execute world-class brand and marketing campaigns for games like June's Journey. My passion for gaming and my deep knowledge of the industry fuel my commitment to creating exceptional player experiences and driving business growth.
Wooga portfolio coming soon
In 2015, the annual League of Legends World Championships were held at several venues across Europe. The finals were watched by 36 million people, with a peak concurrent viewership of 14 million viewers. BBC three covered the quarter finals live from Wembley.
To give our players a truly regional experience, my team launched a brand new esports website for EU. Content is uniquely created for each language and the CMS features an advanced layout system. The branding is light and sporty to give esports it’s well deserved placement among other European sports brands.
Creative direction of a Berlin style visitor’s experience for the EU LCS studio. Realised by the awesome artists of Peach Beach.
To enable our players to express their excitement about their favourite esports team, we developed a series of social media assets and a Facebook profile picture maker app.
Art direction and creation of multilingual in-game assets such as logos, room art, UI elements and everything that brings the game to life on web and mobile.
Creative direction and consultation of Club Penguin Magazine and collateral from launch issue. The magazine got published in 10 countries (in the UK by Panini) and ran successfully on a monthly basis over the course of 4 years.
Responsibility for other print products including books and comics, sticker albums (Panini), trading cards (Topps). Membership cards and displays. Flyers, posters, postcards. Merchandise.
Art direction and creation of digital marketing and social media campaigns for over 20 markets in different languages across EMEA, with core marketing needs of various territories and their specific audiences in mind.
Design and production of Club Penguin’s presence at various festivals, events and conventions across Europe. Pictures from the 2013 Star Wars Convention in Germany.
Overseeing of regular collaborations of Club Penguin with established brands, such as Marvel, Monsters University/ Pixar, Star Wars and The Muppets.
As part of our Tropical Party in game event, I collaborated with the designers at Innocent to incorporate the Club Penguin brand in their smoothie packaging. The products contained codes to unlock exclusive items in game and were accompanied by an extensive digital marketing campaign.
CANTO VII is a project realised using the camera obscura, better known as pinhole camera. This ancient style of photography works without lenses. The camera is a simple box with tiny hole, allowing the entering light to expose the film. Inspired by the works of Dante Alighieri my images are capturing the beauty of long lost memories of a different time and place, memories of Dante's Paradise.
Hardcover 29 x 41cm · 44 pages · Canto VII by Dante Alighieri, photography by M. Zimmermann · Published in Reflektor 2, 2010, ISBN 978-3897903159 · Selected prints available at www.kunstkaufhaus.de and www.saatchiart.com
SHANGHAI, ZEITZEICHEN is a collection of images trying to document the incredibly fast change of this booming megacity. Where you have small traditional huts today you will find the most modern skyscrapers tomorrow. Each old photograph is contrasted with one taken in the same location in 2005. A map shows each photographed location so it can be revisited in the future.
Hardcover 28 x 40cm · 54 pages featuring 34 each new / old photographs · Photography, text & illustrations by M. Zimmermann, old photographs scanned from various sources
CIOCCOLATERIA VESTRI is an historic chocolate shop in the heart of Florence, Italy.
The logo I developed for them recalls associations with »tradition and quality«. It contains the emblem of Tuscany, a pegasus. Corporate Identity Design (logo development / business cards / promotional items) · Package Design · Product Catalogue & Leporellos
Concept & Design of the board game AMO TE for the ESG Dortmund. 2-4 players.
Exhibited at Die Liebe hört niemals auf in Dortmund / Paderborn / Münster / Berlin (Germany) · Featured in J. Will Armstrong: Von der Alma Mater zum Bildungskonzern, 2008, ISBN 978-3825817015
Illustration of Roald Dahl's The Twits, on occasion of his 90th birthday in 2006.
Hardcover 18 x 29cm · 28 pages · Story by Roald Dahl, illustrations by M. Zimmermann
TILLY & DIE GEISTER (»Tilly & the ghosts«) is a fantastic story for both children and adults. It may seem very dark at the beginning, but the further you and protagonist Tilly explore the friendly underworld of the cemetery, the more you will find out about real friendship and love. Love that crosses the borders of life and death.
Hardcover 20 x 20cm · 25 pages · Story & illustrations by M. Zimmermann · Selected illustrations Exhibited 2004 at Kunstvoll, Düsseldorf (Germany)