Meet Zoe Leach

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zoe Leach a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Zoe, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

What if the best way to find your purpose isn’t to choose one path early, but to try everything that sparks your interest and see what sticks? I didn’t grow up with a single, clear vision for my future. Instead, I found my purpose through creative exploration. I’ve never believed in wasted time, and every creative venture I’ve pursued has added something meaningful to my path. I followed curiosity wherever it led me, and that has made all the difference.

When I started piano lessons at age 7, I threw myself into the craft, focused not just on technical mastery but on learning pieces that resonated with me emotionally. As I played, I’d imagine vivid scenes unfolding behind the music—almost like scoring a film that didn’t exist. Later, when I learned a bit of music theory, I spent hours composing ambient compositions, chasing the most heart-wrenching, epic, and nostalgic chord progressions and melodies. In middle school, I started writing short stories, which were my first experiments in creating characters and building worlds. That led me to filmmaking, where I discovered how much storytelling lives in the details: a well-placed cut, a moody color grade, a purposeful composition. I studied tropes and visual language obsessively. Around the same time, I was learning to draw and paint, developing my fundamentals. I also spent several years singing in choirs, as well as acting and singing in community and school theatre productions. I pursued many avenues for emotional expression over the years.

By late high school, I began reflecting on all these experiences, as it was time for me to figure out what I was going to do after graduation. Illustration emerged as the top choice—of all the creative tools I’d explored, it was the one I was strongest in and most drawn to. I enrolled at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where I’m now entering my senior year, specializing in concept design for entertainment. At first, I was intimidated. Many of my peers had focused on illustration since childhood. I worried that my broader creative background meant I was behind. But over time, I realized that my path wasn’t a detour, it was an advantage. Everything I’d done pointed back to storytelling. My experiences in music, writing, filmmaking, and performing arts gave me a deep understanding of narrative, emotion, and world building. That knowledge now informs my design choices—whether it’s using atmosphere and color to set a mood, or using shape language and costume to imply a character’s role before they speak. In concept design, you have to communicate a world through visuals alone. My multidisciplinary background has become one of my greatest strengths, and I’m grateful for every step of the journey. That journey taught me that my purpose isn’t tied to one medium—it’s tied to storytelling. And I’ve found the perfect place to do that through illustration.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a rising senior at SCAD right now—which means I’m working hard on building my portfolio and preparing to enter the creative workforce. My primary focus within my coursework is concept design for entertainment, which is the practice of generating ideas to be used in film, television, video games, etc. All of the most popular media has talented concept designers behind their world and characters, and this is what I am training to do as well. I am also developing my skills in editorial illustration, animated illustration, surface/pattern design, and more, so that I have as diverse a skillset as possible. I am detail oriented and story-focused, so no matter what field of illustration I am working in, I make sure that I’m creating a narrative that really hooks people.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back, three qualities that had the biggest impact on my journey were curiosity, storytelling intuition, and visual literacy.
1. Curiosity was my guiding force. I never stuck to just one medium. I explored music, writing, filmmaking, acting, and visual art. That curiosity gave me a broad creative vocabulary and helped me connect ideas across disciplines. It taught me that no creative pursuit is wasted, because everything builds toward something.
Advice: Stay open. Try everything that interests you, even if it doesn’t necessarily seem “relevant” to your main goal. You’re building a toolbox, and you never know what could come in handy in the future.

2. Storytelling intuition came from years of chasing emotion in through music, scripts, and visual arts. I focused on why something felt a certain way, and what made it resonate. That focus on narrative is what has shaped my journey.
Advice: Practice thinking in stories. Whether you’re designing a character, writing a song, or painting a landscape, ask yourself: What’s the story behind this? What emotion should it evoke? Storytelling is a muscle—use it often and in as many formats as you can.

3. Visual literacy developed slowly, but it became foundational to my work today. Studying film taught me how to use color, composition, shape, and mood to communicate meaning without words. That skill is crucial in concept design, where your job is to visually imply story, world, and tone at a glance.
Advice: Don’t just practice drawing, study how visuals communicate. Watch films with the sound off. Break down concept art, photography, and animation stills. Learn why things feel the way they do, and start applying those ideas intentionally in your own work.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

I think it’s important to do both: go all in on your strengths, and stay open to developing areas you’re less confident in—especially if they can support or expand what you already do well. I have never been someone who specialized early. For a while, I worried that not choosing early meant I was falling behind. But over time, I realized that all of those creative detours weren’t distractions, they were investments.

That said, when I finally landed on illustration, I did go all in. I focused on building strong fundamentals in drawing, design, and visual communication. I poured hours into learning the craft and sharpening my technical skills, because I wanted to turn a natural strength into something professional. But I never abandoned the other parts of me—I still draw from music, filmmaking, and writing constantly. Those secondary skills give me an edge. They help me design more cinematic compositions, more emotionally resonant characters, and more cohesive worlds.

So my take is this: hone your strengths until they’re undeniable, but also nurture your weaker areas if they can enrich the work you love most. You don’t have to be amazing at everything, but a little extra range can make your strengths shine even brighter. In fields like visual development, being well-rounded doesn’t mean being mediocre at everything, it means having more creative tools in your toolbox, so you can communicate your ideas more powerfully. If I had only focused on illustration, I might be a great draftsman, but I wouldn’t be the storyteller I am today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/zoeleach
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beruskaart/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-leach-6875b9257/
• Other: https://www.behance.net/zoeleachillu