# Inside the Stern Studio with Zombie Yeti

**Source:** Stern Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2020-07-27  
**Duration:** 2m 54s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbCGT3dkTsw

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## Analysis

Zombie Yeti, head of Stern Pinball's art department, discusses his career path from dot-com interface design to pinball artistry, emphasizing the importance of playfield design as interface, backglass detail work, and his selective, passionate approach to projects. He describes his artistic philosophy and creative process, particularly his work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Zombie Yeti came to pinball serendipitously after a 10-year hiatus from drawing following a dot-com career in interface design — _Direct biographical statement; confirmed by him stating he hadn't drawn in 10 years before being contacted by a friend_
- [HIGH] Zombie Yeti views playfield design as interface design and considers it huge; backglass is bigger to him in terms of focus and detail — _Direct design philosophy statement: 'the playfield was essentially interface design... the backglass is bigger to me'_
- [HIGH] Zombie Yeti only takes on projects he knows and loves, and specifically volunteered for TMNT — _Direct quote: 'I don't take on a project if I don't know it and love it. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—I threw my hat in the ring'_
- [HIGH] Zombie Yeti adapted his artistic style for TMNT, specifically maintaining soft edges and curvilinear forms to match the cartoon aesthetic — _Direct statement: 'Turtles is a great example where I forced myself to keep drawing soft edges in curvilinear forms'_

### Notable Quotes

> "I don't take on a project if I don't know it and love it. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—I threw my hat in the ring and I said, 'Well, listen, if that's gonna happen, I will gladly be involved.'"
> — **Zombie Yeti**
> _Reveals selective, passion-driven approach to project selection and his commitment to TMNT_

> "When it sort of clicked that the playfield was essentially interface design... the playfield is huge. The backglass is bigger to me because I know that I always put a lot more focus on the backglass as far as detail is concerned."
> — **Zombie Yeti**
> _Core design philosophy statement; explains his conceptual framework for playfield and backglass design_

> "I try to create something that's going to catch their attention from across the room, but then when they get close to it, they have to take time to kind of pour over it."
> — **Zombie Yeti**
> _Describes intentional design strategy for backglass artwork to engage players at multiple distances_

> "Literally every game has blown me away the first time I get to see it in my head. It's always way better than I anticipate. I have a constant grin."
> — **Zombie Yeti**
> _Shows emotional investment in finished products and surprise/delight in final execution_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Zombie Yeti | person | Head of Stern Pinball art department; artist and designer with background in interface design and dot-com industry; involved in TMNT pinball project |
| Stern Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer where Zombie Yeti serves as head of art department |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) Pinball | game | Pinball project Zombie Yeti volunteered for; discussed as example of style adaptation to cartoon aesthetic |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Career transition from dot-com/interface design to pinball art, Playfield and backglass design philosophy, Artistic style adaptation for specific IP themes
- **Secondary:** Project selection criteria and artistic passion, Backglass artwork as primary focus detail

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Zombie Yeti expresses genuine enthusiasm for pinball, satisfaction with career transition, emotional investment in projects, and delight in final results. Conversational tone is warm and reflective. Minor negative mention of disliking kindergarten teacher is peripheral.

### Signals

- **[design_philosophy]** Zombie Yeti's design approach emphasizes playfield as interface, backglass as primary detail focus, and style adaptation to IP requirements; demonstrates thoughtful, systematic aesthetic strategy (confidence: high) — Direct statements on playfield-as-interface concept and backglass priority; deliberate style choices for TMNT cartoon aesthetic
- **[personnel_signal]** Zombie Yeti confirmed as head of Stern Pinball art department; this aligns with known signal about questions regarding creative decision-making authority in Stern's art direction (confidence: high) — Zombie Yeti identifies himself leading Stern's art department and discusses his role in game projects including TMNT

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## Transcript

My parents have told me that my kindergarten teacher could always get me in line by threatening to take away my drawing time. I don't remember that, but I do remember disliking her very greatly.

Dumb luck—I just sort of serendipitously tripped into pinball. I saw it as a great opportunity. I was like, "Oh my goodness, this is awesome," and so I ran with it. When I was a kid, I was into comics and stuff like that. Even though I went to art school, I never took an illustration class. I kind of was afraid of failure, and so I avoided it like the plague. Out of college, I ended up actually in the dot-com world. Honestly, I hadn't drawn anything for probably 10 years, and I got hit up by a friend. I picked up a pencil again, and I found out that wow, I was actually better than I remember. I guess I was preparing for pinball even when I wasn't.

For me, when it sort of clicked that the playfield was essentially interface design—and I had been doing that for way too long with any of these projects—the playfield is huge. The backglass is bigger to me because I know that I always put a lot more focus on the backglass as far as detail is concerned. I try to create something that's going to catch their attention from across the room, but then when they get close to it, they have to take time to kind of pour over it.

I don't take on a project if I don't know it and love it. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—I threw my hat in the ring and I said, "Well, listen, if that's gonna happen, I will gladly be involved." Everyone grows up on cartoons. There's like this innate sense when people see like clean line work and color that kind of gives that sort of joy of, you know, "Hey, I'm a kid," kind of thing. I do sort of bend my style depending on the project, and actually Turtles is a great example where I forced myself to keep drawing soft edges in curvilinear forms.

Literally every game has blown me away the first time I get to see it in my head. I always have sort of an idea of what I think it's going to look like all together. It's always way better than I anticipate. I have a constant grin. I'm hiding it right now, though.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 517eac8e-014a-4c55-8538-52ed02beca40*