I’m Darya — illustrator and 2D animator.

Logline: A video-game-obsessed teenager loses his grip on reality. Caught in a wave of derealization, his mundane trip to the grocery store transforms into a wild, chaotic gaming quest.
The Goal: To design a series of character and environment concept arts for a graduation animated film «Gamemaniac».
My idea: To make the characters quirky, contrasting, and grotesque, perfectly reflecting the film’s core theme of game addiction and derealization.

Visual Solution: To emphasize the main character’s gaming addiction, I built his look out of contrasting and funny details. His hair is so messy it stands completely stiff, and his eyes are barely open from endless screen time. I gave him instantly recognizable gamer cat-ear headphones for charm, and a hilarious, hyper-realistic wolf t-shirt that stands out in sharp, comical contrast against his stylized 2D body.

Supporting Characters: Inside the hero’s derealization, ordinary people turn into fantasy NPCs: a homeless man becomes a mighty Wizard, and a store clerk transforms into a gnome henchman. To tie these two worlds together, I embedded elements of their real life into their fantasy designs. The Wizard has a ragged robe, overgrown nails, and bugs trapped in his beard, while the fantasy gnome wields a barcode scanner and wears a badge that resembles a supermarket name badge.

Locations & Backgrounds: The spaces are also split into two realities. In real life, we see the gamer’s trash-filled bedroom and a completely normal, mundane grocery store. However, the moment derealization hits, the environment undergoes a drastic transformation: the world becomes filled with contrasting colors, and ordinary textures shift into pixel art, turning reality into a video game universe.

Game World: Chicago, 2124. A hyper-technological metropolis where AI is deeply integrated into daily life. A recent breakthrough allows AI to interface directly with the human brain and extract memories, revolutionized crime-solving. Proving guilt has never been easier, but the line of privacy has vanished.
The Goal: To design two main characters — a human detective and an artificial intelligence — making them absolute opposites in both personality and visual appearance.

Visual Solution: The character designs are built on a sharp visual contrast, using instantly recognizable visual cues:
• The Artificial Intelligence: The epitome of seriousness, logic, and order. Moving around in a flawless, sharp business suit, its look projects cold efficiency and absolute digital control.
• Detective Aaron: The complete opposite of his digital partner. A carefree, chaotic human detective who unironically believes in reptilian conspiracy theories. His rebellious, quirky nature is instantly readable: unkempt messy hair, a loose tie hanging around his neck, and ironic duck-patterned socks that completely shatter the image of a serious cop.

Unlike standard concept art for animation, where the design is strictly optimized for production ease, I chose not to hold back within the boundaries of minimalism for this project. Instead, I focused on crafting a fully realized, detailed, and realistic piece of concept art, letting the visuals command absolute attention.

About the Project: Character design for an animated music video for the track «Silence» by ANVIA.
My Idea: A protagonist designed to visually embody the delicate, immersive soundscape and subtle ethnic mood of the track, evoking a sense of purity, fragility, and peace.

Visual Solution: To match the track’s melancholic and soft vibe, I designed the character as a delicate little boy. His personality and appearance are built around softness and grace. I carefully embedded subtle Slavic elements into his clothing, highlighting the ethnic roots of the music while keeping the character’s look light, clean, and airy.