Manga Shop Pantomime

Look and Feel

I wanted to depict a relaxing summer’s day so I chose a warm color palette for the background. The clothing of the characters showcases a gender-fluid style. The guy is rocking a crop top and the girl looks awesome with her shaved head and long tee.

Having the characters sit outside a manga shop grounds the short animation in a relatable world. Placing the line of sight directly on the main characters invites the viewers to humanize them and wonder what they’re listening to.

The Characters

Simple, charismatic, gender-fluid style, and quirky.These adjectives informed the character design along with the mood board.After making rough sketches I designed “skeletons” of the characters made of lines, circles, squares, and rectangles.

The Background 

Inspired by Japanese storefronts, I sketched a manga shop that has hints of Japanese culture. Including a vending machine and noren curtains featuring an anime-influenced logo I designed. The warm color palette gives off a summer feel and the intentional lighting choice frames the area of action.