STANDBY is a stop-motion animated short film that explores the uncertain yet thrilling moment of taking a leap of faith. The story follows an astronaut drifting through a wrecked ship until a mysterious light appears, awakening something within her she thought she had lost. The idea grew out of our desire to speak about that spark that pushes us to reinvent ourselves, even when we don’t know what awaits on the other side.

My role encompassed art direction, graphic design, illustration, character design, and fabrication. I developed the concept art, the design of the ship, and the puppet protagonist, guided by a retro-futuristic aesthetic inspired by 1960s Soviet spacecraft. We wanted to move away from the sterile white imagery so common in contemporary sci-fi and instead build a visual space that felt warm, weathered, and profoundly human.

I designed the majority of the graphic elements in the film, ensuring the visual language reinforced the emotional arc of the story. I also led the puppet’s fabrication, designing and sewing the costume and sculpting its animatable facial features. It was a collaborative project between four people, each taking leadership within their own role, while generously supporting one another to bring this universe to life.