Thinking through visuals

I work across book and commercial illustration, combining classical drawing skills with digital storytelling. My projects range from full book series to animated longreads and merchandise — always built around one idea: an image should make a story clear, memorable, and emotionally immediate.

Brief

A full series of illustrations for Charles Perrault’s Bluebeard in a Russian translation. The task: make each image distinctive and memorable for a young reader — within the client’s provided book layout.

Idea

Conveying an old story to new readers, while preserving its mysterious and dark atmosphere. Contrast as the story engine: Bluebeard appears huge and wild, while the young heroine is delicate and small — so that even at a single glance, the reader instinctively fears the villain and sympathises with the girl.

Solution

I developed the concept, visual language, custom lettering, ornamental patterns, and two main character designs. The Gothic interiors of Bluebeard’s castle support his frightening persona while creating a mysterious, fairy-tale atmosphere. Each scene is accompanied by a concise text block placed between illustrations — preserving the full narrative while letting the images carry the emotion.

Outcome

A full series of illustrations telling the story from introduction to climax and resolution. The project demonstrates skills in classical literature, lettering, ornamentation, and expressive character design.

Brief

A board game developed for a competition organised by HSE Publishing House. Competition constraint: a continuous path of cells from start to finish.

Idea

The golden era of vampires is long over — the last remaining vampires are quietly living out their final days, and all of them have lost what mattered most: their fangs. Four elderly vampires gather in an ancient Victorian mansion to compete for the ultimate artefact of vampirism — a denture with fangs.Comedy through contrast: frail old age set against the vampire canon. The game has two decks (Obstacle and Helper) and is set in an ancient Victorian mansion, with the whole design built around the atmosphere of that old house and a playful take on vampire stereotypes.

Solution

I independently developed the concept, characters, cards, and box design. The typography uses frames stylised as Victorian borders. The game board is a large map of the old mansion, filled with small details of antiquity. The characters are elderly vampires with silly names (Fangella, Bloodsucka, Garlicka, and Chomper) in period costumes, and the cards playfully twist vampire stereotypes — mirrors, Joseph van Helsing, and talking portraits that become helpers.

Outcome

The project includes the box design, the game board, four character figures, twelve cards, and card backs — all in a single Victorian visual system.