Yue and Miumi!

World Building
Illustration

Role: Illustrator
Tools: Procreate
Timeline: Ongoing
Type: Personal

Premise

Yue is quietly tired. The same people, the same problems, nothing she'd mention.

The Mimis are happy, but not because their days are better. They get sad, get mad, and take it as it comes. Nothing held in, nothing saved for later.

It's not about avoiding the hard moments. It's about not bottling them up.

Then Miumi the Mimi finds her...

The Mimis

I drew the neighborhood before I knew who it was for. Blobby gerbils, always doing something — studying, planting, shopping, or hauling ice cream through a playground.

They're silly and a little derpy. They also get sad, and they get mad. Whatever it is, it comes out.

Then one wanders further than the rest, and finds Yue. That one's name is Miumi.

Turnaround sketch of Miumi, a cream-colored blobby gerbil, shown from the front and side with an open-mouthed smile

Hand-lettered 'Hungry Miumi' over a giant strawberry cake slice being devoured by little bears with forks

A spider-legged glass ice cream kiosk in a park, with Mimis climbing rainbow stairs and carrying ice cream across the grass

A purple night street strung with fairy lights, with lines of Mimis dancing over the cobblestones between tall buildings

A dense, colorful town of stacked buildings and grassy rooftops where Mimis garden, play music, swim and lounge

Yue

Yue lived in sketchbook margins for years before this.

What she brought was something the Mimis don't deal with: the grind of a normal day.

Hello, I'm Yue!
I'm just like you, finding some joy in my day-to-day.
But sometimes I get tired...
Tired of facing people, tired of the same thing every day...
Sometimes I just want a break from my reality...
And that's when Miumi found me!

On her design sheet she's dressed in all grey, Yue before encountering Miumi. After, colors and patterns start appearing in her clothes, symbolizing the changes happening within.

Turnaround sketch of Yue, a girl with braids and a cowlick, dressed head to toe in grey, shown from the front and side

Pencil sketch of Yue asleep in blue striped pajamas and yellow pants under a moon, with hand-lettered 'Good Night'

What's Next

Putting Yue and Miumi together in illustrations, and seeing what their days look like side by side.

Yue crouching and gently patting Miumi on the head while both smile

Yue napping curled up in green grass beside Miumi, surrounded by fireflies and pink flowers

Yue hugging Miumi tightly with a tired grin on a grassy hill while other Mimis cheer around her

Moving forward, I'm turning this project into something that is tangible. Prints, pins, stickers and sticker sheets, keychains, notebooks, cups and possibly the pieces people keep: blind boxes, figurines, t-shirts, shoulder bags.