how it started
Yuki's Friends began as my BFA thesis at Parsons School of Design, a collectible character universe inspired by blind box figures. Each character carries a little personality you can see yourself in.
I designed original characters, illustrated their world, animated their stories, and even 3D-modeled a fidget toy blind box series. It was supposed to be a school project. Then people started seeing themselves in it.
see the full thesis ↗
what happened next
I began sharing little animations and illustrations on Instagram, opening up about the quiet emotions we all carry but rarely speak of. Within a single month, a community of fifteen thousand people gathered around these drawings, and soon, millions of eyes were watching.
It turns out that so many of us simply needed a chaotic little pigeon to remind us that it is completely okay to feel everything.
the friends
Each character is inspired by someone dear to me, or perhaps just a piece of my own heart that I am still trying to understand. Yuki is soft and wears her tears on her sleeve. Miin overthinks every single message. Ratan tries to organize messy emotions like spreadsheets, and Coo Coo is the beautifully chaotic energy we all secretly long for.
None of them are perfect, and that is exactly why we love them.
Yukithe quiet one
Miinthe clinger
Ratanthe overthinker
Coo Coothird wheel