Pari-Mehr (Visual Development)
This project is the practical component of my MFA thesis, The Impact of 16th-Century Persian Miniatures on Visual Development. In this work, I explored how elements such as historical context, shape language, ethnology, and geography can inform and influence visual development in animation.
To do this, I focused on 16th-century Persian miniature painting and translated its distinctive shape language and symbolic aesthetics into animatable character design and concept art. The result is a culturally grounded visual development project that bridges traditional Persian art with contemporary animation design.
This project was selected to receive the Silver Award at the 19th Annual International Design Awards (IDA) 2025 in the Graphic Design discipline, Print / Self-Promotion category, by a global jury from submissions representing more than 70 countries.
Poster design for the dissertation defense of this project
Character interactions: Zal chasing Pari-Mehr
Character interactions: Pari-Mehr does makeup on Zal
Color change based on mood: Pari-Mehr grieving for her lost wings
Final character design for Pari-Mehr
Character design and costume design for Pari-Mehr and Zal
Character rotation sheet for Pari-Mehr
Pari-Mehr Project Characters scale sheet
Character facial expression sheet for Pari-Mehr
Close up of Character facial expression sheet for Pari-Mehr
Character age and color exploration for Zal
Character design for Gopat-Shah (Ancient Persian Mythical Sphinx)
Character design for Simorgh (Iranian Mythical Bird)
Character design exploration for Gopat-Shah (Ancient Persian Mythical Sphinx)
Character design explorations for Gopat-Shah (Ancient Persian Mythical Sphinx)
Character design explorations for Simorgh (Iranian Mythical Bird)
Visual development of the city influenced by 16th-century Persian miniatures
Initial visual development of the city influenced by 16th-century architecture in Iran
Pari-Mehr Character Development
Pari-Mehr: Early Stages of Character Design
Initial Character design explorations for Zal
Character design explorations for horses
Pari-Mehr Project initial Scale Sheet
Art studies from 16th century Persian miniatures
Art studies from different historical periods in Iran
Iranian Insect Study and Design
