Klara and the Sun
This is an independent visual development project for game concept art. The core content is adapted from the novel Klara and the Sun by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro. The project includes environment design, character design, and prop design, constructing an almost lifelike virtual world to convey narrative, emotion, thematic ideas, and aesthetic expression. The 2D and 3D assets produced through this concept design process can be used for game prototyping and provide multi-layered visual references for game development.
Game animation prototype · Blender and Unreal Engine
Inspiration
This project adapts Klara and the Sun by my favorite author, Kazuo Ishiguro. I’m drawn to the novel's exploration of humanity and its gentle, fairy-tale tone that masks an absurd and unsettling near-future world. Its blend of philosophical depth and vivid imagery offers strong potential for visual adaptation in film or game development. About the Original Work Klara is a solar-powered AI robot, purchased by Josie as a companion. When Josie falls ill, Klara hopes sunlight can heal her and gradually comes to understand the complexity of human emotions.
Aesthetic design
This project integrates three aesthetic frameworks—Retro-futurism, Brutalism, and Futuristic architecture—to define its visual language. Retrofuturism Retrofuturism is a style full of contradictions, visually blending the past and the future. I hope this aesthetic can reflect the social tensions in the original novel, while expressing a sense of coldness beneath warm tones. Brutalism & Futuristic architecture Brutalism and Futuristic architecture have influenced the architectural style in my animation. In my designs, I incorporated many futuristic elements and used concrete structures and materials.
About AI technology
I am the first author of the book "AIGC Art Design Practice: Game Scenes". This book is a practical guide on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in game art design. It was developed during the same period as my Klara and the Sun project.
Chapter flow
Forgetting → Rebirth → Encounter → Companionship → Parting & Redemption.
Storyboard
Using the Midjourney platform, I created AIGC-assisted storyboards.
Character design
Klara and Josie’s designs anchor this project. Inspired by the plot in which Josie’s mother attempts to remake Klara as her substitute, I created a homologous “two-in-one” visual relationship. Contrasts in material, color, and detail establish a clear binary that intensifies the drama and reflects the tension between technology and humanity, and between originals and substitutes.
Klara’s storyline follows the novel. Created at the AF Research Center, she is offered for sale at the AF Store. Her display position determines whether she meets Josie. When Josie falls ill, the storyboard follows Klara’s decision to sacrifice and pray to the sun. Josie recovers and grows up, leaving Klara behind.
Environmental design
AF Research Center
The following showcases the AF Research Center environment and the design process for the elevator prop within the scene, including modeling, material assignment for nodes, and animation production.
AF Store
In the lighting design of the scene, the interior of the AF store uses light as its primary narrative medium. Natural light serves as the main source, not only fulfilling the functional needs of illumination but also echoing the AF robots’ dependence on solar energy, thereby creating a narrative connection between the environment and the original story.
Farm
Farm scene adopts an open, horizontal composition, using vast wheat fields as the foundation while introducing oversized wind turbines and small farmhouses to create a striking sense of scale. This juxtaposition of “large vs. small” and “artificial vs. natural” draws from Tadao Ando’s philosophy of “nature intervening in architecture,” using surreal proportions to deconstruct conventional spatial perception. The spiraling forms of the giant windmills and the geometric energy devices extend the mechanical aesthetics of futurism, while their dynamic diagonal lines intersect with the horizon to disrupt the tranquility of the pastoral landscape—symbolizing how technological civilization permeates and reshapes traditional agricultural ecologies.
Final work
