Hey y'all!
I'm Emmy Mayers, Chicago-based animator and artist. I have a passion for character design and animation, as well as layout and background art. Check out some of my work above!
Character Design Process
RóisÃn is a character I first thought of in 2016, and she's had a few different versions throughout the years. Until 2026, this was her official reference. I started drawing her with Copic markers when I was in high school, and made minor adjustments to her face and hair over the years. Recently I decided I wanted to start writing her comic, so I thought I would come at her design with fresh eyes and more experience.
I wanted to redesign her outfits to better reflect the era she is inspired by and to have stronger silhouettes and visual language. I sketched out a few options for different uses and settings.
Then I blocked out areas of color to try to make sure there would be contrast between all the different pieces of the outfit. I ended up tweaking the colors before the final version.
Wanted to tweak some of her facial features and make her more easily reproducible. I drew her siblings along with her since they have nearly identical features.
Final pass, with cleaned up lines and adjusted colors.
Character Design Samples
On top is the design for the other character in Sun Fever! On the bottom is the design of a character I used for a motion test, based on a K-Pop idol.
Colbie and Fae are characters from another project for a cartooning class. Their designs place less emphasis on proportions or anatomy that resemble real humans, and more on stylization.
Character Concepts
Layouts and Backgrounds
Layouts and set designs from the Sun Fever project. The sweet Victorian-style townhouse looks very out of place in the foggy old-growth forest, almost as if it were placed there by magic.
A finished layout for Sun Fever, the workroom.
It utilizes a limited palette, which was the design I ended up going with in the finished film.
This was a fun study I did on dutch angles that took a sinister turn!
The first two concepts I did for the environments of Sun Fever. I like to do floor plans beforehand.
The Leapfrog is a spaceship from an original story I wrote during college. I designed it top-down first so I could get a sense of how it might function as a set for characters to live in.
Comics and Illustrations
Visdev and character concepts for my original comic, Fruit Punch, about a group of boys that accidentally acquire the powers of magical superhero girls.
In my original concept they were all K-Pop idols, but I decided I didn't like that idea as much as having a wider range of characters for the cast.
As of August 2026 I am working on design sheets for the cast!
This was a commission I took where I was asked to draw a scene from a story the client had written. I had to design the monster based off a vague description, which was quite a fun challenge!
Everflame
One of my first tasks was to animate this banner for the discord using existing layouts.
I worked on Everflame's masculine player character by developing the three skin tones, as well as all three eye colors and one hair style.
For the female player character I contributed to her basic design, as well as the skin tones, hair colors, eye colors, and hair styles!
Animatics and Reel
Animatic for a 2D puppeted piece called Puppy Love.
And my demo reel!
Demo Reel Breakdown
Maknae On Top (2023)
Responsible for all animation
00:07:06-00:13:18
Sun Fever Shot 2 (2021)
Responsible for all animation and layout
00:13:18-00:29:08
Sun Fever Tests (2021)
Responsible for all animation
00:29:08-00:41:18
Sun Fever Shot 1 (2023)
Responsible for all animation and layout
00:41:18-00:55:11
Sun Fever Shots 3-5 (2022)
Responsible for all animation
00:55:11-01:10:09
Sun Fever Shot 16 (2023)
Responsible for all animation
01:10:09-01:29:18
Strawberry Punch (2023)
Responsible for all animation
01:29:18-01:32:17
Pencil Test (2022)
Responsible for all animation
01:32:17-01:39:07
Puppet Walk Cycle (2022)
Responsible for all animation
01:39:07- 01:44:01