1 Joke From The Vault - “Maurice On Mars” (Episode 2)

It’s time for yet another dive into one of my weird projects. But don’t worry, daily FIVE JOKES will return next week!

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In a previous installment, I highlighted the first episode of my three-part animated web series Maurice on Mars. So, here I’ll highlight episode 2 as an excuse to explain more of the behind-the-scenes process for something like this:

Just as important as the characters in the foreground, are the details behind them. And for Maurice on Mars, we worked with talented background designer, Kim Yuan Xu.

Here is one of Kim’s early designs for the coffee shop:

And here’s the final:

They share the same bones, but the subtle differences tell a slightly different story. My suggested logic was that since the coffee shop’s owner is a weird, semi-robotic hodgepodge of materials—

— the shop should be a similar hodgepodge, hence the variety of chair styles and colors in Kim’s first design.

Just like writing, the question soon becomes What is the simplest way to express this? In this case, do we need the variety of colors, or can the shapes do the trick on their own?

A bit more about Maurice on Mars below this paywall, but for more projects I’ve been a part of, click here! Or, hey, check out this review of the show from a fan: