A collection of original concepts and personal projects spanning speculative product design, children’s book illustration and fantasy storytelling.
From imagining future healthcare tools to building fictional worlds, these projects give me space to experiment, develop characters and explore how images can communicate ideas and bring stories to life.
MEDILENS
Original Concept · Product Design · Concept Sketching · 3D Modeling & Visualization
What if essential medical information could be accessed as naturally as looking at a patient? MediLens explores this idea through a speculative smart-glasses concept for healthcare and the pharmaceutical sector. I independently conceived and developed the project under PURR Studios, a creative collaboration formed with FaceCraft.
The concept brings patient information, augmented reality and optical magnification into a compact wearable. It imagines how healthcare professionals could access medical records, appointments and room assignments within their field of view. A more exploratory application considers how visual recognition and AR overlays might support examinations and provide guidance during dental and surgical procedures.
MediLens also envisions a connection between doctors and pharmacies. For participating patients, recognition could bring up relevant diagnoses and prescriptions alongside medication availability, potential alternatives and ordering information. The intention is to reduce time spent searching across separate systems and make relevant information accessible at the point of care.
The physical design explores a compact alternative to bulky combinations of medical eyewear, magnifying lenses and attached equipment. Folding optical elements and additional magnification lenses allow the proposed device to adapt to different tasks, moving between everyday use and close examination.
My work spans the original concept, exploratory sketches, product design, 3D modeling and renderings. I also developed a mechanical concept for the folding and magnification functions, designed to be demonstrated in a planned product film. These visual studies make a future-facing idea tangible, exploring how the device could look, move and fit into a professional workflow.
DAS NILPFERD AUF DEM RÜCKSITZ
The Hippo on the Backseat
Children’s Book · Illustration · Character Design · Visual Development
Story by Markus Schnurpfeil
A little hippo appears on the backseat of a car, too small to see through the window. It asks the driver to describe the world outside—but a list of cows, tractors and passing objects is not enough. The hippo wants the world to be told as a story: something it can imagine, interpret and become part of.
Written by Markus Schnurpfeil, this children’s book explores how storytelling shapes our understanding of the world. Everyday observations become starting points for invention, inviting readers to look beyond what is immediately visible and discover what it might become in their imagination.
My illustration work explores that space between observation and fantasy. I developed an endearing hippo character and experimented with page compositions, environments and a visual style that would encourage young readers to explore. A passerby carrying an instrument case might suggest an unexpected adventure; a nighttime scene might transform into a fantastical underwater world. The images leave room for children to make their own connections and imagine stories beyond the words.
Intended especially for readers in their third and fourth years of primary school, the book lends itself to both independent reading and reading aloud. Text and illustration work together to encourage curiosity, conversation and the pleasure of seeing the familiar in a new way.
INFINITE
Original Story · Worldbuilding · Character Design · Graphic Novel · Storyboarding
Infinite is my ongoing personal storytelling project: a fantasy world shaped by Chinese wuxia cinema, reimagined through a European perspective and an anime- and manga-inspired visual language. I develop its characters, environments and interconnected storylines, exploring how people hold on to hope in a world that is gradually becoming uninhabitable.
At its heart is Yuki, a kindhearted, idealistic girl who wants to become a heroine. As outside forces consume more of the world, its inhabitants are driven into an ever-shrinking space. Some resist, others lose hope, and some exploit the desperation around them. Forced to travel with her mentor Lu and his companions—a group of thieves, criminals and killers—Yuki finds herself learning from people who contradict everything she hopes to become.
Her challenge is to remain true to herself while looking beyond first impressions. What can she learn from people whose actions she rejects? Who do the celebrated heroes overlook? And what does it mean to help people whose beliefs conflict with her own? Yuki’s convictions bring her into conflict with both outlaws and supposed heroes as she gradually discovers her own way forward.
Despite its troubled setting, Infinite is a hopeful story about empathy, conviction and growth, inspired in part by the spirit of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The project began with a 60-page graphic novel that I wrote, drew and illustrated for my bachelor’s thesis. It continues to evolve through new designs, story ideas and storyboard sequences.
SEAN ZIETHEN · ART DIRECTOR & VISUAL ARTIST
BASED IN GERMANY · WORKING WORLDWIDE
© 2026
