Process Toy City began over a decade ago as a personal exploration in 2D character design—a vibrant, slightly surreal urban environment populated by expressive, toy-like citizens. Each character had a unique personality, occupation, and role in the city's playful ecosystem. The initial intention was to explore character design across two dimensions:
 - 2D Illustration: Establishing a distinctive visual language through flat shapes, bold expressions, and playful proportions.
 - 3D Translation: Testing how these characters could evolve into three dimensions, maintaining their identity while exploring volume, texture, and animation potential.
 I started by sketching the city’s layout and imagining daily life through archetypes like the baker, the postal worker, the child, and others. The visual style drew inspiration from minimal geometry, expressive cartoons, and handcrafted toys—designed to feel both nostalgic and fresh. Each character was first illustrated in 2D to define their silhouette and attitude, then one was modeled in 3D as a prototype to explore shape translation and preserve its essence.
 I also built small narrative environments—like street corners and local shops—where characters could interact. One key outcome was a short 2D animation of the Toy City Ice Cream Parlor, created in After Effects, where characters began to move, emote, and engage in a lively, stylized street scene. This helped me test timing, expression, and spatial storytelling.
 Now, revisiting the project with today’s creative technologies, Toy City has taken on new life. With ChatGPT, I explored 3D image translations and brought illustrated scenes to life using Artlist. These tools allowed me to re-envision the original idea and imagine how far this world could go—beyond static visuals, toward a dynamic, multidimensional universe.