How Diana Arus (Dianimations) designed the animated avatar for Marilyn Moser’s single “Out Of Orbit”
Art by Diana Arus (Dianimations)
We’re celebrating the one-year anniversary of “Out Of Orbit” by Marilyn Moser, originally released in 2023 via HEADS on TV. Here’s how animator Diana Arus (Dianimations) and Marilyn joined forces to create the “MODE” animated avatar from scratch.
Marilyn initially reached out to Diana in 2022 with the idea of creating an alter-ego, someone to help tell the story of Marilyn’s time in the studio during the pandemic. “‘MODE’ is an acronym that stands for Most Of us Delete Everything,” says Marilyn. “I had been spending a lot of time reflecting on past unreleased songs, most of which sat untouched for years. I was looking for a way to bring them back to life.” Marilyn also enlisted the help of producer Jordan Lawlor (previously a touring member of M83), drawing musical inspiration from artists like Daft Punk and Madonna.
To kickstart MODE’s animation journey, Marilyn put together a Canva presentation to share with Diana, referencing key inspiration points for MODE’s visual aesthetic and purpose. Daft Punk’s Discovery, The Jetsons and even Mary Poppins helped shape the final design for MODE. The presentation also included MODE’s backstory, and how the character intended to narrate lyrical themes within the music.
Well into the early months of 2023, Diana and Marilyn exchanged emails as Diana created early renderings of MODE. Shown below, MODE went through several different color variations, hair styles and even donned horns at one point. Says Marilyn of the final design: “I wanted to include a few Easter eggs sprinkled throughout MODE’s look. For example, we gave her blue hair as a nod to my early days performing in LA with bright turquoise hair. We also added a subtle letter ‘M’ design to the side of her headphones, as a nod to both my name and MODE.”
Art by Diana Arus (Dianimations)
Once the MODE avatar design was complete, Diana rendered several angles of the MODE character, including a performance stance and side profile. These renderings were used throughout the single’s marketing efforts, including the single artwork. Diana also created several 7-second clips of MODE, which Marilyn looped in Adobe Premiere to create the final treatment for the “Out Of Orbit” lyric video. Here’s the final product:
You can listen to “Out Of Orbit” now, streaming on Apple Music and Spotify.
