Beyond the Sky

A 62-page graphic novel that uses an interplanetary journey to speak about immigration, xenophobia, language barriers and the search for belonging.

Original title: Além do Céu

Science fiction creates the distance needed to look at a present human crisis with empathy.

Year: 2025
Role: Comic creation, art direction, illustration, visual identity, editorial design and layout
Context: Graduation project at Anhembi Morumbi University
Team: Higor Selvino, Felipe Moreira Almeida Vieira and Ruan Lucas Ribeiro Silva
Deliverables: Graphic novel, sketchbook, custom box, posters, collectible cards, buttons, bookplate, print and promotional animation

01 · The premise

A foreign child in a divided world

In a retrofuturistic society inspired by the 1940s, Scott meets Zayra, a child who arrived from another planet and cannot speak his language. Their attempt to reach the promised city of Saphira exposes surveillance, forced assimilation and the systems that decide who is allowed to belong.

The story translates immigrant displacement into an interplanetary metaphor. Instead of treating migration as a statistic, it places the reader inside the confusion, isolation and vulnerability of being unable to understand the world around you.

The narrative follows Kishōtenketsu, a four-part structure based on introduction, development, contrast and conclusion rather than a single conventional villain.

Design as a social voice

The project combines research, visual storytelling and editorial craft to build empathy without simplifying the subject.

Critical design

Graphic design becomes a tool for discussing displacement, cultural erasure and xenophobia.

Emotional narrative

Composition, rhythm, color and silence guide the reader through fear, tension and connection.

Speculative distance

A fictional planet makes a familiar social conflict visible from a new and more universal perspective.

A retrofuturistic world

Noir contrast, 1940s lettering, textured color and analog science-fiction references shape a world that feels both distant and historically familiar.

Orange retrofuturistic industrial landscape from Beyond the Sky

Solid shadows

Noir shapes communicate pressure, surveillance and danger.

Narrative color

Warm orange marks the oppressive city and emotional tension.

Material texture

Noise, halftone and worn surfaces reduce the feeling of digital perfection.

Building the page before drawing it

Selected scenes were first tested in 3D. Camera position, scale and gesture could be solved before the page moved into sketch, line art and final color.

01Stage the scene

Pose, scale and camera.

02Build the rhythm

Panels, silence and pacing.

03Define the drawing

Gesture, expression and contrast.

04Set the atmosphere

Color, texture and depth.

Page 41 · Composition study

Finding the emotional distance

The same exchange was explored from several angles before drawing. A wide view establishes the difference in scale between the characters, while closer tests isolate the adult's uncertainty and the object held between them.

Wide 3D staging study with two characters facing each other — Wide staging · relationship and scale

Close 3D camera test of a character's face — Close-up · expression

Medium 3D camera test focused on a character's hands — Medium shot · gesture

3D composition reference for page 41 — **3D reference**Blocking proportion and direction

Sketch stage of page 41 — **Sketch**Composing five narrative beats

Line art stage of page 41 — **Line art**Clarifying gesture and contrast

Final artwork of page 41 — **Final page**Adding color, texture and focus

Page 40 · A second example

The method stays consistent, not the composition

This page uses repetition, shifting scale and tighter crops to slow the moment down. The sequence shows how a loose structure becomes a controlled visual rhythm without losing the energy of the first drawing.