My first Christmas project / Blanchardstown 2022

LITTLE
SANTA.

Little Santa was my first Christmas project — and my first project at Nebula Creative. Created from scratch for Blanchardstown Centre, he became the starting point for a complete seasonal universe.

Blanchardstown CentreCharacter + 3D + motionCreated at Nebula Creative

Start at the beginning

Little Santa waving and holding a green Christmas present — the little character that started something big ✦

01First idea
023D character
03Christmas world
04Campaign
05Real life

01 / the first idea

A first project, built from zero.

The brief began with a blank page: create a warm, recognisable Christmas character able to lead a campaign across digital and physical touchpoints.

I developed the concept, sketch and visual direction before translating Little Santa into 3D.

before the pixels, a pencil line ✎

Little Santa pencil sketches showing front, side and back views — **Character turnaround**Front · side · back

02 / from sketch to 3D

From sketch to a character system.

The original drawing was sculpted and refined in 3D, preparing Little Santa for poses, animation, campaign artwork and future seasonal applications.

Little Santa being sculpted in ZBrush — Digital sculptFinding the silhouette in ZBrush

Early Little Santa render in a snowy scene — Shape, material and personality beginning to meet

03 / the Christmas world

One character became a Christmas world.

The character set the tone for the logo, campaign identity, animations, social content and the wider Blanchardstown Christmas experience.

Storyboard and layout development for the Little Santa Christmas animation — from story beats to camera, environment and motion

Little Santa peeking from a gift box beside a wooden train and Christmas tree — Environment + lighting

Little Santa toys inside a wooden workshop cupboard — Character multiplied into a story world

Two Little Santa poses peeking out of large red present boxes — One character, more than one little performance

Blanchardstown Christmas campaign artwork featuring the Little Santa plush — campaign application / a memory visitors could take home

04 / across the campaign

Built for every touchpoint.

Little Santa moved through campaign artwork, motion, digital screens and seasonal communications without losing his recognisable personality.

Character3DMotionCampaignPlush

one idea, already learning many lives ↗

05 / real life

The first idea left the screen.

Little Santa later became a physical toy — turning the project that began my Nebula journey into something families could take home.

tiny Santa, enormous turning point ♡

Bia holding the finished Little Santa plush toy — the actual Little Santa / held by the person who modelled him

Outcome / why this first still matters

The project that started everything.

An original Christmas character created from zero
A 3D system built for poses, animation and campaigns
A logo and visual world shaped around the character
Digital and physical touchpoints connected by one identity
A first agency project that became a collectible toy

Created at Nebula Creative for Blanchardstown Centre. Character concept, sketching, 3D development, animation, logo and selected campaign assets by Bia Busnello. Wider campaign development and physical production were delivered collaboratively with the Nebula Creative team and production partners.