“It's surreal even now. I have a picture of the credits printed out at my desk,” said Naomi Urey about her experience working on “Toy Story 5” while interning at Pixar. “Working on the movie was awesome. Everyone at Pixar is so kind and nice.” 

Naomi Urey (BFA ’24) is a graphic designer, concept artist and illustrator who has been making waves in the animation space even before she graduated from Tyler School of Art and Architecture with a degree in Graphic and Interactive Design.  

In 2021, on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, Urey transferred from Howard University to Tyler. She had lived in Philadelphia for most of her life, residing on the edge of the suburbs, and was familiar with Temple University. But she had doubts. She worried about how she would make friends, find community and start the right career path.  

“When I transferred to Tyler, I was worried if I had made the right decision,” she said. “I had a lot of questions. I wanted to work in animation and was worried that graphic design would be too different. But when I spoke to an admissions counselor, she said other people had done it before me. That made me feel better.”  

Following the advice of her admissions counselor, Urey started her academic career in graphic design with a focus on creating a portfolio for animation in her own time. She joined the Tyler Design & Illustration Club to help find a sense of connection and place.  

“Being in the graphic design club helped me because I knew most of the people there,” she said. “I made a lot of friends who were also transfer students. I was glad to be in-person, starting my real college experience. The campus is great. I loved being at Temple.”  

Urey also credited her professors, namely former instructor Sean McCabe (BFA, ’93), for giving her the motivation and guidance to create a portfolio that showcased her unique perspective.  

“[McCabe] was very much a champion for us making our own portfolios,” she said. “At Pixar, they sat all the interns down to discuss the work we already had. In that moment, I realized that about 90% of my work was from Sean’s class. Even two years after graduating, that work still gets funded and is what I’m known for.”  

One of those projects was an interactive mobile game Squidpunk!, produced by the indie studio Thursday Labs. Urey had been developing the idea for Squidpunk! since high school and refined her skills in character design, storyboarding and visual metaphor at Tyler.  

“There's a way that girls are marketed to, and then there's a way that boys are marketed to, and I noticed that when I was younger, I didn't align with just one thing,” she said about her early inspiration for the game. “Squidpunk! is a mix of everything I enjoy and a little bit of where I’m from. Philly has so many subcultures—especially an active biker subculture. I’m surprised a story like this hasn’t been told already.” 

Squidpunk! centers on Umi, an idealistic, somewhat sheltered girl who works at her family’s restaurant. When her family encounters financial hardship, Umi joins Squidpunk, a local biker girl gang, to raise money by delivering takeout orders. 

Throughout the game, Umi, and by extension the player, explore the city’s underbelly, challenge rival gangs and learn more about the fellow members of Squidpunk. Drawing inspiration from works like the landmark anime film “Akira” and the animated superhero cartoon series “The Powerpuff Girls,” the game is a fun, heartwarming coming-of-age story that offers a rich cast, memorable character design, and gameplay that is unique to Urey’s style. It’s a perfect display of what skills made her portfolio competitive for the internship at Pixar.  

“I wanted to work in animation and graphic design, so I showed good work in both of those fields,” she said. “You’ll hear ‘try not to be a jack of all trades’ and ‘if you want to do branding, just be great at branding.’ But if you want to do both, then show them why you should be allowed to do both. Show how serious and how passionate you are.” 

Being adept at both animation and graphic design helped Urey stand out among the rest. It also gave her the opportunity to bring the fan-favorite character of “Toy Story 5,” Smarty Pants, to life. 

“Smarty Pants started as a funny idea that I had,” she said. “My approach was to create a sort of icon that would be recognizable to the kids in the audience, and then the director really liked that icon. I think part of that was my graphic design experience kicking in because as a graphic designer, we make logos and icons for product design.”  

After getting approval from her director, Urey continued to iterate her design for Smarty Pants, not knowing at the time that her design would be selected for the film. 

“In animation, you understand that your idea might not make it to the finish line. The point is to give the artist as many ideas as you have,” she said. “About two years later, I was at a family reunion, and my friend sent me the final render of Smarty Pants, and I realized it was my design. It wasn't an alternate version.” 

Urey described the moment it all became real. She was reading an article about “Toy Story 5” that included a video of Bob Pauley, art director at Pixar and creator of Buzz Lightyear’s iconic design, drawing Smarty Pants and immediately experienced a surreal moment.  

“It didn’t really hit me until that moment. When I saw him, tears were streaming down my face because I just could not believe that my work was in there,” she said. 

Since the film’s release in June, Smarty Pants, voiced by Conan O’Brien, has been a fan favorite and is featured in much of the promotion surrounding the sequel. It all serves as a constant source of inspiration for Urey as she continues her practice.  

“This little guy voiced by Conan and all the merch that you see of him,” she said. “It’s just so cool.”  

Today, Urey serves as the production designer and story lead for “SquidPunk!” while also directing a short film called “Pawseed” funded by guitarist and music producer Nile Rodgers' nonprofit, We Are Family Foundation.  

“Pawseed” centers on a lonely farmer named Adelaide who comes to terms with feelings of loss after unearthing a dog made of vegetables. The film is now in its animatic stage of production.  

Urey's final word of advice to Tyler students? Make it yours.  

“Make the weird thing. Make the thing that you think is cool,” she said. “If you focus on making it good for you, that’s really what’s going to push you.”