
Murderbot, Final Pre-Production Design
This is the design as it stood when it was handed off to Costume Designer Laura Jean Shannon and her amazing team. Artists Gina DeDomenico and Jason Pastrana contributed a lot of awesome work toward the final design as seen on screen! The design was previously directed by Production Designer Sue Chan, Interim Costume Designer Joyce Schure, and the Showrunners Chris and Paul Weitz. Truly, it takes a village to raise a Murderbot! It was fun to be a part of from start to finish :)

On Screen: Murderbot!
Played by Alexander Skarsgård.
Costume Designer Laura Jean Shannon.

Murderbot, The Nano Skinsuit
During the pitch Costume Designer Kym Barrett advised on the seam patterns and construction of the under-armor nano suit. Later, while working with Interim Costume Designer Joyce Schure, we hit upon the idea of using the company logo as a repeat pattern all over, showcasing Murderbot’s status as “branded property.”

GrayCris Sec Unit, Pre-Production Design
Once the show was greenlit I worked to refine this design from earlier passes under the guidance of CD Laura Jean Shannon. After handoff the design was further refined and adapted by LJ and Costume Illustrator Jason Pastrana into the version you see on screen!

Keyframe: Deltfall Sec Unit Fight (Ep. 3)
Painted during the first few months of work on the pitch, with direction from Production Designer Sue Chan and the Showrunners Chris and Paul Weitz.

Murderbot, as seen on screen!
Played by Alexander Skarsgård.
Costume Designer: Laura Jean Shannon.

Murderbot, Pre-Production Design Turnaround
This was the initial design direction for Murderbot when the show was picked up by Apple TV. I worked closely with production Designer Sue Chan and the Showrunners on the design via sloppier sketches and paintings, but this was our “presentation shot.” The font I designed for the chest became the seed for the full “bot” alphabet designed by Andrew Campbell, which was so cool to see. This design was later repurposed, adapted and upgraded into the Deltfall Sec Units by Costume Illustrator Jason Pastrana.

Early Keyframe
This painting was requested by the showrunners to demonstrate that the actor could express and act in the suit as it was then proposed (the helmet was still in flux). This was also shortly after Martha (Wells) revealed that she thinks of Murderbot as having metal feet! We ran with that for a while but ultimately it was too unwieldy for television.

Murderbot, Early Design Bust
This was the first image where we really hit upon the beginnings of the final look. It may seem far away but I remember everyone feeling like the straps really did something. The straps said “bondage” (servitude) in a very obvious, visual way, while also setting the design up to be unique within the space of white armored characters. The helmet at this point was drawing influence from creatures with false eyes like Orcas, and also sparring head gear.

Keyframe: An Intimidating Presence
This painting was asked for to help clarify Murderbot’s scale and ability to be intimidating toward other characters on set. The background is a quick paint-over of the fabulous 3D Hub set developed by Andre Balmet during the pitch process - thanks Andre!

Murderbot, Early Days
PD Sue Chan and I tried some really outlandish designs for Murderbot in the first few weeks of the project, just to push the boundaries and give context and variation to the design space. These intentionally alien and off-putting foam and organic suits never felt like Murderbot to me (or to anyone), but the straps designed to hold the foam in became a huge focal point for the final design. Straps = bondage = servitude.

Murderbot, Helmet Down

Murderbot, Body Composition Explorations
These started as a simple exercise in showcasing the design of Murderbot’s built-in energy weapons. As I painted, they became explorations of how Murderbot would be “built,” what parts of it would be organic vs. inorganic, and how obvious that would be at a glance, and upon further inspection.

Revenant
Character and damage design for the character Revenant, from James Rhoden’s novel In Sekhmet’s Wake.

Phenotype Exploration, Dungeons & Dragons
How do dwarven features adapt across different extant human phenotypes? We were supposed to do a whole slew of these covering different races and classes, and they were a lot of fun, but due to an injury on my part these never made it past the sketch stage.

Murderbot, Early Exploration
This rough GIF was produced to help clarify a “living helmet” concept (later discarded), wherein the nano-fibers making up the helmet would change and adapt based on the situation. Guards protecting the heavy-impact areas typical to be hit while fighting would deploy when Murderbot entered combat, and potentially also for intimidation or for some degree of expressiveness while helmeted.

Murderbot, Early Helmets
Stills from the “living helmet’ explorations, pre-casting. There was often an interest to see proposed helmets both “opaqued” and transparent, which is an ability Murderbot exhibits in the books. On screen, the helmet goes up and down instead, which is really cool looking.

Murderbot, Helmet Explorations
Just a few of the jillion helmets we explored while looking for “the one.” In the end it was 6b that became the seed for the Murderbot you see on screen. Love the way Costume Illustrator Jason Pastrana, Costume Designer Laura Jean Shannon, and countless unnamed others (surely) improved and adapted the helmet into what we see on screen! IT LOOKS SO COOL.

















