🎭 Character Designer

About us.

Kalmus Labs is building Remora - an AI-native platform focused on transforming books, documents, and information into something interactive, immersive, and deeply personal.

Most learning products today feel cold and transactional. We want the opposite:
a calm, atmospheric experience where visual identity, emotional tone, and character presence become part of how people connect with knowledge itself.

We’re building something closer to a living digital environment than a traditional “education app.”

Why this role matters.

This is not just “making illustrations.”

You’ll help define:

• the emotional identity of the platform
• the visual atmosphere users associate with Remora
• companion characters users spend time with
• the tone and feeling of the entire product world

This role sits somewhere between:

• character design
• worldbuilding
• visual storytelling
• atmosphere design
• subtle motion direction

We’re a small, highly collaborative team moving fast with very little bureaucracy. Strong creative contributors will have major influence over the direction of the product.

What you’ll create.

• Companion characters with strong emotional presence
• Calm futuristic environments and visual worlds
• Stylized illustrations integrated into the product experience
• Ambient motion and subtle animated details
• Visual systems that feel elegant, modern, and emotionally grounded
• Future visual assets connected to progression, interaction, and identity

The direction is closer to:

• atmospheric sci-fi
• soft futurism
• elegant digital worlds
• emotionally intelligent design

NOT:

• loud game UI
• generic anime clones
• hyper-corporate SaaS visuals
• AI-generated slop

What we’re looking for.

You might be a strong fit if you:

• Care deeply about mood, atmosphere, and visual emotion
• Understand subtle character expression and human presence
• Enjoy building worlds, not just isolated assets
• Like the intersection of technology, storytelling, and visual identity
• Can combine modern design sensibilities with stylized illustration
• Are interested in long-term creative ownership instead of freelance-style disconnected tasks

We care more about visual taste and creative direction than specific software.

Bonus if you have:

• worldbuilding interests
• cinematic framing sense
• UI-compatible illustration experience
• light animation / motion skills
• interest in futuristic aesthetics or speculative design

Work style / culture.

• Small core team (~10 people)
• Direct communication
• Minimal meetings
• Fast iteration
• Flexible schedule (~10–20h/week initially)
• Remote-first
• Strong creative autonomy
• Long-term opportunity to grow into a paid core role as the company scales

Compensation.

Equity-only for now (Pre-Seed stage)
4-year vesting / 1-year cliff

Target range:
~3%

As the company grows and funding closes, the goal is to transition core contributors into long-term paid roles.

How to apply.

📩 Send:

Portfolio
Character/environment examples
Motion work if available
A few honest sentences about what kind of worlds or aesthetics inspire you

to: [email protected]

Please avoid AI-generated cover letters or generic applications. We care much more about creative identity and taste.

🌐 kalmuslabs.com (update soon)