Linus character rigs and animations - Rive

Linus (linusprep.com) is a gamified test-prep platform designed to take the "dry" out of SAT studying. By borrowing the addictive mechanics of Duolingo - daily streaks, interactive quests, and a vibrant cast of animal characters - Linus helps high schoolers stay motivated during one of the most stressful periods of their academic lives.

As a Motion Designer on this project, I was responsible for transforming static character concepts into a library of expressive, interactive assets using Rive.

The goal was to create a "living" world where characters didn't just sit on the screen but reacted to user progress. We needed a workflow that allowed for high-quality, skeletal animation that remained lightweight enough for web and mobile performance without sacrificing the charm of the original illustrations.

I worked alongside the an illustrator (Miss Chatz) and a team of animators to bring the Linus universe to life. My primary focus was the technical rigging and motion design of the character library.

To maintain the clean, vector look of the illustrations, we focused on high-quality skeletal rigging in Rive:

Joystick Controls: We set up custom joystick controls for head turns and directional looking.

Bone Hierarchies: Built robust skeletal structures to ensure that movements like arm waves or ear twitches stayed "on-model" with the original designs.

IK Constraints: Used Inverse Kinematics to create natural movement for the animal characters, ensuring their limbs moved realistically during walk cycles or celebratory jumps.

I developed a range of animations categorized by user intent:

Idle States: Subtle breathing, blinking, and tail-wags to keep the interface feeling "alive" during study sessions.

Success Triggers: High-energy victory animations for when a student hits a daily goal or masters a difficult math concept.

The magic of Rive lies in the State Machine. We built the logic that allowed the animations to transition fluidly between states (e.g., transitioning from an "idle" state to a "celebration" state based on real-time app data). This ensured that the characters felt like they were truly participating in the student's journey.

By implementing a dedicated character motion system, we helped Linus achieve:

Brand Consistency: Maintaining a unified motion language across a wide range of characters, ensuring every animal felt like it belonged in the same universe.

Performance at Scale: Using Rive allowed us to deliver complex animations at a fraction of the file size of traditional GIFs or Lottie files, ensuring the app stayed fast and responsive.

Working with the Linus team required a balance of technical precision and creative storytelling. We didn't just want to move pixels; we wanted to build study buddies for students.

🖱️View more animations I made for Linus right here 🦊