My name is Daria, and I’ve been a designer focused on marketing for 9 years. I’m Ukrainian, and a little over two years ago I moved to Toronto, Canada — where I discovered a new world: the world of AI startups. In Ukraine, I worked with both hardware and software products in marketing team.
Today, I help AI startups build their visual presence from the ground up. The startup world moves fast — it brings huge growth and constant change, but also pushes you to find creative solutions quickly. That’s what I love most about my work: connecting technology and design, and blending what’s functional with what’s beautiful.
However, my interest in creating design for physical products, researching ideas, and observing the evolution of solutions over time remained. I felt that this desire needed to be put into action. It didn’t matter where—the main thing was to start creating. Just open the laptop and start. That’s how my need to create turned into my project and blog.
This article is not a tutorial, and it’s not a guide about pixels. It’s about the idea behind my work — the creative vision that shaped my visual interactive configurators, and the meaning I see in bringing design to life.
The Path to the Idea
I’ve always been fascinated by how a product grows and how a company captures the audience’s attention. How the product is presented, what needs it truly meets, not just performing its basic function, which might seem like the only necessary one at first glance. I remember 6 years ago, during my interview for a designer position on the marketing team at Ajax Systems (an international technology company and the largest security system manufacturer in Europe), I was asked what new things I wanted to learn. My answer was: animation and marketing. It is precisely this combination that now forms the basis of my project.
I came to interactive animation just over a year ago when I stumbled upon a post featuring work created in Rive App. This was a key moment. I completely immersed myself in learning Rive, spending all my free time there. My background in marketing led me to the idea of visual configurators — tools that allow users to interact with a product, customize it according to their choice, and purchase it.
My first linear configurator unexpectedly went viral — 150 thousand views on LinkedIn. This was a signal: people are interested. In one year, my blog grew from 400 subscribers to over 8K on LinkedIn and over 4K on X, even though it’s new, just half a year old. My concepts garner 50-100K views. My blog helps me build networking and community. During this time, I joined the Rive Ambassadors program, where I work more closely with a small number of power Rive users. And recently, I became a member of the Leonardo AI Creator Program, through which I can upscale capabilities and it allows me to infinitely experiment in my creative process. Such collaborations are for me a recognition of my creative and design activities.
Research
After researching many different configurators, I see a clear division of custom solutions. On one hand, there are 3D configurators that require significant budgets and, most often, an in-house team. On the other, there are simplified static solutions. There are many of them, but their implementation often has a large number of technical limitations, especially when combining the visual part with the logic of customization and code.
In my opinion, static solutions seem somewhat cold. The product itself doesn’t feel alive, especially if it’s about high tactile and visual objects, such as furniture or products used in everyday/weekly life. The choice turns into creating a technical cost estimate, rather than a moment of creativity for the customer, creating the design of their own product.
That’s why I started thinking: how could we bring warmth, tactility, and a sense of connection into digital experiences? How could online product interaction feel as emotional and personal as in a real store — but without the complexity of heavy 3D configurators and overloaded interfaces?
“Online Showroom” concept
For many, the act of choosing and purchasing has become a ritual that goes beyond simply “looking and buying.” How it happens is important. In offline retail, the atmosphere is created by details: interaction with the manager, the interior, the opportunity to touch the material, feel its quality, the store’s scent, and correctly placed lighting. And this is what makes the selection process pleasant, adds emotion, and forms the desire to return. This is where my idea came from: to experiment with details to create the feeling of a showroom and quality service online — within the configurators.
However, I’m not a fan of complex 3D websites where you immerse yourself in another reality. To me, they are slightly overloaded. I feel closer to interaction with the real world. Therefore, I maintain a balance: I keep the interface elegant and restrained, but I add the opportunity to interact directly with the product — to play, explore, and choose, so users feel like the creators of their own choice.
When creating, I think about making the process arouse curiosity and hold attention. Every click immediately provides a visual response. The product comes alive, moves, and changes. Thoughtful interaction at every step adds the feeling of personalized service. And this means more satisfaction for the user and more trust in the product and the brand.
Simplicity
Creating emotion and warmth online is one part of the challenge. The next is making that experience technically possible — transforming complex systems into something that feels simple and alive.
The possibilities of non-linear logic in Rive give me the flexibility to build complex systems hidden from the user while keeping the interaction on screen light and intuitive. It allows me to avoid overwhelming solutions. All the complex mechanics and settings remain behind the scenes — just like in ballet. Imagine: you’re sitting in the audience and you see the highly technical choreography, perfectly synchronized set changes, and a live symphony orchestra creating the atmosphere. You enjoy the performance, completely immersed in it, without even thinking about how much work and detail is hidden behind the stage. It’s the same here: the user dives into the process, enjoys the interaction, and doesn’t encounter the complexity of the implementation.
Ballet tells a story, combining dance, music, and sets to convey deep emotions. I take this idea for my projects: I combine different elements so that the user doesn’t just “choose a product,” but lives a small experience that feels emotional, and this builds closeness and trust in the brand.
Product Beauty
When we design, we don’t just create interfaces — we shape how beauty is perceived. For me, beauty isn’t only about how something looks; it’s about what we feel in the process. It’s in the warmth of color, the softness of light, the way materials and reflections make a product feel alive — even through a screen. That’s how design translates emotion and creates connection.
But in digital work, this sense of beauty often gets lost. When we categorize too early — calling something “a static websites” and “configurators” or thinking only in terms of technical constraints — we stop seeing the product itself. We start designing around limitations instead of possibilities. And that’s when we lose the beauty of the product — how it looks, feels, and is perceived.
To bring that beauty back, I borrow an approach from Still Life. Not to turn configurators into paintings, but to treat them with the same sensitivity to light, texture, and detail. Just as still-life artists could make ordinary objects come alive through composition and attention, I want digital products — even something as simple as a wardrobe — to evoke that same pleasure and curiosity.
When we focus on how a product feels instead of how it’s categorized, we start seeing again. And when we start seeing, we can create experiences that go beyond function — ones that feel whole, emotional, and alive.
In Detail
In my concepts, I most often choose furniture. These are things where the decision is always made with the eyes and based on personal preferences.
I prefer not to leave a product “flat” against a background. Instead, I give it a stage, a space to exist in. This changes the feeling. For example, in one project, I used a darker background to match the wood tone—it emphasized the material and made the picture deeper.
In another case, conversely, a light background to create lightness and a feeling of air.
Sometimes I’m interested in playing on contrast or even placing the object in a real space to make it come alive. For me, it’s always about the product looking not like an “isolated picture,” but as part of a scene, an atmosphere that emphasizes its character.
The product is accompanied by shadows, light, and reflections to add depth and the feeling of the real world. Shadows move with the object; if the object’s size changes, the shadow’s size also changes. If there is a light configuration, it reflects on the surface and on the object itself.
I pay attention to materials and details—they are what make the scene feel real. If it’s a cabinet with mirrored doors, I even think about what will be reflected in the mirror. It’s a small thing, but the feeling of reality is composed of such details.
Interactivity opens up the possibility of reproducing the process of interaction itself. Imagine: a cabinet is in front of you, you open the doors and choose the internal filling. In my configurator, it works the same way. There is a sequence of actions: first the exterior, then the interior. And every time you interact with the product, the interface changes, adapting to your step.
Everything happens smoothly. If you change the size, it literally grows before your eyes—even though it’s not 3D! And when a new object is added, it looks as if a consultant in a showroom just placed a box in front of you. And it is precisely these small moments that create a living, realistic experience.
In conclusion
The idea behind my project lies in the meaning of choosing and buying — because it’s often not just about the product. It’s a ritual, a process where we feel emotions, connect with our choice, and with the brand itself. And when that experience feels right, we naturally want to return to it.
In offline stores, brands create this emotion through atmosphere — through light, texture, and space. My goal is to bring that same feeling into digital — through interactive configurators that make online experience feel emotional, tactile, and alive, not just a series of clicks and image switches.
Throughout this article, I used metaphors and examples to show that the meaning behind my work goes far beyond function. I see interactive configurators as a new language of digital storytelling. Through movement, light, and emotion, they let products speak for themselves. They remind us that good design isn’t about perfection — it’s about connection. When a user interacts, explores, and feels something real — that’s the moment design truly comes alive.