Specialties
Character Design
Creature Design
Concept Art for Film
Animation Visual Development
Costume Exploration
Keyframe & Worldbuilding Concepts
Entertainment Illustration
Freelance Concept Artist
Lead Character Development
Art Direction
Max Kostenko
Lead Concept Artist & Character Designer | creature designer | illustrator
Max Kostenko is a Lead Concept Artist, Character Designer, and Creature Designer based in Vilnius, Lithuania, working internationally across film, animation, visual development, and entertainment design.
He began his career in 2010 as a self-taught freelance artist, building a foundation in illustration, character design, creature design, and visual storytelling. Over the past 15+ years, his work has evolved from editorial and publishing illustration into high-end concept art for feature films and animated productions.
In 2012, his work gained international recognition after winning a competition hosted by the renowned New York illustration agency Richard Solomon Artists Representative, which led to commissions for major publications including The Wall Street Journal, as well as book cover work for acclaimed authors such as Katherine Applegate.
His transition into film and entertainment design began in 2014 with Monster Trucks (Paramount), directed by Chris Wedge. That same year, he won the THU Golden Ticket, marking an important step in his international career as a concept artist.
Since then, Max has contributed to a wide range of major productions in film and animation. His credits include work on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Warner Bros.), where he contributed to creature development including the Demiguise, as well as additional work for the sequel. He has also worked on projects such as Cattywumpus at Paramount, FOO, Leo (Netflix Animation), Wizard of Oz (Animal Logic), Don’t Look Up, Inspector Sun, and Secret Level.
In recent years, his work has focused on character design, creature ideation, costume exploration, and visual development for feature productions, collaborating with leading studios and filmmakers. In 2025–2026, he has been involved in early development work with Framestore for the sequel to Wonka, directed by Paul King, contributing to creatures, characters, costumes, and key visual scenes.
Today, Max continues to work globally as a freelance and studio-based concept artist, helping shape memorable worlds, expressive characters, and distinctive creatures for film, animation, and entertainment projects.
What sets Max’s work apart is his versatility across the full range of character development. He moves comfortably between stylized character design for animation and anatomically grounded creature design for VFX and live-action film, adapting each design language to the needs of the project. Whether the goal is charm, graphic clarity, and appeal—or realism, complexity, and cinematic believability—his process is always shaped by story, tone, and directorial vision.
Filmography
Selected Credits
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them — Creature Design
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald — Creature Development
Leo — Character Design
Don’t Look Up — Creature Design
Inspector Sun — Lead Character Designer
Monster Trucks — Concept Development
Wizard of Oz (soon) — Visual Development
Secret Level (soon)— Character Design
Cattywampus (soon) - Concept art, Character design
Wonka 2 (soon) - Character Design, Creature Design
