The barbershop: starting with a real place

The setting was not invented. It was directly inspired by a real barbershop in Harlem, scouted and documented beforehand—right down to the address recorded in the working script.

We use this method throughout the series: start with reality, then simplify it for animation. A place invented from scratch always feels false; it lacks the details no designer would think to add. The vintage barber chair, the wooden waiting bench, the faded posters, and the slightly cramped layout that forces people to cross paths.

One element was treated as a priority: the mirror. It is not decorative; it is the episode’s staging device. Amir never turns toward the businessman. The entire confrontation plays out through their reflections, making Amir seem even more unshakable. The setting therefore had to be designed around that sightline, with framing capable of holding both faces in the same shot.

The businessman: a character built entirely around rhythm

He is not a villain at all. That is what makes him interesting to design.

An immaculate suit, a watch checked every ten seconds, a phone already pressed to his ear before he has even stepped through the door. Everything in his silhouette is vertical and fast: straight lines, raised shoulders, sharp gestures. It is an intentional contrast with Amir’s rounded shapes as he settles into the barber chair.

The real animation work focused on his micro-gestures: he taps, sighs, and shifts his weight from one foot to the other. He cannot stay still. He is incapable of waiting—and that is precisely what the episode is about. We did not need to write a single line of dialogue to explain his problem; it is visible in his posture.

And because he is not an antagonist, he leaves humiliated but not destroyed. That is one of the series’ rules.

A word about the story

Discussing the value of time in a barbershop—there could hardly be a more symbolic setting.

It is one of the few remaining places where people accept waiting without doing anything, where the time spent is part of the service, and where strangers talk because they are sitting there anyway. The location carries the moral before the first word is spoken.

All that remained was to bring in someone who refused to accept that rule. The rest wrote itself.

©2026.Silhouette Brothers