Ana-Maria Cojocaru



Ana-Maria Cojocaru is a graphic designer originally from Iași, Romania, and now based in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Specializing in motion graphics, 3D animation, and speculative, research-driven projects, she graduated from ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem in 2024.

Ana co-founded local:local, an Arnhem-based creative collective with peers including Janine Zielman, Kuan-Ting Chen, Tofe Al-Obaidi, Kasper Quaink and Uus Offerhaus. Together, they organize workshops, curate events, and explore diverse freelance design projects.


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2174:Future Ruins of an Automated Past is a speculative design screen installation that explores topics such as automation, non-places and capitalism through two looped animations, each one minute each. The installation takes place in a dark space and includes items such as a shopping cart and shopping baskets, which are ocasinally revealed by the flickering light of led lights.

It focuses on how automation and consumerism impact the future non-place, particularly the supermarket, a day-to-day space within our lives.

The first animation is a preview of Z Markt, a supermarket in the year 2174, or whatever is left of it. Automation took over until the point where human staff were no longer needed. The machines targeted every thought, need or insecurity that people had. Eventually people began revolting, destroying all supermarkets and ultimately abandoning them in protest of the system. This resulted in nature taking over these relics filled with garbage, malfunctioning robots and floating cash register rolls. Z Markt is a post dystopian, pre utopic supermarket.

X Markt, the second animation, is a preview of the old supermarket in its initial form. It might look like the supermarkets we know today, but there are actually no screens, no self-check outs and less automation than we have nowadays. X Markt is completely empty, creating an eerie feeling, but it’s also filled with hidden hints that suggest the future of these non-places such as the placement of items on the shelves and hidden messages advertised as irresistible deals.

As the names X and Z suggest, Y Markt is missing from this animation series, suggesting that we are living in its era, heading towards a dystopian future.

The project was based on extensive field research including interviews with supermarket workers, from cashiers to regional managers, as well as speculative designers. It takes inspiration from a variety of authors such as Marc Auge, Mark Fisher and Rem Koolhaas, as well as videogames such as The Last of Us and Cyberpunk 2077.

Music by: Claudius Heilgendorff

ReUse  Beeld&Geluid - Showreel

Modular showreels were created for Beeld&Geluid using their amateur video archive collection. We focused on snippets of the most recognizable elements within the selected footage: the human body.

The result is a series of three modular animations showcasing faces, hands, and feet from the archive. 
To provide variety, we incorporated landscapes as interludes, offering a visual break and demonstrating diverse approaches to utilizing the archive—ranging from simple cutting and selection to crafting 3D motion graphics from the footage.

In collaboration with: David Roos and Joshua Pettiti.

Winterscapes -  Identity, Poster and Timeline

Identity, poster, and timeline for Winterscapes: Tech Symposium Theatrium, organized by the Future Storytelling Lab at ArtEZ Arnhem. 

We designed a 3D landscape as the central element of the poster, with typography, information, and data revolving around the "Winterscape".

Made in collaboration with Tofe Al-Obaidi.

A to ... -  Event Identity and Animation

Identity and a series of three animations created to promote the event “A to ...” at ArtEZ Arnhem. Organized by my colleagues and me at local:local, the event aimed to help students gain a better understanding of their futures as designers, covering topics such as freelancing careers, legal assistance, and obtaining visas.
Animation made in collaboration with Tofe Al-Obaidi.

Blocks - 3D Animation and Stills



Animation made during my internship at Johannes Verwoerd Studio