Silpo Mural

Environmental illustration, retail graphics

Silpo is known for turning its supermarkets into unexpected, immersive spaces. For its new store in Irpin, the concept centred on plasticine — a material associated with creativity, play and making things by hand.

I created two large-scale plasticine murals: a 48-metre continuous frieze and a 12-metre mural, bringing characters, landscapes and small visual stories into the existing interior.

The challenge

The murals had to work as part of an already developed architectural environment. They needed to connect with elements of the space, create a coherent visual world and remain engaging across a very large format.

The larger challenge was scale.

Could a hand-made plasticine illustration remain genuinely hand-made when printed across almost 50 metres — without repeating a limited set of motifs or relying on AI-generated imagery?

The answer had to be yes.

Image is a curtecy of Silpo

The idea

I developed a world populated by more than 30 characters, objects and landscapes. Their interactions became part of the visual narrative: characters discover, play, meet and respond to each other.

The long frieze unfolds almost like a story of creation. It begins with abstract plasticine forms and gradually develops into a world of living things. A tree made from bread appears above the bakery area, while the smaller mural near the seafood section takes on a marine theme.

Around 30 small hearts are hidden throughout the composition. The idea came from my daughter while she was watching me work on the sketches.

The process

How we were looking for the solution: from sctatch 

Making it real

The final composition was built physically from plasticine.

To maintain accurate proportions, I printed the background compositions and used them as guides for placing the sculpted elements. This was particularly important because the final file could not simply be cropped or corrected after printing.

The physical work was photographed in more than 100 individual frames. These were then assembled into one seamless digital composition. The final file exceeded 78,000 pixels in width.

The result is a continuous image of a physical plasticine artwork rather than a digital image made to look like plasticine.

Some details were deliberately simplified because they would never be visible from the final viewing angle. Others were developed in great detail because even a small shift would become visible at the scale of the finished mural.

The result

The two murals cover approximately 100 square metres and were permanently installed in the Silpo supermarket in Irpin, which opened in December 2024.

The project was later recognised in the Europe’s Finest Store 2025 selection by European Supermarket Magazine. Three Silpo stores were selected from 29 stores across 16 European countries, with Silpo as the only Ukrainian retailer on the list.

The physical plasticine composition was handed over to Silpo after production.

Client: Silpo

Creative Director: Inna Yasak
Year: 2024
Role: Illustration, plasticine sculpture, photography & retouching
Additional collaborators: O.S.A.
Interior photography: Silpo
Recognition: Europe’s Finest Store 2025

Thank you for reviewing the case study. If you have any questions, please contact me via  hello@olhaprotasova.com

You can also dowload my portfolio presentation

Tactile Sculptural Illustration & Lettering 

Handcrafted visuals for brand campaigns and product storytelling

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