Picture this: lizard-like aliens, living in spherical homes on a planet covered in ocean. You have officially entered the “Migalaxy,” Miguel Lopez’s self-de- signed universe of planets, each complete with their own unique backstory, geography and inhabitants.

The “Migalaxy” was one of Lopez’s first outlets for his creative talent. Through colorful Lego creations, comic drawings and even Minecraft, Lopez found a passion for creating elaborate worlds around stories of people, places and things.

“I love designing,” he said. “I spend a lot of time making aliens, designs for vehicles, machines, planets, mystical worlds, cool architecture — it all comes completely from my head.”

While Lopez occasionally references images to capture basic shapes or refine details, he prefers to create designs entirely from his own imagination. In addition to Pinterest, his main source of inspiration is movies, which is why he recently made it a goal to watch a one movie a week. Many of his ideas also come to him during swim practice.

“That’s when I’m getting my ideas, and when I get home, that’s when I actually put down my ideas on paper,” he said. “I’ll make whole stories in my head (while I’m) in the pool.”

Like many artists, however, Lopez is no stranger to creative burnout.

“Sometimes I’ll sit down with a white piece of paper in front of me, and I just won’t draw,” he said. “I have vibes that I want to put on the paper, these general ideas, but I don’t know how to put them down.”

This kind of “art block” troubled Lopez during his sophomore and junior year. But he rekindled his love for drawing and designing in the summer before his senior year, creating designs to apply for college programs. As of now, he’s interested in becoming a creative director in the flmmaking industry.

“The characters, the costumes — he’s in charge of all that,” he said. “That’s what I would like to do. I would like to design aliens for ‘Star Wars’ or for Marvel or something like that.”