Read - Introduction to Character Design
Read - Introduction to Character Design
In the next few modules you will be creating an assignment in which you illustrate Character Designs from an IP of your choosing. This assignment will be different that your previous assignments. In the last assignment you focused on the design of an environment, in this assignment you will focus solely on designing characters:
Before going further its important to know the parameters of the Character Design Assignment:
- You will be designing both a character "lineup" (consisting of a Hero [protagonist], Villain [antagonist], and sidekick [to either the protagonist or antagonist]) and a character turnaround.
- Each character in your line-up must have district personality traits that are apparent by their design, and still have a cohesive "universal" look or "house style" (see the instructor example below).
- Your turnaround must be of a character from your line up and should consist of a front, side, back and 3/4 shot.
- For the purposes of time, you are not required to render your turnaround, simply use flat colors (see instructor examples below).
- The layout can be either portrait or landscape, you should work at a size roughly 11x17 at 300 dpi (3300 x 5100 pixels) but you should turn in lower resolution works when you present on canvas. (no more than 2000 pixels on the longest side).
- Find really good refence before you begin any work. The characters you design must be unique; even if they are being taken from an established IP.
It is important to understand that the Character Design assignment consists of two parts - Lineups and Turnarounds. Make sure you click on each tab, read the definitions, and look at the examples of each to familiarize yourself with the topics.
When designing an intellectual property it is important to have cohesive aesthetic look while at the same create something exciting, unique and memorable. To do this it is beneficial to design the characters and then present them together to see how they appear as a collective group. To do this concept artist often take their character designs and "line them up" to see how each design relates to each other. "Lineup" is the term most used today but different studios may have different vocabulary for the same terminology. Some synonyms for "lineup" may include: Size Comparison Chart, Comparative Size Sheet, Shape Chart or a mix of similar terminology (size and shape comparative chart sheet). While different studios or design teams may have varied terminologies, the necessity of lineups to the concept design process is universal. Take a look at the lineups below and see if they inspire you with ideas on which type of designs you might use to complete your assignment.