Mark Cullen Lecturer in Design and Creative Technologies Design for Creative Practice Character Development Overview Mark Cullen Lecturer in Design and Creative Technologies

Character Design – A very brief introduction

Character Design Process Simplified Read the brief and outcomes Research research Research Steal Ideas Whittle Sketch Sketch Sketch Concept drawings Final Design sheets

Character Design Silhouettes Best characters have instantly recognisable silhouettes Mickey Mouse example If the silhouette is recognisable the character will be recognisable from any distance Sometimes a strong starting point for creating a new character

Character Design Construction Sheets Character should have a sheet outlining how they are made up Used as a template so other artists can work with character Ensures uniformity across teams Makes redrawing of the character easier for animators, comic artists etc The anatomy of a character

Character Design Turnarounds Shows characters from all angles Enables other artists to work with the character without having to guess what he/she/it will look like from different angles Must maintain proportion at all angles Will often contain colour and texture information Difficult to get right- You must think in 3d and bring the character to life in your head

Character Design Model Sheets Shows Character in Standing pose front, left and back Used as reference for modellers in games and 3d animation Any details need to be highlighted and often added separately to the image Will contain colour and texture information for the texture artists too Must contain enough information for the modeller to recreate the character in 3d without the need of the artist

Character Design Animation Sheets Shows Character in Vaiour states of movement Allows animators/artist to visualise the charatacer, how it moves and even what his facial expressions look like Main poses and movements shown Main faical expressions shown Construction often shown (suqash and stretch etc.

Character Design Action Poses Character in action Used for mag covers, product covers etc Should get the personality and look of the character across in one image Usually in the character’s usuall surroundings Very high quality finish

Complete Character Design Sheets Contains all information about character Main character traits, a brief history, personality etc Often has some or all of the aforementioned documents attached If this is the case it becomes the bible for the character

Character Design Q&A