IdN v28n2: Character Design — Give your Characters some Character!
If you think you are unfamiliar with character design, you are surely wrong. We come across all sorts of characters on a daily basis — you see them on animations, movies, packaging, advertising, nearly any platform or medium you care to name.
Just take a minute, look at your surroundings, and you will probably surprise yourself by the amount of characters that surround you. Those little things you found cute, delightful and pleasant to look at… You may see them as purely decorative, but on the contrary they are created as part of a brand’s identity.
Featuring:
Arcade Studio | BHBH (Thanawat Sakdawisarak) | Cabeza Patata (Katie Menzies/Abel Reverter) | Caner Soylu (Dżaner Sojlu) | Chocotoy | Delpic Studio | Hiné Mizushima | Itemmm Studio (Sorawit Opapongphun) | Jieun Kang | Jthree Concepts (Jared K Nickerson) | Knock-Knock Animation | Lay Chen | Marina Chernova | Miguel Guercio | MovingStones.Inc | Nancy Li | Nika Perminova | Nikita Goryainov | Olga Moiseeva | POKEDSTUDIO (Jonathan Ball) | RACCOON FACTORY | Raluca Băraru (Nicăieri) | Ronda | Sedryung Hong | SOOBAKLAB (Hyungjoo Lee) | SUPERFICTION | Tech&Kindness | Thunder Rockets | Vanissa Foo | YUK FUN (Lucy Cheung/Patrick Gildersleeves)
160p + 8p cover
160mm (w) x 230mm (h)
4 varying paper stocks
4C process + matt lamination
ISSN (English Edition): 1029 4805
ISSN (Chinese Edition): 1029 4813
Get into Character
Being attractive is a solid foundation for any character design, given that a good character should be memorable and allow viewers to make a connection with it. Most of our featured designers in this article shared similar thoughts on what makes a good character design, saying that their creation, whether in 2D or 3D, must first and foremost come alive, appear to be real and have a “soul”.
When called upon to come up with several or multiple characters, the challenge is to maintain each one’s uniqueness. When one character veers too close to the personality of another it is time to hit the re-set button, get a new pair of eyes and re-start the whole process.