How to push Character Design?

[Ninjac]

Hello CA! I've been wondering the past few weeks if there are any exercises that anyone can suggest for creating stronger character designs and pushing my creativity. I'm just curious if anyone knows a more effective or efficient way or advice to offer that has helped them in this specific area? Thanks! :bounce:

[Silentpassion]

i don't know if this'll work for you but i often find music helps inspire me for my character creation and concepts. my guess it really depends on kind of character you want to design.

[PieterV]

Expand your mental shape library, draw stuff you typically don't draw. Mechanical parts, insects, plants, clouds, rock formations, animals, etc.
Spend time just doodling and deforming proportions and trying to get different silhouettes etc. Collect fashion mags and such.. And just allot of brainless silly doodling in general.
Works for me.

[Lumens]

I am only just a beginner but i'll give it a try..

I think it's important that your characters have strong silhouettes.
So anyone can see who it is even when you only see there dark silhouette
in a dark alley. Apeal is also something to consider and playing around with
all kinds of fun shapes. But then again you probably knew that already.:^^:

[Ninjac]

Cool, thanks for the advice!

[OmenSpirits]

draw me a goblin.

draw me a goblin from the 16th century.

draw me a goblin from the 16th century from India.

draw me a goblin from the 16th century from India that haunts children.

Think about the details I've given. Now, how would you go about completing my request?

You'd have to research. Look for information from India, info concerning goblins or whatever they were called which would be apart of your research.

Find images, look at paintings done of demons from that era. Within the research, both written and visual, your sense of design will be influenced by the subject of the assignment.

[Psychotime]

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[AUG]

Ninjac:

Sam Nielson has some good information related to character design on his blog...

http://artsammich.blogspot.com/2007/01/rant-of-week-appeal.html


I pasted a few quotes from this document below...

http://www.artistictoysmfg.com/files/character_marketing/character_marketing.ppt

" 1) People connect emotionally with characters whose struggles are familiar to them, not with characters who
superficially look or act like them.”

2) Most characters which aim to tell a story are emotion-based characters. All emotion-based characters have
flaws grounded in desires. (Example: Lucky is crazy for Lucky Charms cereal to the point of obsession and self-humiliation.
The Pillsbury Doughboy loves to serve even when it is hard due to his size and environment. Simba desires to become
a great king of the jungle like his father before him.)

3) Emotion-based characters are more commonly anthromorphic. These critters tend to wear clothing, have a
human “attitude”, and adopt certain human-like mannerisms (ex. stuttering). This similarity to humans ends at their
motivations. An emotion-based character’s motivations and goals should be in line with those of their species/culture.

4) If you have a character that doesn't aim to tell a story but instead acts as a "mascot", you have a mystery based
character. These critters are highlighted by a distinct lack of information outside of their appearance. Viewer interest
is now driven by NOT knowing a character’s desires and flaws. If the character is compelling enough they will work
to find or create a back story. Good examples are the creepy Pringles dismembered head or the Pepperidge Farm Goldfish.

5) Mystery based characters' only voice is their visual appeal. They need to emote uniqueness and ask viewer participation
through how they are displayed. The benefit of this style of character is that they don't need to be close to humans
visually. A disembodied floating head or a pack of gravity-defying cheese crackers will do.

6) Critters that don’t fall into either of these categories tend to be bland and uninteresting which don’t engage viewer
attention. These characters imply false intentions as their motivations seem confused. These “fake” characters are
commonly referred to as cartoon-ish, while emotion-based characters rarely have this dilemma because they
are seen as human. Mystery-based characters don't fall into either the cartoon or real categories because their lack
of context allows them to bend to a viewers needs. "

[J Wilson]

As a tool to help you explore new shapes, try Alchemy (http://al.chemy.org/).

It's fun to play with, and can help break you out of familiar patterns