# character design Character design is the process of developing a character for a visual narrative. The design could be for a single image, a series of images like a comic book, or time-based media like animations or video games. This is a surprisingly complex and complicated process. It should be playful and exploratory and can utilize many different artistic techniques. There are many considerations to be explored. Obviously, you will want to figure out what the characters looks like. Are they big and strong or small and weak? Do they have big heads and little bodies or really long arms? What kinds of clothes do they wear? What kind of hair do they have? There are so many details about appearance that go beyond simply what a character looks like. The character’s visual identity can also convey a sense of who they are from their attitude and intentions to their emotional states and personality. It is helpful to find a few distinctive features that allow viewers to quickly identify a character, such as the big round ears of either Mickey Mouse or Dumbo. It helps to develop the character’s back story and history. Why are they the way they are and what is causing them to behave they way they do? What are their motivations and goals? What are they trying to achieve and how will they go about reaching those goals? How does this affect what clothes they wear or how they style their hair? Often a bit of trauma in the past can create an interesting character with relatable humanistic flaws. We may not be orphans like Bruce Wayne but knowing his history allows us to understand why he became Batman. Often character designs will fit common stereotypes, although it is always good to have details that break from standard tropes. A superhero is probably going to be muscular and have a good sense of civic duty but can also have random quirks that make them unique. For a long time in animation history, the bad guy was most definitely the most evil bad guy around. More recently, you find more subtly complex bad guys that aren’t necessarily evil so much as having a different direction than the protagonist. Even though they may look wildly different, multiple characters should all feel like they fit into the same universe. This can be achieved through common drawing styles or how something as random as how character noses are drawn. Despite the amount of exploration and pre-production consideration here, it is important to focus on achieving simplicity. Much of the time and effort developing a character isn’t always visible in the final finished work, however the time spent will create a more complex and considered final design. > [!info]+ awesome character design inspiration sites > > - [character design references](https://characterdesignreferences.com/visual-library) > - [characterdesigns.com](https://www.characterdesigns.com/) > - [character design on artstation](https://www.artstation.com/channels/character_design?sort_by=trending) ## character design process Much like any other forms of the [[! creative process|creative process]], character design is a complex and complicated process with no clear path from initial idea to finished design. That being said, there are some good guides out there that help give a sense of direction and process. These steps include things like developing a concept, doing research, and loosely sketching variation options. > [!info]+ character design process help > > - [How to Design a Character: The Creator’s Guide to Amazing Characters (with Examples) from Really Good Design](https://reallygooddesigns.com/how-to-design-character/) > - [Doing Character Design and Tips On How To Design Characters from Design your way](https://www.designyourway.net/blog/graphic-design/character-design/) > - [How to design a character: the ultimate guide to character design from 99designs](https://99designs.com/blog/art-illustration/character-design/) > - [How to Design a Character: 6 Tips for Designing Characters from MasterClass](https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-design-a-character) > - [Character Design – Everything You Need To Know from NFI](https://www.nfi.edu/character-design/) ## character sheets Once you have some basic ideas, you can develop character sheets that show different expressions or poses. You can draw your character from different perspectives and angles. You can note down characteristics and key facts. Maybe do some colors or clothing studies. You could show your character interacting with different props or [[environment design|environments]]. Check out [How to Make a Character Design Sheet from SkillShare](https://www.skillshare.com/en/blog/how-to-make-a-character-design-sheet/) or [How to Make a Character Design Sheet from 21-draw](https://www.21-draw.com/how-to-make-a-character-design-sheet/) for things to consider. > [!info]+ character sheet inspiration > > - [Your Art Path](https://yourartpath.com/100-character-design-sheets) > - [Character Sheets on Pinterest](https://pin.it/3u0zFYY) > - [Character Design on Pinterest](https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=character%20design&rs=typed) --- Additional resources… - [drawing for nothing ](https://www.drawingfornothing.com)- over 450 page ebook of concept art for movies that were never finished - [importance of character animation from webdew](https://www.webdew.com/blog/animated-characters) - [character development sheets from squibler](https://www.squibler.io/blog/character-development-sheet-template/) - [character design examples from vector characters](https://vectorcharacters.net/blog/good-character-design-examples) - [How To Pose Characters from How To Draw Comics](https://www.howtodrawcomics.net/post/how-to-pose-characters) - [Character Design Crash Course](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IgswlDEFUe2owv2XZbeFUJt8_pYLsAxfM2HX3T0-g8Q/edit#heading=h.cdb8a4s7f2l) - free online course on designing and drawing characters. hosted on Google Docs. --- tags: #animation #resources home: [[! animation]]