Character Design Tips

Character Design Tips Character design is central to the animation process. Regardless of whether you are planning to engage in animation advertising, create a piece of educational animation, or develop an animated explainer video, you will need engaging and unique characters to bring the animation to life. With the help of a qualified and creative animation studio, you should be able to develop winsome characters to people your project. Throughout the character design process, your animation partner will work with you to make sure the characters capture your vision and achieve your goals. Following are a few of the steps that you and they can take together to make sure that your characters become everything you need them to be.

Consider how the character design will be used.

One of the first steps in creating a successful character design is to determine how the design will be used. This step very much depends upon your goals for the project. Animated projects often start out as vague ideas that require fleshing out in order to become successful finished art. In these cases, your animation studio can become a valuable partner through the services of its concept design artists and character design artists. These artists can take your vague ideas and work with you to develop a defined and unique style that will become an integral part of your project and characters.

Once you possess a clear concept for the whole project, and a strong grasp of the role of the characters in that project, you will have a better idea of the features and characteristics those

characters should possess. Your chosen animation studio and its character design artists will work to flesh out exactly which features and characteristics will contribute to the overall style of the project, while capturing the elements that you are dreaming of and hoping for in each character.

Gain inspiration by researching other images.

The best character design creates a look and personality that are unmatched by any other animated characters. It is the uniqueness and winsomeness of the characters that draw viewers into the animation and makes the story line believable. However, at the same time, successful character design is like most other art in that it can be informed and inspired by other successful art.

As a result, one of the steps you can take to improve your character design is to research other images, mascots, and animated characters to gain ideas and inspiration for your own design. For instance, if you find certain pieces of animation that capture your attention, your 2d animation studio may be able to determine which techniques and styles are creating that appeal, and use them in their creation of your own unique characters.

Tell a story through the character design.

A person's past experiences shape who they are and how they act in the present. Likewise, a successful animated character requires a back story that shapes the personality and characteristics the animator gives them. As a result, an important step to take when engaging in character design with an animation studio is to create a back story to inform the animator's development of the character. Even if that story is never directly shared with viewers, its imagined effect on your character will influence the way in which he or she is designed and drawn by your animation partner.

Likewise, a person's hopes and dreams can also shape their personality and actions in the present.

This is why you, in partnership with one of the animation studios in your area, should develop dreams and goals for your character. These ambitions will provide the animator with insight into how the character looks and acts on the screen. Once you develop characters with convincing back stories and future ambitions, they will also become far more realistic and believable for the viewer.

Create a suitable environment for the character design.

Just as your characters require a back story and future goals in order to guide their development and make them believable, so do they need a suitable environment in which to exist. For instance, if you

are developing a mascot for your brand, that mascot needs a world from which they come and with which they interact that will enable the viewer to more easily believe and connect with that character.

You will be able to work with the animator in both the concept design stage and the character design stage to determine what this world will be like and how it will influence your characters. The animator can also create details in each scene that mesh with the characters' personalities in order to create greater believability. A convincing world that fits with the character will create a cohesive and engaging story that will effectively capture your viewers' attention.

Character design can be one of the most exciting and rewarding stages of the animation process, because it allows you to work with experienced professional artists to develop the personalities that will bring life and vitality to your project. Successful animated characters have become household names in the past. Achieving this kind of connection with your viewers requires the careful development of your goals for your character design, a back story and ambitions for your characters, an engaging and powerful story, and a realistic world for them to inhabit. Through the support of your traditional animation partner, these steps will make winsome, powerful, and memorable characters easier to create.