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Finally my NZGDC17 & GCAP17 Wonderful World of Thanks @TimothyCBest for the pdf idea! To start especially for the many people who didn’t/couldn’t
@CharDesignClub Talk Content + Bonus are here! attend my talk: Welcome everyone to the Wonderful World
All content here generally belongs to me & any other of Character Design!! :D
This is my Character Design heart & passion. credits are included within each slide.
Pay it forward! Share the itch.io link! Especially if this Please do not reupload anywhere else. If you paid or Let’s learn together!!
helped you & is of value to you! <3 Thanks so much! Not downloaded this from somewhere else other than my That’s what I said to start my two talks anyway ;D
expecting donations but much gratitude all the same! (: itch.io page, then let me know! I believe in goodwill! At the least I’m working to get better at art :(
For those who don’t know me, Extra notes: My main blog is at: http://blog.leonieyue.com
My Character Design Challenge & Resource Page is here: Personal & Art Twitter: http://twitter.com/leonieyue
I’m Leonie Yue! http://blog.leonieyue.com/2017/09/characterdesignclub.html Tumblr: http://tumblr.leonieyue.com
A little Australian illustrator! I’ll keep adding to this page when able as well as the
And I love to focus on Character Design! @CharDesignClub twitter too (:
Currently working as an Artist at Mighty Games!
• http://mightygamesgroup.com 3
What I do at Mighty is:
• Help out with some art for game updates, concepting, sometimes UI art & mock ups and marketing art

All designs & art here are by amazing art boss & art buddy Scott Bartlett/ @cronobreak
• http://twitter.com/cronobreak
Outside of Mighty • On the Internet
• Polaroid Comics with Loveshack Entertainment for Framed 2 • Fanart - http://tumblr.leonieyue.com/tagged/fanart
• http://loveshackentertainment.com/ • BurpDoodles - http://tumblr.leonieyue.com/tagged/BurpDoodle
• Characters and in game assets for in development dating sim Maid with Love • personal comics known as SuperListenMode
• http://twitter.com/maidwlove [I’ll use @ twitter tags from here on] • http://tumblr.leonieyue.com/tagged/SuperListenMode
• Meaningful &/or interesting commissions
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Bear with me
I gonna go fast with lots of information
and I don’t usually talk this much as a quiet person!
I prefer 1 to 1 conversations Sidenote:
I tend to go quiet into listening mode when it becomes a group. There’s two YouTube talk recordings whenever NZGDA and GDAA are ready too!
But happy to interact after this talk! Not out at the time of publishing this, so please seek @CharDesignClub or the Resource page on my main blog linked in
page 3. I refuse to watch myself speaking though...I will nitpick myself to tears so I’m good.
I’m happy to hear feedback though! (:

Please email me [email protected] if you have any feedback! 7

Above are the takeaways! Sidenote:
I did a more introductory talk at NZGDC part 1 in early September I spent so much time on this whole thing. I started preparing since Aug 2017 until Nov 2017 and it feels like I did an
• https://nzgdc17.sched.com/event/BlNX/lets-get-serious-the-wonderful-world-of-character-design intermediate career level tertiary class or something whoops! [No this is not a masterclass as I am *not* a master ;P I
and I did a more intermediate talk at GCAP as part 2 in late October don’t know if any better/Senior Artists/Art Directors will get any usefulness but do let me know what you think! I do not
• https://gcap2017.sched.com/event/CYF9/lets-get-serious-the-wonderful-world-of-character-design claim to be an expert. I’m just happy to learn :’)

These slides are a combination of both talks, as well as slides that didn’t make it at all!
What is Character Design? Because it’s so cool to design the cool stars of the project These are my illustrations of character designs by Scott
especially in character driven games to drive & show off Bartlett [@cronobreak]!
Now EVERYBODY wants to be a character designer the game everywhere in marketing and promotion for a
Even though very few actually get to do it as part of a given project. Selling and/or sharing your game/project But as we know, CHARACTER DESIGN is not about these
team. through your world and characters is awesome! illustrations. Not this. No. Nope.

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Character Design is not...
• about nailing the drawing straight away
• all about the secret techniques
• all about full creative freedom
• all about ticking off a checklist
Character Design is You’re working with the rest of the team: Ultimately your project and your audience is top priority.
the artistic process of combining • writer The game/project/vision is top priority!
style, story, imagination • consultant Not your concept!
to visually communicate • client, marketing team
an appropriate & functional character design • art team: animators, riggers, modellers, technical [It’s easier said than done when you get attached and pour
artists and so on your heart into what you create :( ]
It’s a team effort towards the project! • everyone involved in implementing the character 11
It’s a process - TRUST THE PROCESS! • figuring out: What will work for this project?? • focus on ideas rather than fixate on an art style espe-
• asking: Am I on the right track?? cially at first
What you’re doing is: • does it visually show why this character exists? What • OR start from a special art style and create/make a
• looking for solutions they functionally do? game/interactive experience from that - as long as
• studies to build knowledge, upon reality and what’s • don’t get attached to your ideas [it’s hard of course!] – you are working towards establishing an intentional &
already out there [i.e. what’s familiar to the target most of them won’t work! But do stick with something coherent art direction (:
audience for instant readability & understanding] that you truly believe will work - it’s your call
Except for the top right colourful illustration up there, Now *that’s* character design,
Character Design is all about the terrible, messy, loose drawings to work out a problem a wonderful, fun challenging process :D
like I have here with the dinosaur Crossy road update from 2016.
It’s not for everyone. Most artists go straight for what they want in their head and jump
You’re creating to progress the idea, design and story. right into the final illustration, painting, comic, design, etc. If this is you, then your heart
Do many thumbnails and sketches of them!!! lies in illustrating more than designing and concepting. That’s okay.
Or perhaps you enjoy doing it all! 13
As aforementioned, everybody wants to be a Character help out in other areas too. For instance I never thought that style yet. But no matter how experienced or skilled you are,
Designer. But there is no “Character Design” role, especially for I would be doing comics, environments or UI art at Mighty we are all creatively evolving our art and that’s exciting! :D
a small/indie game or project - that’s more for larger studios and occassionally design some side characters. But I knew Eventually for me, I’d want to focus on not being limited by
who can afford specialised developers. Character Design is not something I’d get to do often; I’m just lack of skill or style [yellow starred point] and create all sorts
And this mind map is how I see growing as an artist is like - a grateful I get to art for a living. (: of fun, whimsical things! I’m probably silly & quietly ambi-
wonderful learning journey! As an artist, you design & make I believe I’m stuck in the blue loop of learning and practicing tious! All the same, I’ll keep working to be better at art!
art for the project so you have to wear other creative hats to here as a newbie and I don’t know about my own voice or Let’s do our best ^o^
With your own art, these are some of the things I believe that make up who you are. From this talk, at the least I just want you to get going, to develop your own voice, who
Definitely learn & study from others, watch what works and doesn’t work and experiment you are and explore/express how you see the world. In whatever you want to make.
but it’s not about trying to *be* everyone else! What works for them might not work for Because that’s what makes you special.
you and vice versa. We’re all trying to find our way regardless of what stage our career is Yes, even if you’re not a working artist. Whatever your job is!
in. This is not a career for riches & fame anyway (: I ramble on a personal level a lot about Stay true to yourself, earnest and ready to reach new heights! :D Experience life!
this at blog.leonieyue.com and it’s more sentimental than these slides ;P Play & find what works for you. Enjoy the journey.
Hey, even in this talk is just my perspective!! I’m just learning too. You have things you want to bring and create in this world. Believe in you. /sappy slide 15
Now next: what is deep, effective and believable character Personal Example: I found myself grieving with my own loss of my mother
design?? Lucas is one of my most relatable characters from a JRPG and crying just like he was, as I played the game at the
called MOTHER3, a game with amazing writing and deep time. The game allowed myself to be emotional, grieve for
For me it’s when a unique, relatable, surprising, themes [play Earthbound before playing this though]. my own personal loss and grow alongside with him too.
memorable, entertaining and/or well thought out Lucas is a cute, reserved, gentle emotional kid My heart felt his loss deeply just as I did mine.
character is created for a project. and he grows during the events of the game. He and his Because of this, it’s one of my most favourite and special
family deals with the loss a family member differently and games. My personal top RPG game. <3
When I asked for more perspectives [thanks Mighty & anon peeps answering my Character Design ques- Generally game characters usually have exaggerated, extreme and/or memorable per-
tionnaire!], we relate to game characters because we share: sonalities so it’s hard to relate to a character 100%. Too over the top at times!
• feelings, internal struggles, personality traits
• how they connect & their relationships with others PS: this is Melia who generally another character I relate to in terms of how she deals
• their attitude to life with her unrequited feelings and how she faces adversity and loss. She puts on a brave
• how they deal with problems face and stays loyal to her friends (:
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And hey let’s not forget that we play video games because we want
• to role play as the character and their story beyond our own experiences and abilities
• to experience a different and/or insightful life
• to be cool/powerful with fantastical abilities
• or play as an extension of yourself in a different world
• to escape, have fun, be entertained, get challenged (:
For me I love doing character design because just like the players of the game,
I’m able to live through them and that’s *awesome*!! IT’S INCREDIBLE!
Plus you help them come to life through their own story and adventure!

And just like an actor, you get to pretend to be someone else cool or compelling for awhile.
Speaking as the quiet, uncool, invisible person over here ;)
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From a player’s point of view, • how they relate and interact with others • are weird & unpredictable
We generally like characters because: • how they grow & develop during the game And as a result of some of these things, we get emotionally
• are believable as people - realistic core with layers • they’re interesting, compelling, opinionated, involved and we genuinely care about what happens to
• or have personality with attitude and backstory • they’re charming, ridiculous, complex, them.
• have motives and feelings, • they’re expressive, loud, vibrant, aggressive, larger
• they’re entertaining/fun from the norm, than life, super cool, inspire us to be better We like characters for all sorts of reasons!
• they’re morally grey • they possess admirable qualities, are strong willed, Know which of these suits your character(s)!
With designing characters, Your design and art style decisions need to support these
know WHO & WHY your character is the way they are = two parts...
what I call the *Heart/essence* of the character

and what they need to be for the game =

what I’ll call the *role/function* of the character
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And all three combined make this Venn diagram C) Art Style for the Character
in what makes Deep, Great, Effective Character Design. What visuals and design language supports it
It’s a combination of:
A) Character Essence or Soul/Heart of the Character! Now I’ll be going through each of these three parts!
Who and why they are and behave that way
B) Function/Purpose of the character for the project
What they need to be and do as part of the game, the how
PART 1: Heart and essence of the character ence, agreeableness and conscientiousness • what do they care about? Do they care about
writer is key here or your own writing skills! • attitude, strengths, limitations, fears everything or few things? Keep asking questions :D
• how they act VERSUS what they say • body language is a huge part - animation ideas!
WHO is this character?? • routine, hobbies, moral compass
• personality, fears, desires and motives • how do they solve problems? Note: not every character have to be equally fleshed out
• psychology - for instance, the 5 personality trait theory • how do they face their fears? and deep! This depends on what the project needs!
• neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experi- • what do they do when threatened? 23
Mindful of Stereotypes character either - you gave them little respect & care function - respect them as living characters
• Avoid token minority characters for the sake of being • Everyone has accumulated experiences, expectations • give them Character growth, flesh the character out as
diverse and objectifying their differences and cultural backgrounds – so be careful of confusion people or even as morally grey characters
• Don’t just have a novelty character! Not just for ticking and misrepresentation • get consultants, writers and testers, designers and
a checkbox for marketing/audience demographics developers from diverse backgrounds too
• It shows you don’t care about the character! Con- Break out of predictable stereotypes with: • avoid being player centric so that the NPC’s world
sequently the player does not care about them as a • an attitude, life of their own beyond their game revolves around themselves instead
To add heart certainly have character relationships. Best to design them as a cast of characters so they contrast and are designed well with
This affects how it’s designed consistency as a whole. Even make a relationship map of all the characters so everyone
– how they’d act, move, relate, interact or contrast to others. on development team are on the same page (:
• best friends? family, relationships, friendships
• how they treat strangers versus those they love

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Also add heart in your design through themes, emotional moments, symbolism, What is their humanity – what is relatable and/or unique about them?
tone, mood
If you’re going for emotionally compelling characters,
How do they emotionally connect? they can’t be there just there to look cool, entertaining and mechanically functional.
Or perhaps they’re intentionally a silly background, entertaining and/or atmospheric
character Otherwise, go ahead and have fun and cool/silly 1 dimensional iconic characters ;)
WIth HEART, we need to know: unlikable main character? hopes, dreams, fears, history, motivations • equally or more interesting as a character
• who is this character as part of the STORY? What is their ROLE/ARCHETYPE? • strengths & flaws? Morality? Goals? Abilities? Reactions to danger, intimacy, • physically, psychologically, socially equal or more powerful & contrasting with
• play of power dynamics between characters and social dynamics [hierarchy] losing, winning, friendships, betrayal etc. the Main Character; weakness not obvious or intentionally clear/easy
• whether they have shared goals or opposing goals • Slowly reveals to the player through their actions – show & develop over time, • believable, compelling, entertaining, compelling and/or ridiculous!
The usual two archetypes [but there’s MUCH more you can research about]: not tell • usually feels like the greatest challenge or most interesting part of the game
STAR/Main Character/Playable Character VILLAIN /ANTAGONIST /ARCH ENEMY ARCHETYPE when main character defeats them [or not really defeat them]!
• hero’s journey, internal/external obstacles to overcome! Or an intentionally • objectives opposing main character’s goals 27
Now Part 2 of the Venn Diagram!
As designers, we need to know the Function/Purpose of the character!

How do they help or move along the game?

How add to its story, lore or entertainment value?
Why Is this character necessary for the game and even story?
Also: marketing, merchandise and anything else beyond Most importantly, how will this character design enable
• how will they be marketed to your target audience? games in mind! and support its gameplay function? (:
• is it niche? Or globally appealing? • How do you want people to feel towards your char-
• how will you add appeal and interest for those audi- acter? What emotions do you want to evoke in your Yes again, research and design with your audience and
ences? Understand why and what aspects of design & players? Especially keep this in mind if it’s a character project in mind. It will help in the long run.
stylisation you’re going for. driven game beyond just fun gameplay
• Will it become part of the branding? Keep design, 29
Now players experience the game and its world through main, playable character/s!

They can be avatar characters – blank slate, bland characters for players to project
themselves onto and create their own stories and meaning.
• the player can even customise themselves
• not really strong as a mascot
• not extremely in depth as a character
OR the main character [MC] can be a predefined character to role play as
• especially for single player narrative driven games
• character can range from being in depth or possess vaguely embedded character development/lore within the gameplay, world and environment itself
• usually there’s “plot armour” aka the Main Character/MC never truly dies in their own game ;) Maybe there’s a need to make it believable and convincing that their life can
actually be at risk & in danger if the narrative needs this - but hey it’s video games! You get many lives, right? ;)

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OR the Main Character [MC] as a puppet for fun and challenging gameplay mechanics! and energy
• there’s animated movement, with fun reactions to winning/losing/interacting as
This is where it’s stylised movement, entertaining, game mechanics focused! feedback to the player
• it’s fun to control, easy to play as them
• visually cool looking This is where you’d design with rewarding animation and appropriate character charm &
• probably not much in character depth appeal in mind. (:
• need to design visual character traits that sell the mechanics with fun, personality
OR the Main/Playable Character [MC] can be a social mask, persona, designated role Eg: Putty Pals is a cooperative 2 player game and they have a “giving each other the
in a given multiplayer or party or sports or strategy game. thumbs up” ability to support and encourage each other!
And they express sadness when they’re far apart from each other to encourage players
to wait for each other while platforming. Aww (:
Here you will need character design to cater for social expression & interaction with
other players promoting teamwork and supporting each other if able/necessary.
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OR you play as a party of characters instead
such as for strategy or RPG team focused gameplay
Plus the character needs to look appealing and feel • How do they move, speak, relate to other NPCs/other place if players won’t see it in game anyway?
fun, interesting, entertaining, awesome or compelling to players? • Sometimes you just don’t have the time or need to
play! • How much expressiveness in body language and facial treat every character with the same level of detail and
expression is needed? care - know where you draw the line! If a character
Also keep in mind: • Does the backstory and motivation mesh well with the doesn’t feel necessary, remove them - you would be
• Is it intuitive to problem solve, attack, interact or role gameplay? wasting development time and the player’s time.
play as this character? • Does this character have to look interesting in the first 35
Now with Non Playable Characters: What power dynamics – are they a leader/ follower/ bystander/ ally/ enemy/ • How strong are they compared to MC?
How do other NPCs add to the game and it’s world? neutral party? • Does MC have obligations to them & emotional investment through prior
• How do they add flavour to the game in terms of story and/or entertain- • Do they support, betray or are indifferent to the main character’s [MC] backstory? Childhood best friends?
ment value? Are they a functional prop or something more? goals and keep asking many more fun questions (: • Level of trust, attitude, opinions, feelings, responsibility, respect, admira-
• Why does this NPC exist? What happens if you remove them? • Do they express gratitude, excitement or satisfaction when you succeed or tion/contempt, love/hate, loyalty...so on
• What are their defining moments? disappointment when you fail, provide moral support or put you down?
• How do they interact? Provide conflict in the story?
NPC roles to quickly run through, I had no time during my talk! • advice, 2nd opinion
But these are slides so it’s different now ;) • provide hints, backstory, comic relief, commentary
• might have their own quests too
SIDEKICK • emotional investment is high
• more social power and autonomy • more talking than acting – personality via acting
• but less dominant than MC
• ally, moral support, companionship 37
MENTOR/ GUIDE/ PARENTAL FIGURE • if there’s higher motivations then emotional invest- ALLY // Party members
• wise, generous, experienced, powerful ally ment and connection can be higher • equal powers to MC
• more/equal social power and awareness than MC • gives feedback to MC’s performance • friendly through interactions
• the game’s help/hint system towards goals of the • group focused gameplay & supports teamwork
game and/or the story
• can help with training, quests, jobs, missions, rewards,
skills, upgrades
PS: from Persona 5, these two party members are my relatable characters!

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WILDCARD/ TRICKSTER relationship or backstory PET // like tamagochi
• rule breaker, chaotic, selfish, • motivator for goals, expresses gratitude for getting • just to enjoy connecting with them
• can be good/bad/neutral rescued and might even be playable • interaction with them is rewarding alone
• need to show them as a character worthy of care with • emotional engagement as a caretaker and their needs
RESCUEE / character you care to save and they can empathy - you need to want to save them • get loyalty and obedience in return or at least their
become playable too entertaining, charming personality
• needs help and you gain loyalty due to obligation, • can be simple and silly!
MINION/OBSTACLE and ENEMIES • faceless, background characters, low investment, the game via comics and animated shorts
• submissive follower and not unique or strong antagonistic to MC • more characters like this found in sports/ MMO/party
• comic relief, low investment, silly characters games, competitive games
• single minded obssession to be in your way or of the COMPETITOR/RIVAL role
main player’s goals • equal to MC, low emotional investment as usually the
• usually in overwhelming groups/ waves, less powerful gameplay is focused on the match rather than story
than MC • for instance, Overwatch had to build story outside of 41
BOSS characters like the Colossi
• high emotional impact on MC
• Challenging, fun, satisfying, provoking and/or compelling to defeat
And then there are other NPC like quest givers, merchants etc
to support side quests, communities, everyday living and stories that flesh out the world.

Sidenote: Here’s Paya from BreathOfTheWild

I relate to her & how she deals with her feelings :’) <3

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As a designer, you need to note technical limitations – • How easy/possible is it to animate the art style ;0 fused to the hand? How break it down to make it work?
is it feasible to implement this character? Note the construction of the character, like these hands Another note is the movement of jaw, neck, arms later down
• How much complexity is needed and can be afforded • 2D/3D mesh = single geometry or many parts? in production to make the design work and look good even
[production time, resources, technical abilities]? • do we need fingers in the game or stubby arms? when it’s distorted, being animated and whatever angle it is
• How much Acting, Expression, Animation to make it How realistic and stylised are we going for? And why? viewed from in game.
unique &/or believable? What do we need the character to do in the game? A lot of iterations & experimentation is expected so don’t
• How important is it for the player to experience this Eg: armor as separate objects to the body? Are the Props worry if you don’t have it all planned at the start (:
LAST part of the Venn diagram: C) Art Style for the Character Note, these marketing illustrations are not suitable for in game use as art assets for a
Which is reined in by technical and project limitations! Mobile game - it’s too big & not practical nor flexible!!
A lot of shading, texture, gradients and lighting shown in the Shooty Skies marketing art
Do ask: is your design practical or it’s just pretty? here can’t be done, is not practical or doesn’t fit for in game purposes.
Are you thinking of story, production and budget? I had a lot of freedom here to play around in these illustrations :D

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Extra personal lesson: purposes in mind rather than for in game purposes. I didn’t and keep it non destructive where possible! :’)
I do strive to make illustrations like these suitable; realising think it would be used for anything beyond marketing art.
that it is actually possible now. Not as in game assets. But But Mighty peeps wanted to use them for other purposes I didn’t in the hopes of saving memory space with art files
as splash or loading screens at least? :( Whoops! and I merged a lot of things together [destructive since I
can’t go back now] but I know I can definitely do it better
I need to make sure I create with flexible layers in the So extra tip with final art and illustrations - make it super in the future :0 Ah well. Lessons learned.
future as I’ve only done it with print and promotional flexible, have lots of versions, keep each element separate
How does the art style fit with the world & environment • How did they make it work? And what didn’t work for them?
& effectively sell/express your game?
• Does it suit intended mood and atmosphere ?
• Does it draw your target audience in effectively? How does it do this? Why?
• What are your artistic influences? Why?
• What makes them work and not work for your project?
• How unique is it compared to similar projects? 47
When developing art style, also need to consider the level of realism & what the target audience finds appealing.
From the super family friendly art style where it’s:
• easy for kids to draw & understandable/recognisable by first glance
• symbolism & stylisation through proportions, clothes, pose, archetypes, use of special pose & signature traits to aspire to
• more colourful + whimsy & functionally makes it silly, entertaining & fun
Other end of the spectrum, is the mature, realistic kind of backstory and acting to compensate and add depth to Globally accepted characters are very hard to make and
art style: character instead. needs to be considered from the start of the project as a
• to depict sexual themes, graphic violence whole team. It needs to be targeted & appealing to your
• ramp up the “Cool” or “Deeply Compelling” factor with Note that a given character does not have to be audience to support a robust & quality game.
realistic, darker, toned down colours, textures & detail everything 100%: super levels of attractiveness,
The more photo realistic it is, the less visually distinctive friendliness, ability and entertainment value [unless
[especially the silhouette] it is. And many use character you’re going for a perfect and boring character]! 49
Again, developing an art style for your characters will be messy and would ideally
require lots of iterations!!

You will keep switching between:

1) making sure it works functionally
2) making sure it looks good with art direction
I will show you later in these slides how I struggle with it!
Back to the venn diagram again & how it all comes together!
A) Heart
B) Function,
C) Art style

And I stress that you do not have to have all three at full capacity (:
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So example of characters with both Heart & Function I had figure out if we needed legs, faces, expressions and Consquently this art style only suits a side bonus shareable
but not Art Style! Is the above art style - it does not suit in what level of detail is needed with the Loveshack team to collectable thing.
game art of Framed 2! represent Framed 2 characters well (:

These are my Framed 2 concepts for polaroid illustrations I had already well developed existing characters that works
using my SuperListenMode personal comics art style just for project, story and game to base my re-designs from but
for shareable silly moments from the game. this cute art style wouldn’t suit for the actual game.
Example of a character with just Art Style ^ But this concept art doesn’t functionally work for the mobile game and it’s too detailed
Usually characters that don’t functionally work don’t get implemented so it’s hard to find and cannot be depicted in voxels effectively without scaling up the density of voxels.
good examples of something strong in both Heart and Art Style that is publicly available.
Bashing my own art here ;P
So here’s my Shooty Skies Arcade Machine Boss concept art.
Not really a fully story driven character but that itself suits shooty skies - a ridiculous boss
character! Shallow as that may be, that’s its Heart! 53
So I readjusted and simplified the voxel art version together with art team feedback to technically make it work.

it doesn’t look as extreme/striking as the concept art but I’m happy we captured the gist and essence of it. Technically & functionally it’s an unnecessary huge feat to make it work
exactly like the concept art - it’s not practical nor vital to do for a mobile game update.
Finally examples where Function & Art Style is strongest in character. Developing heart is important for narrative driven games!
in the Venn Diagram. This is where most game characters • they’re effective, fulfill their function, silly fun and/or Otherwise it’s not as important to have a deep character or
lie in the diagram. are visually pleasing! story.
• they’re just cool looking characters that work • sometimes we need an exaggerated or bland avatar
• or well executed characters for the game but arguably character to project yourself onto as the player
boring, unmemorable and/or predictable
• exaggerated, stylish, stereotypical and 1 dimensional 55
If the game is just fun entertaining goodness, If necessary later down the track, you can sell a deep meaningful character through their
• it’s the gameplay that keeps people playing acting, backstory, lore and interactions rather than only through art style. (:
• the visual style that draws people in
• and the shallow story adds to the game’s own special flavour
Just emphasising, it’s okay if all you need are fun & entertaining video game characters!
You don’t always need a fully developed story, in depth character development & fully fleshed out personalities (:

57
I love this quote I stumbled upon because it reinforces what I said at the start of the talk
In the end, as long as the character design works for the project!!

It’s a fun and challenging process! (:

[Make it fun and interesting if it isn’t for you. Otherwise get additional trusted help]
Now we’ll go through the 3rd AREA! 1) Brainstorm and figure out the heart and function
The wonderful CHARACTER DESIGN PROCESS! Get as much information you can get for the project
2A) Learn and fun research
2B) Studies and thumbs figure out the design you want

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3) Developing art style and the design language for the project Plus this talk and slides cannot go deep into every single detail into these topics as that’s
beyond its scope [that’s a full course!] and I’m still learning and studying. If you need
Not a linear process as you keep going back and forth to research again too so don’t be more deeper content, seek out my Resource page and do your own work & research.
deceived by the ordered list here. I don’t exist to spoon feed you for free forever. ;P
I digress.
Note that you might not even need to go deep into everything on this slide! All of this is what I strive towards for a full fledged Character Design project for me (:
It might not be necessary and depends on your project needs.
When you are finally done with the problem solving design process, making Character Design sheets are recommended!
It keeps the character and art style clearly communicated and consistent across the production team.

And then the illustration part is a bonus later thing if the project requires marketing art (:
It might be you or another artist who does this.

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To demonstrate I’ll be using examples from these two projects: And backgrounds are out of my control so I didn’t know how the designs will fit MeowFinders WIP for this talk & for my own
Maid with Love from 2015 in with the rest of the game - I made do with what I had. Character Design Challenge attempt
Here I designed the 5 datable love interests together. Note I haven’t shown a lot of the concept art before beyond this talk so this is a Still I only spent just 4 or so days on it I haven’t shown or talked about much of
All of which work at a Maid Cafe. That’s all I’ll say since I don’t really know the first! I might post a full proper blog post in the future when the game is out one this at all - never done a game pitch before either!
story now [this is all 2 years ago]! Took around 5 weeks to get the design down day! I had the idea since March and I had to figure out character heart and function
& under 2 months if I add the time it took for in game asset illustrations. I had a on my own :0 I don’t know if I’ll keep developing this further since this is all a
client and writer to flesh out the character heart & function together. VERSUS hypothetical game project when I have the spare time :0
Starting on Maid with Love: Then I jump deep into a lot of BRAINSTORMING & When designing, ensure there’s contrast in design and
was lots of discussions and briefing with Lauren my client visualisation. I asked a lot of questions: personality relative to other characters.
and Snow the writer to make sure I’m on the same page • based on story, acting, personality, role, function in What is this character’s purpose??? What is the Heart??
with how they’d want their characters to be. And we had project How does this character live their life? Who are they?
one of my art styles as a starting point! • knowing who we’re marketing to! Appeal to whom??
• this is the magical force for direction; know who we’re Do imagine living as your characters because it allows you
designing for and why to discover how to make them interesting and believable. 63
With Brainstorming for MeowFinders on my own: They’re not really original characters right now but hey this is my game, I didn’t have
Here’s some context for my game idea! much time and I had other character ideas I won’t share here :P

Starts off with a pair of siblings who finds a kitten. PS: this is based on me and my brother and how he really wants to own a cat
A party of three! ...hypothetically haha
So you play some minigames at first to take care of this kitten, raise it and bond with it

65
It grows into a mega huge cat over time; no clue why! Oh wow! :D
One day they realise that there’s a crisis of missing cats around the world! OH NO!!

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Then they discover that the cat has a special sensing ability when they stumbled upon and found one of the missing cats!
So let’s create a cat finding agency! And travel and explore the world to help!

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Talk to people and find out about their missing cats like an RPG!
Become detectives and figure out where they would go based on the clues provided by their owner!
Once you’re on the right trail, it becomes a rhythm runnner game with cool and thematic music according to the cat you’re trying to find.

You play as the cat, and the pair of humans are the riders with different support abilities = can switch between them to activate!
It’s probably not the best game pitch idea ever as I’m not a game designer but I’m just using this as a basis for my character design project.
I don’t have the resources to make this game happen anyway. I might just take the characters I make and put them into something else entirely, who knows (:

Sidenote: I am putting MeowFinders on hold indefinitely anyway as I need a break from this project. 71
So the main cat lead’s heart and function shown above! • Express Victory! Loss! Bond & Happiness Level! playing with huge toys, mega pooping and so on
This is just my initial idea of its look! • Going around the world to find quests from cat own- [minigame parts]
ers and get to the bottom of the missing cats crisis
Since it’s a Rhythm Runner [rhythm game], [RPG parts]
the cat needs to: • Buy stuff too and upgrades!
• Jump, Double Jump/Roll, Body slam • Bonding minigames with your humans through food,
• Move left and right super grooming, bathing a big cat, sleeping, cuddling,
Humans are the support characters ^
And interaction and bonding are key here so I’ll be keeping character contrast and appeal in mind.

Here I’m working out the heart and function for each character.
But I won’t go into them though because I didn’t have time; but I hopefully will for the challenge or in my own time if I’m still going for this project direction (:

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For Meow Finders: • Pokemon, Pusheen, My Neighbor Totoro, Mario Kart Double Dash Colours: bright and colourful
What is the target audience? Why & how are you considering this? • Clifford the Big Red Dog, Taiko Drum Master Lighting/Rendering/Level of Detail: Celshaded and flat
• People who love rhythm games, cats and RPGs and taking care/bonding Will test with or without lineart
with pets! Cute, whimsical and fun and silly! Art Style Inspiration Animation/Movement: simple during minigames and RPG elements but super
• Helps to know this to guide your character design decisions Searching for a balance of minimalistic cuteness and expressive acting! well animated in the rhythm running main game for super expressive fun (:
Games/Books/Movies Inspiration: Art style and Mood to appeal to people who love cute, fun, head bopping games
• Neko Astume, Tamagochi, Action Rhythm games like Rhythm Heaven Shapes: rounded, contrasty
Doing RESEARCH & MOODBOARDS • movie/game personalities, existing game characters starting point!
and designs = see why they work or not work and
Generally look at figure out how you can differentiate your work For Maid with Love, it was a full week of research for me!
• inspiration for art styles, colour palette/swatches, pat- Looked at a lot of maid cafe photos and videos since I’ve
terns, costume design, history, fonts/design, themes/ I tend to swim lots in research; this stage is one of my never been to one...I’ve learned that maid cafes are not my
symbolism/motifs, mood, shapes, gadgets favourite things! Learning all the things to help me get thing but it’s quite interesting!
• photo references into it. Art style is not fully defined right now but do have a 75
Now when researching for MeowFinders: But not how to draw a real cat. [Sidenote: I don’t need anymore photos & I have more than enough! Anything
beyond this must be a commission if I have the time in 2018; I am not doing cat
There was a problem So I asked for help & I got a lot of cat photos from peeps art requests for free! Plus I want to study & doodle the cats I do have properly, at
...is that I don’t know how to draw cats. and from the internet! I’m still drawing them at my own my pace and on my terms since they’re family members & loved ones for their
pace! (: owners (: ]
I know the idea of and symbols that represent a cat.
Pointy ears, eyes, whiskers and so on.
So here I go with studying real cats! • Main line of Weight of the body
• Contours of the body - learn the patterns
Get down with learning through making studies from the above Anatomy Books:
• Break down silhouette
• Muscles/Anatomy
• Skeletal structure
• Mechanics of limbs - animation purposes 77
• Skeletal Structure
• More breaking down the mechanics of movement and limbs
• Centre of gravity
• Dimension and volume in 3d space
• Proportions
• Lines/Contours
More studies of anatomy, body parts and skeletal structure

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• Muscle masses and simplifying body parts
• Gesture studies of large cats/domestic cats
• Finding patterns and shapes common in the body
• Looking for positive and negative shapes of the body
More skeletal structure studies and breakdowns from animal anatomy books!
Arguably not necessary if you are time poor but I do this because I enjoy doing things my own long and proper way, down to the fundamentals and drawing for understanding (:

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Vilpuu Gesture studies of cats!

And photo studies from internet cats!

#MeowBurpDoodle of Jennifer/@gaohmee’s cat Tank <3 I am not caring about how terrible it looks as I am in This is first of 30 lovely cats I got ;D
Notice that I’m not trying to do photo realistic studies here problem solving mode. I am pushing and pulling how I am I’m learning!!
stylising the cat studies.
I’m playing with shapes, proportions and ways to show
personality. I’m trying to be a bit more confident and am For instance, I’m exploring how much fur detail to have [if I
figuring out art style here. need fur at all] and how far to simplify it.
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#MeowBurpDoodle featuring @chriscorneschi & @steamjamboree’s cats! And use the bottom left bean cat art style for the main character (:

Here I’ve started to lean between two art styles I hear the middle cat is also a favourite as well as some others too!
Which ones do you prefer? Please let me know on twitter with image examples! (: So do let me know!
I’m still playing around (:
I like both bottom left & bottom middle but I know that bottom middle is not that
original as terribly cute it is. Still I can probably use this art style for earth cats!
#MeowBurpDoodle featuring @AussieBen cats! ^o^ I realise I need a cat back for people to ride on for the I’m still open for opinions on art style here and the other
game. So I can’t completely merge the head into the body cat studies I’ve done! I’ll eventually go back to this project
Here I’m pushing these art styles with different poses and for the main cat...hmm! More experimentation needed! eventually and draw all the cats at the least! ^o^
proportions. I’m exploring possibilities and making lots of
things that normally won’t get used or even seen. Stressing that these are still STUDIES!

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3) General CONCEPTING/ DESIGNING
Here are some terrible Shooty skies concept sketches!
• Lots of sketches quantity!! Variety!
• Have fun and play!
• Lots of research and studies into 80s arcade games and machines - I’m not usually
interested in them but I’ve definitely gained an appreciation for them (:
What some of the characters look like in game when they become voxel art!

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Extra ramble: There is usually no time to paint everything properly.
Don’t noodle ideas if it’s not working during development time. It’s more about fast and furious sketching for ideas. I don’t have the luxury of researching
Stay focused with time, resource restrictions, team availability and goals in mind. and making studies for a week or two, especially if it’s just for the purposes of creating
fun, silly characters.
Strive to get your point across with quick but effective sketches until your team agrees
and not waste too much time on colour, painting and polish. Don’t lose focus from prob- With the above characters, I didn’t need to doodle and polish these but I did them
lem solving and making design decisions during this stage. unnecessarily after the update was done - I did It for myself and my own enjoyment. (:
just take it easy and draw as much as you can; schedule lots of time, have as much fun
at the start and explore possibilities! Draw things you like and enjoy over and over with
deliberate and focused goals in mind and you’d get better! (:

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Art style development! • I’ve mapped out lines of action, rhythm, flow, movement for their poses • in BLUE = main line of gravity for weight & balance
3a) GESTURE for Maid with Love • main line of action = RED line
These are recent breakdowns of my designs = not actual thumbnails back then. • axes = eyeline, shoulders, hips especially take note of the tilts Keep the character grounded in 3d space on the ground so it doesn’t look like
• do the lines of rhythm lead your eye through the image, and it’s going to topple over. Use overlapping forms and draw through in volumetric
I wanted to show how gesture: provide variety to the design? = LIGHT PURPLE ways to add depth in perspective.
• establishes body language, energy and mood, emotion, feeling, attitude • act out the pose yourself, record yourself or take photos
and personality for each character • how the char poses, stands and acts -shows essence of character
3a) Gesture & thumbnails for MeowFinders Plus just more gesture studies from cat photos and art style exploration here!

At the top are some different rhythm line and shape design combinations for me to play Look I’m just learning and having fun. Find your own fun and again I stress: don’t feel
with! Design and explore your own too! Test out what combinations & patterns suit your pressured that you need to follow what exactly what I do.
design sensibilities, not everything will work for your purposes and design tastes (: Every artist has their own process and that evolves all the time too!
Know or figure out how you learn best (:
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>> CONCEPT/DESIGNING for MeowFinders

Here I’m figuring out expression, weight and body language with this art style.
Not really focused on the colours here; the purple is not working for me. I don’t like it :(

I’m not quite there yet so I need to go back to more design exploration & studies again!
When you start designing, you need to know what you want your character to To help with this: become and act as your character while still keeping their • Personality and appeal!!
end up looking like and how they will animate. personality and appeal. Find that pose! • Level of fitness? Kinds of activity, sports &/or manual labour?
How the design will be pushed to move. • Make thumbnails, explore ideas, play with exaggeration • Do they act and lead with their brain, heart, chin, groin/sexuality, chest,
• Find the forces of movement. Build of body? slumping hunched shoulders, etc?
Generally know how the characters walk, run, communicate, act when idle, • Level of confidence? Defensiveness? For Maid with Love, here are the final in game art assets I did with limited facial
attack, emote, use props, act defensively, act when being attacked, express • Closed/open pose? Restrained or expressive animation? expression frames.
happiness, sadness etc • How they communicate, respond and project themselves 93
Since Maid with Love is an WIP visual novel, there was little need for animation aside from facial expressions
- it really cuts down on production time and shows my limited animation skills ;)

But generally animation is what brings your character designs to life.

It’s an incredible skill to have [which I don’t possess...yet?!]
Otherwise understand how your designs can support any incredible and/or sufficient animation work for your project! (:
For MeowFinders, here’s some jumping doodles for the rhythm part of the game.
Not sure how it would be animated at this point because this is all hypothetical!

This is the last slide for MeowFinders as I ran out of time but I’ll keep working at more iterations and working it out and flesh out the world too at my own pace.
I don’t want to stick with the first few designs until I feel certain about my design decisions (:
If all else fails, I drew cats either way. ;)
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Moving onto Shape Exploration: able, blocky, rugged At a glance, you’d want to show stance/posture, body type,
Know that shapes are used differently by different artists - • triangle: sharp, dangerous, fast/aerodyanmic body language of your characters for instant readability.
design aesthetic & tastes! What impression & attitude are • circle: appealing, soft safe welcoming, friendly , cute
you trying to convey? Soft vs angular shapes? • many more countless combinations and possibilities Play with SIZE and Variation
PLAY with combinations of small, medium, large shapes
SHAPE PSYCHOLOGY involved: Strong silhouette is everything. and see what works!
• square: strong, stable, bold tough, rigid, solid, depend- The first impression of your character counts.
These are my terrible silhouettes as I struggle with it. Push the size of shapes as they relate to each other before it starts to look ridiculous!
Break your design and then reel it back in where it works again - iterating & playing ;)
Generally with proportions and scale, figure out where to simplify the body.
• Note limits for 2d/3d art production
• What can be animated?
• Think about story and how their role affects design
• How stretchy is the body? What are the Passive vs active parts of the body? 97
This is probably my 3rd attempt at doing turnarounds for NOTE there is such thing as too much detail! Strive not let Eg: I wanted to represent their personalities in their
Maid with Love to establish the body & costume propor- small shapes over take the big ones else there’s too much costume and accessories...
tions. Lots of countless studies of maid cafe uniforms were clutter - be selective in your distribution of detail.
made based what my client wanted and learning about So for Jia, she loves gardening and trains the maids at the
drawing frills, texture/patterns and what kind of look I Design negative quiet spaces for contrast and emphasis maid cafe. Consequently I have flowers, roses, pearls and
want to create for them. with the high density & detailed areas. Figure out your leaves as her design motifs.
hierarchy of medium, heavy and light areas of detail.
While working through and balancing how much detail we want, we found that there’s For Reva [above], she’s the cook of the maid cafe.
too much in the patterned stockings and in the frills of the sleeves, dress hem and the She loves action movies, comedy and boxing.
back detailing. So we removed them after this iteration. She requires hearing aids and signs and lip reads.

Again, what I like to do is to push the design until it’s too much. So her motifs are smileys, swirls, loops and feathers! Happy things!
Then pull it back and simplify it to make it work!
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For Chi, the cat hat disappeared later on

but her motifs are still cats, paws, bells, spirals, bows (:
For Misty,
she loves anime, cuteness, video games and sweet food!

Her motifs are pom poms, stripes, bunny ears, stars (:

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Finally for Thea,

Her’s is her top fabulous hat, diamonds, her musical pop singer headset gear,
musical notes and swirly wavy hair
Here is the line up of the characters without clothes [recent breakdown] to demonstrate:
• How many heads high relative to their bodies
• Shape psychology, positive/negative space, colours and themes that I applied
• stability, strength, love & friendship, passion, sensuality
• Depicting how they relate and contrast to each other
• How I’m using simple stylised shapes and proportions
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Okay many terrible looking iterations later, here’s version 4 of the cast line up. What is the first thing a person notices about these designs?
• Jia = Long hair and leaves
Finally I’ve sorted out the Shape Design/Language and their different body types and • Reva = Short hair and athletic build
proportions - striving to make them recognisable from each other. • Chi = Her pear shape body and pig tails
• Misty = Her bunny ears and swish shape of her hair
• Thea = Her top hat and voluminous wavy hair
This is my 6th turnaround pass to refine the final design. Also note how costume design breaks design and show- Contrasting shapes & awareness of design principles are
A silhouette test again with the final costume design too. case personality as well. Maintaining selective distribution important.
Striving to see the design as a whole, not as individual of detail aka putting detail where it counts.
parts.
Ensuring VARIETY (aka the spice of life) CREATES INTEREST.
When you squint, can you still tell what it is? Striving for Otherwise you get unintentional monotony!
instant readability and putting detail where it counts. Do avoid unintentional repetitive, uniform shapes! 105
Here I break it down to you further: Rough guide on tones, texture, patterns and detail
• shape design + clothing + colour motifs for each character • 70/30 or 60/40 or 80/20 ratio - you define it!
• unifying and establishing our design choices at their core and simplest
• how they relate to each other and how clothes add visual weight to the design Unless it’s intentional don’t be too boring, predictable and evenly divided and mirrored
• clearly see where to push and pull to your design tastes In your designs!
• how clothes affect the silhouette, visual weight on top of the body shapes
Extra slide before we talk about turnarounds and construction! This is why I’ve been showing you some of my iterations to show you that it’s a learning
process for me each time. (: That you’re not alone and it’s okay if you’re struggling.
With another quote I like from Brett Bean! You’re growing and going beyond your comfort zone!
“We all want the ability to show a good and believable design
without destroying form, anatomy and it’s construction.” Plus I love how he reinforces the importance of going back to the fundamentals
and practice it!! I really need to do this again :’)
This is hard. 107
Okay with turnarounds, you can see I did up to 6 iterations for Maid with Love. For me each time I do turnarounds, I keep testing and refining what works and doesn’t
I am figuring the form, construction, anatomy, costume, decision decisions and masses. work. (:

This is just me, learning - you can probably get there faster and more effectively &
efficiently than I could! Especially if you do not have the luxury of time. Some animation
focused artists use traditional clay sculpting to help them visualise their characters in
dimensions - it helps flesh your designs in real space with lighting and volume in mind.
For a dimensional and believable character, keep checking and defining: Extra things you may need to design:
• form, construction & volume • how the inside of the mouth, how body parts squash and stretch
• weight, anatomy & 2d shape language • number of fingers, design of teeth, elbows
• anything else specific & unique to the character’s movements & expressions
For 3d animation and modelling purposes, ensure you depict all angles consistently. •
Essentially you’re designing a 3d puppet that needs to look good from all angles: Need work together with modellers & technical artists to find a solution to make the
depicting the side, front, back and 3/4 front and 3/4 back views are recommended! character work in game! Team work! [Unless you’re doing everything on your own :0 ] 109
With Hair, Clothing and Accessory design you: • showcase their personality and feeling
• show setting, era and history for the character • do they have decorations, gear, accessories, tattoos, piercings and so on
• add a sense of gravity and tension in the clothing and hair • maybe the way they dress throughout the story changes too depicting growth in
• pride in appearance, how much are they willing to spend on fashion and trends? the character or different roles/jobs/time of day it is for the character
• do they value style over function? Or they don’t care about trends at all?
• you demonstrate what presentation means to them For these Maid with love characters they do have a life beyond the maid cafe but I’m not
• can they afford many clothes and fancy things? Or are they too poor? going to show the other costumes in this talk [secret!!]
Generally consider having some imperfections, distress, wear and tear, wrinkles and But the more you put it in your design, the more visual interest or clutter.
dents as they add a sense of history and character. If it suits the art style that is!
Stressing the point again about being selective with your level of detail (:
As I said, here I’ve been mindful of how detailed the wrinkles, patterns, colours and tex-
ture are; we did art tests according to feedback to figure it out!

It’s so, so, so easy to put lots of detail, patterns, colours, texture and variety! 111
For Prop Design: Example: Here Thea is a flirty, glamorous aspiring pop singer.
• How well props suits character’s personality? So all the things she wears supports her love of music and who she is.
• Depends on Character’/s abilities in game - for Cooking? Gardening? Fishing? Heal- From her elaborate hairdo, her show business royal looking top hat, her head phones &
ing? Attacking? Dancing? Flying? Swimming? Sleeping? Talking? Whispering? head set mic and confident strong makeup.
• How do they wear or hold this/these prop(s)?
• Props definitely add to the character design and to the overall silhouette!
Now some expression and facial design sheets if the project requires emoting! Know your proportions of the face for consistency; important ones are:
• eyes, nose, mouth, chin, forehead to the top of the head,
Here I’m working out the proportions between • size of the ears, nose, mouth, neck, shoulders
• the head versus jaw shapes
• eye and mouth shapes
• inside of the mouth if necessary
• see how far to push before the art breaks 113
For facial expressions, acting is the focus! Have fun, use references and a mirror to act it out yourself! :D
• how will they move their face? And keep the design consistent?
• how do you make sure they look good at all angles while emoting?
• how far to exaggerate – what are the limits within game?
• how far you’d squash and stretch the facial muscles
• draw over the head turnaround to design each new facial expression
Exaggeration, caricature and likeness! • where is it on the toony versus realism spectrum in their expressions? Why?
• what are your acting or performance inspiration and influences? Why?
At times you need to exaggerate from real people.
• figure out facial features, eye brows, eye direction
• level of detail
• expression of the hands too
• emphasis on who they are, personality and feeling 115
I didn’t do this for this project as I had other references and my own silly face too but do
seek out expression sheets online if you’re stuck for ideas (:
Colour and mood design wIth Maid with Love Side note: I made sure I had scheduled breaks to get fresh eyes and new ideas!
I had at least a day or a few in between certain stages to keep my mind creatively rested.
Here’s v5 of the Character Line up for our Feedback Session for colours and accessories!
Take breaks!! Otherwise you get too close to what you’re doing to see the obvious :(
That’s me and Lauren 2 years ago on Skype chatting about it ;) I’ve made silly mistakes because of this.
We were testing the different colours for Chi and Misty!
And where we figured we should kill the cat hat. It was too much. 117
Here are my FINAL turnaround sheets! To go briefly go over the final colour design that we settled on:
The design process is done! Yay!
Jia’s colours are mainly:
From here, this leads into making consistent 2D/3D game assets. Browns = representing reliability, loyalty, simplicity and her love of gardening & the earth
Showing front, side, back and ¾ front, ¾ back views is sufficient. With touches of peach, reddish pinks, sky blue pearls
Reva’s colours are mainly
Yellows = for happiness, warmth, optimism, strength, hope, positivity, energy, loyalty
With touches of orange and pinks and reds

119
Chi’s colours are mostly:
Pastel Greens = balance, energy, harmony, life
And touches of maroon pinks, oranges and dark greens
Misty is mainly blacks & greys = moodiness, mystery, seriousness, power, formality, elegance
And touches of whites, pinks and dark blues

121
Thea’s colours
Indigo blues = power, sincerity, compassion, magic, glamour
And touches of dark orange, pinks and blues

Contrasting combination to represent her performance focused ambitions.

And the final posed character cast lineup! Posed character art helps support and demonstrate their This was over the course of 5-9 weeks in 2015! :D
This depicts how the final design works and contrast with personalities! No more stiff and boring T poses now! This isn’t an overnight result!
each other with consistency! Add perspective, foreshortening, overlap, dimension and
volume to the characters here too (: Take your time when you can afford to. Otherwise, stick
I’m avoiding a purely mirrored/symmetrical design and to your gut feeling in what you believe will help solve the
pose between: Note these are NOT marketing illustrations nor in game art! design problem at hand.
• front vs back, top VS bottom, either side of the body 123
I showed this slide earlier: just showing the final in game art assets again to show what This is just my design process at the moment and it’s usually not practical or possible to
happens after the Character Design process. have this much time to design characters. I only got to take a lot of time on this because
fully developed character design was vital for a visual novel game like Maid with Love.
OVERALL WITH THE CHARACTER DESIGN PROCESS:
It’s very important to me to take sufficient time to explore and iterate towards character It could be within a week, a few days or even just a few hours to get a character done
designs that suit their personalities, backstory, motivation and for in-game purposes. depending on the project’s production timeline and needs.
It all goes back down to how character driven your project/game is (:
Final bit of this talk! The Challenge!! The gist is to design a set of characters and show your progress!

My attempt was my little project MeowFinders and now

I’m asking you to try to do the @CharDesignClub Challenge on your own!

The page with instructions and full of Resources is at my blog. The link again:
http://blog.leonieyue.com/2017/09/characterdesignclub.html 125
On the Resource page there’s many more prompts to get you started! This is just one page of them.
I stole them from the internet so there’s a lot of duplicate prompts ;)
Quick overview of the @CharDesignClub Challenge I didn’t do this for the talks but here I shall put in my [really brief ] answers to the
It’s due by the end of January 2018 if you want me to actually look & give feedback on Challenge questions in the following pages. Let this be an example for you but I don’t
your work! Or you can do it at your own pace but I won’t actually be able to give you have much room in these pages to ramble my answers properly in depth. (:
dedicated feedback [I’m not doing this forever and for free ;P No one is paying me to do
this; I need to draw the line. ]

Again there are more detailed instructions at the Resource Page. 127
0) I’m Leonie! I enjoy designing fun, whimsical and toony characters! I help out with art essentially everything because I’m quite rusty or I haven’t had the chance to actually
at Mighty Games and freelance, make comics, fanart and BurpDoodles on the side. I’m hone down to practice. :(
answering my own questions and I don’t know what I’m good at ;P!
Pushing my own comfort zone by actually pitching a game pitch and exploring art styles 1) I answered most of these in my slides so I won’t detail them here. As for Art Style, I’m
at my first conference talks! (: Phew! still figuring that out. I’m following my own Character Design process and I am currently
I want to improve on my process, expand my range of art styles and get better on my not satisfied with my growth right now :< I made this challenge so that I can attempt it.
fundamentals - characters in perspective, construction, gesture, colour, design, And I have some progress on it as you can see in some of my slides here ;)
2) I chose these roles:
Player/Main Character and 2 Sidekicks/Best Friends

3) I’ve got pages of studies, inspiration, concept iterations shown in earlier pages! But I’m far from finished. Too busy preparing for the talks. :(
Cannot submit anything when I have much more studies/concepting to go!

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4) Tag twitter @CharDesignClub with your work!

After the deadline after January 2018,

I will schedule out any submissions on the dedicated tumblr & @CharDesignClub twitter!
And I shall discuss your designs depending on the number of submissions and how long it takes me.
Not expecting many submissions though :D I’ve had tumbleweeds thus far so things aren’t looking positive :0
Use this tumblr characterdesignclub.tumblr.com
to submit your work by the new deadline: end of January 2018 [do disregard above slide]

If you want to tweet about this talk in general, tweet at me @leonieyue

If you want to tweet about your Challenge attempt, tweet at @CharDesignClub (:

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In the meantime, I will not be continuing my attempt this challenge with MeowFinders due to other things but I’ll keep drawing cats.
Again, I’m encouraging but I’m not actually expecting people to do this challenge but hey I did some of it and learning anyway on my own~!
I don’t expect to finish the challenge but I’m striving for progress in the future (:

PS: I’ll start posting my cat studies when I get around it! Even if I don’t finish it, at least I got to see wondeful cat photos ^o^
Special thanks to all these people above <3 speaker buddy and her heart warming feedback is too kind :’) • Special thanks to Mighty Games peeps for the support & allowing me to
• Thanks NZGDA & GDAA for giving me the opportunity to speak at all to • Lauren/@laurclinn for helping me with proofreading, applying for take annual leave to prepare for this talk. Thank you!
push my comfort zone to scary public speaking! Honoured & shocked!! speaking, her magical powers & moral support • Extra thanks Lauren/@laurclinn, @ScottBeca, Gerald/@VerbVirus,
• My mentor Sally/@soundsbysal for super moral support & keeping my • Liam/@liamesler for the encouragement boost, advice & moral support! my brother & anonymous peeps for answering my questionnaire too (:
doubts at bay (: Super righteous & confident force of nature! • Kristy/kristykate.com for sweet moral support & friendship! • Everyone who attended and/or who believed in me. Even when I wasn’t
• My brother for being the best soundboard! His patience with me. Hehe • Ben/@BenBritten for the unflinching speaking advice & support! sure about myself with my first & only two conference talks.
• Kalonica/@Kalonica_ for being such a wonderful, lovely & supportive • Scott/@ScottBeca for being a great work buddy listening to me ramble! • A mushy thank you all so much :’) Wah! <3 133
And finally THANK YOU for bearing with my first GCAP/NZGDC conference talk! WOO I did it!
I’m happy I did it! Now I’ll disappear into oblivion again where no one knows me haha
Again do share the itch.io page if you found this valuable/useful! Thank you for reading!

PS: there were different Q&A questions at the end of both talks that you’d need to watch yourself - if you’re interested.
I’ll share it on my own twitter when the recordings release but feel free to just keep tabs on @CharDesignClub for that ;)