{"id":167,"date":"2024-02-27T00:01:54","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T00:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mycours.es\/interactivity\/?page_id=167"},"modified":"2025-11-06T14:21:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T14:21:38","slug":"notes-on-character-design","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mycours.es\/interactivity\/notes-on-character-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes on Character Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question: what’s the most memorable character for you, and why?<\/em><\/p>\n

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For character-driven stories it may make sense to think about the character style first and build a world around it.<\/p>\n

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Typical character design turnaround, ok for anatomically accurate animations and comics, not so much for games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Test it in action<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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If you are planning on using close ups, make sure that your design allows the facial expression you need\"\"Gudetama, the Sanrio character embodying laziness and burnout, become unexpectedly relatable to millenials.
\nOne note character appropriate for toys and gadgets, not so much for long form narrative.Pay attention to the basic shapes that form your character, and what they suggest about their personality and behavior.<\/p>\n

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Pay attention to the silhouette, especially for game characters. Is it well defined and instantly recognizable?<\/p>\n

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Iconic characters can be reduced to very simple shapes.<\/p>\n

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In action videogames silhouette recognizability is important to reduce the cognitive load of the player, but even outside of games try to see if your characters “read” as silhouette.<\/p>\n

Posture and shape can do a lot to convey the character personality.
\n\"\"\"\"<\/a>In creating cartoon characters you’ll have to deal with cliches and stereotypes.
\nThe exaggeration of features risks reinscribing traditional notions of gender but there is plenty of room to play and subvert expectations.<\/p>\n

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On cuteness<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Cute and stylized designs are not a modern phenomenon<\/a><\/p>\n

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\nCute characterization seems to appeal to people across generations and cultures<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Infantile features trigger nurturing response in humans (evolutionary thing to make us care for our offspring) which spills over other species and representations.<\/p>\n

Cuteness is not the end goal nor the default, see it as a tool, don’t limit your range.<\/p>\n

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Facial expressions are not the only way to convey emotions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Allow for consistency across characters (using a limited palette helps)<\/figcaption>\"\"What are the features that makes your character instantly recognizable?<\/span><\/figure>\n

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Realistic, Iconic or Abstract?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Narrative games aside, game characters are defined by their actions and states<\/p>\n

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How can your character communicate its state and features?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The proportions of the main character in Braid were dictated by the platforming gameplay. In cognitive terms, the player has less work to do to calculate the movements of a short squareish object.<\/p>\n

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Don\u2019t let the technology dictate your expressive modes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Some of the best character design in contemporary games is iconic. Originally Mario\u2019s distinctive big nose and mustache was a low-res necessity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In short animations, characters may have specific built-in affordances. They are designed to perform certain actions:<\/p>\n

This happens more frequently in videogames, where characters are defined by what they can do and the actions they perform are limited.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Gris \u2013 animation-first, and special \u201cmood abilities\u201d expressed through shapes
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