Character Design: Exploring Shapes and Researching Ideas

To kickstart our first Character Design lesson of the year, our tutor, Justin, tasked us with researching and studying specific objects that he assigned us. I was given the "bunsen burner", to which I then set off and recreated models and diagrams of the item. This is so that we can practise getting in to the habit of researching any and all subject matter when starting new projects.

Next, we then had to discuss what type of characters would most likely use these objects. Initially, I started down the typical "mad scientist" route, but when I delved a bit deeper, I thought to myself, what about a student? Would this student be young or old? Would they use it for good, or for mischief? I started off with a child who would be cheeky and use it for pranks, but on the flip side, I started to think of a child who wanted to use science for good. Perhaps this child has a hero complex? I thought about the bunsen burner being a tool in their mission to create experiments that helped the world.

I tend to lean towards a cartoon-y sort of style when it comes to playful subjects, and Justin suggested that I look in to children's toys to shape the world and the objects for my character, sort of like having a "my first science kit" mentality. This was to get us thinking as to how we can relate the world back to our character, and how they interact with it.

We then moved on to shape studies and caricatures of our classmates. We had to create an exaggerated version of each other, emphasising and simplifying certain features in to their basic shapes, and then developing those shapes into a completely new character. Below, I was aiming for sharp edges and triangular shapes, which can then be translated to being villainous and mischievous.  

As the day continued, we then got started on our character design projects. Initially, we were all told to pick a number from a hat, and that then gave us the subject matter for our projects. For my project, I was given the Aristocrat character. Another detail to note was that my character is based in 1920s Paris, so I then started researching the fashion from that era. As the sessions progress, we will be developing these characters and their stories further, I'm excited to see where this goes!