Mastering Shape Language for Captivating Character Designs

character design shape language

Besides portraying horrifying characters’ personalities, artists also use them to show a hero’s determination, drive, and opportunism. This is the case with our Angelina Justice character at GraphicMama and Peter Pan. Since then, shape language has been used in various industries, including video game development, animation, and graphic design. Storytelling goes with the characters, and the character design studios or designers who create these characters must design them to be memorable and unique.

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Exploring the Spectrum of Character Art Styles

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I’ve noticed I’m unconsciously drawing the eyes more differently than I usually do to match the personality of the shape. So far, there’s not one character in sight that looks like what I typically draw. Squares represent stability and it is a dependable, familiar shape symbolizing honesty and solidity. They are not flashy or attention seekers as far as the shapes go. However, some would say they are dull, but creative designers would transform them to add depth to a character.

Character Design Quarterly - issue 06

We share only the finest artworks, the best tutorials and the greatest animated shorts with an international community of over 1 million artists, art enthusiasts and animation fans. Every issue of CDQ is packed with tutorials to follow along with at home. Michaela Nienaber tackles our Random Word Generator feature, Raquel Ochoa shows us how to draw silly and serious characters, and Nathanna Érica puts on a color masterclass. There may also be a mix of shapes integrated into the design to portray different messages, an example is Fifi, She mostly uses circles in her design as she is super fun loving, energetic and bouncy. However she does utilise elements of squares to portray her durability. Drawing and being creative is an act of expression, and we want to be expressive so we need to speak louder than nature intended!

character design shape language

How to create a pleasing balance in your artwork

She is passionate about spreading her love of art to others. At least, that was my inspiration when I came up with Anda Bandit. You should be able to identify some predominant shapes at a glance. Patrick is a simple character, presented as a little slow, soft, and pretty lazy. Imagine a sentient gumdrop, and you get the basics of the character—or, more to the point, an egg. SpongeBob is a masterclass of design up there with Mickey Mouse.

Nathanna Érica shows us how she created this issue’s paper-crafted cover and speaks to us about her inspiration, career, and more. CDQ 25 is packed with ideas and inspiration, with a whole host of tutorials, interviews, and gallery artwork from professional artists all across the globe. Lynn Chen shows us how she created this issue's colourful cover and speaks to us about her distinctive style, career, and more. CDQ 27 is packed with ideas and inspiration, a whole host of tutorials, interviews, and gallery artwork from professional artists all across the globe. We welcome Dave Guertin back to CDQ as he shows us how he created this issue's engaging cover and talks about his process and career. David Colman, an Emmy-winning character designer found in his practice and research, that facial expression is really secondary when reading a character.

In short, you're learning to do things the way they're done in the real world. According to what we have discussed so far, the picture on the right hand is calmer and more stable because of the horizontal shapes. But the left one is more active and growing based on the vertical orientations. 21 Draw offers online courses and books on how to be a better artist for students of all skill levels. Our contributing artists and instructors are the best in the world. Rhea is an Australian concept artist who is currently studying at Griffith University.

Bilyana is an inspiring content writer and illustrator at GraphicMama with years of experience in art and design. When she’s not busy writing for the blog, you will usually see her working hard on new illustrations and graphic resources. Think of the sense of touch, something instinctive and natural. We inherited the perception of oval shapes as safe and soft, on the contrary, angular shapes are a warning of possible danger.

Language of Shapes

While I have a rough humanoid base mesh that I’ve built across the years to help me jumpstart a project, I usually end up sculpting a lot of features from scratch anyways on a case by case basis. Admittedly, I rarely draw animals and this challenge has made me draw several without struggling. As a result, I have unknowingly stepped out of my comfort zones. Therefore, this challenge/technique is a fun and educational way of learning how to elevate and develop your characters.

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Let’s focus on the ovals for now, and in the next section will talk about the triangle primary shape. They are often used to convey danger, evil, and unpredictability. You'll also be the first to know about new products and special offers. Arash is the equivalent of Buzz in Toy Story when he goes to infinity and beyond, but never comes back! Responsible for our blog and content marketing efforts, he always delights the audience with his tenacity and passion in creating the extraordinary.

Melanie Tikhonova explores how shape language affects design, while Eirini Michailidou shows us how to create characters from three generations of the same family. The purpose of these tasks are to explore the shapes first and then determine what mood and feelings the design suggests. Through this process of experimentation, you can learn for yourself various shape language & design elements that can communicate certan emotions.

character design shape language

Knowing different shapes in character design and using them at the right time and in the right place will make your character come into life. Shape Language is a concept used in art and 3D animation to communicate meaning based on shapes we are familiar with. When used in character design, shapes can tell a story, show personality, and illicit an emotional response in the viewer without using any words. This issue’s selection of industry specialists paints a vivid world filled with colorful characters, emotive anthropomorphic cats, and horror icons as never seen before.

He’s not completely evil, but he’s very harsh and meanSo now the good guys should be obvious! The eyes have less detail, which makes us feel more relaxed when we look at them. You should also notice the differences in colour, which is another tool that can beused to reinforce feelings.

With so much to explore, there’s something for everyone inside this issue of CDQ, no matter your skill level or experience. Shape language refers to the application of specific shapes or shape qualities to communicate certain characteristics or emotions in a character's design. It involves incorporating shapes that visually represent specific traits or moods, enhancing the overall storytelling aspect of a character's design. In this example I’ll be using spikes and spirals to influence the overall design. To help me achieve this I used the lasso tool, with a texture brush. In a way, it has improved already by adding more diverse shapes and perspective.

At a fundamental level, all objects and character designs can fall under either of these categories. Most character designs are likely to be compound, meaning comprised of multiple shapes working together. That’s not to say that simple shape characters do not exist either. Study an in-depth tutorial by Jefrain Gallipoli and learn to effectively develop a character whose appearance perfectly encapsulates the feeling of amazement. If you are looking to begin with the basics, listen to Tom Hänni as he speaks the language of shape, and offers tips on how to loosen up and get started. CDQ 22 is full of fun and insightful tutorials from a wide range of industry professionals.

Characters that incorporate more circular shapes are often seen as approachable, cute, friendly, and harmless. You will often see circles used in the designs of protagonists, maternal caregivers, young children, and pets, signifying to the audience that these characters are kind and trustworthy. In a future blog post, I’ll be helping you explore how shapes can influence characters' poses, lending them specific feelings and interpretations. Beyond that, we can also look at how forms applied to the composition of your multi-character drawings to highlight relationships, attitudes, and hierarchy. If you want simple shape language character design practice, try these provided shape constructions and share what you develop.

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