Dynamic characters form the basis for every strong narrative. Developing powerful emotional connections with audiences, these characters draw individuals into stories and anchor them there, providing a sense of stability as the plot unfolds. Their perspectives determine how audiences perceive every twist and turn — and they can even help viewers feel seen.
Even the most exciting plot would falter if not supported by relatable characters. They are crucial in our favorite novels, films, television shows, video games and even advertising.
Animated characters, in particular, can be visually compelling, but they also risk coming across as inconsistent or one-dimensional. It takes a strong concept and meaningful details to make these characters shine.
Ready to take your characters to the next level? Below, we discuss the nuances of character design for animation. Keep reading for insight and inspiration, including character design tips and secrets from industry experts.
The Fundamentals of Character Design
As a core component of concept art, character design determines not only how key figures within films, TV shows or video games appear but also how their visual characteristics clue in viewers on their personality and greater role within the narrative.
Understanding the Role of Character Design
Some characters live in the minds of their creators years before they hit the screen. They may emerge intuitively, with animators struggling to convey why they felt drawn to certain features or characteristics. More frequently, however, characters emerge in response to deliberate planning, with creators poring over every detail to ensure that visual characteristics align with inner traits or motivations.
Essential Elements of Engaging Character Design
Several artistic elements coalesce to form identifiable characters. From shapes to colors, these details help each character form a visual identity — a recognizable character aesthetic that the audience can connect to and remember.
- Silhouette – Offering immediate indications regarding the character’s personality, the silhouette acts like a canvas, establishing the basic physical features of the character while providing opportunities to add extra details later on. This is where it’s easiest to observe the impact of shape language in character design — evoking specific feelings with each type of shape. Characters who prominently feature circular shapes may be perceived as friendly, while those with triangular shapes may come across as intense or aggressive.
- Color palettes – Animators can draw on different colors to spark intended emotional responses. Characters featuring warm colors may come across as cheerful or energetic, whereas cooler colors could evoke either serenity or mystery. Color palettes for characters may also be influenced by contrast; many creators opt for higher contrast to help specific character features stand out.
- Body language –How characters move in space can say a lot about their personality. This can amplify perceptions already created by the character’s silhouette or color palette. It may also convey the character’s current emotional state, so other elements must remain consistent to allow for purpose-driven fluctuations in the character’s demeanor.
Tips From Industry Professionals
Industry leaders frequently claim that character design is one of the most complex aspects of animation. As character designer Justin Rodrigues explains in Chris Oatley’s ArtCast, “The design serves only to inform the character … [it’s] only there to reinforce what the character is all about.” Structured processes and trusted techniques can guide this journey, leading to distinct character aesthetics.
Start With a Strong Concept
Referencing the need for a strong concept, Rodrigues feels that character designers should ensure that viewers “know who [each] character is the second they come on to the screen.” This immediate response is impossible to achieve unless animators have a firm grasp of who exactly the character is before creating that initial sketch.
This begins with determining each character’s purpose — including their goals and motivations. A backstory is also vital, as this explains how previous events have shaped the character in question.
Focus on Silhouette and Shape Language
Once the character’s identity is fully understood, it’s time to convey all this in a single, visual form. First things first: creating an identifiable silhouette.
Animators may reference other characters before creating thumbnails that reveal the basic flow of the character. This might involve breaking the character down into a few specific shapes that align with desired character traits. Initial thumbnails do not need to delve into detail at the outset but rather should focus on proportion while highlighting a few standout features.
Illustrator Sam Peterson explains, “When you build [silhouettes] up with different shapes, they’ll have a graphic, iconic read — like a logo would … It reads very simply.” He adds that “good design lets you identify that character at a glance.”
Color Theory and Its Role in Character Design
Color theory in character design explains how colors interact and how humans perceive those interactions. With characters, this establishes an emotional tone, expanding upon traits already conveyed through the character’s shapes and silhouette. Be mindful of the color hierarchy, beginning with elements such as saturation (the color’s intensity) and value (its lightness or darkness) before moving into hue selection.
Also important is the 60-30-10 rule, which, although dominant in interior design, has a role to play in character design as well. Under this approach, a dominant color covers just over half of the character’s appearance, while a secondary color (the 30%) adds depth, and an accent color creates a focal point by highlighting one or two prominent features.
Bringing Characters to Life
Once shapes, silhouettes and colors are in place, it’s time to add expression to characters so that they feel lifelike. Facial expressions, body language and timing are all essential and should consistently connect to the original character concept.
Expression and Body Language
To understand how the character moves, animators may create thumbnails depicting dynamic character poses. These may be exaggerated to convey strong emotions. This is followed by blocking, which connects various poses while revealing the flow of the character’s movements. Timing impacts expressiveness, with animations ideally using pauses to boost anticipation and follow-through to reveal how movement might continue after the initial action comes to a stop.
Iteration and Refinement
While a strong concept can form the foundation for a memorable character, changes are to be expected as other elements of the narrative evolve. Any of the elements discussed previously may shift over time, with refinement encouraging the fine-tuning of textures or color gradations. This process may be influenced by not only animator breakthroughs but also feedback from directors, storyboard artists or even test audiences.
Tools and Techniques for Professional Character Design
Character designers and animators draw on a variety of technological solutions and artistic techniques to bring characters to life. These largely depend on the foundational strategy for creating the character: hand-drawn design or digital processes.
Traditional vs. Digital Character Design
In character design and animation, the term ‘traditional’ is typically used to reference hand-drawn animations. Digital character design relies on software (such as ZBrush or Adobe Illustrator) for everything from initial sketching to 3D modeling and rigging, allowing designers to manage layers with ease so they can make simple adjustments to specific elements. The computer games industry is even starting to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) to boost time and cost efficiency in the production process (plus tools for developing characters and storylines) — yet a human touch still remains necessary.
Digital character design tends to be more efficient and flexible than hand-drawn solutions, but traditional processes lend a personal touch and may produce more organic shapes than can be created digitally. These call for tried-and-tested tools such as pencils, inking pens and sketch paper.
Building a Character Design Portfolio
Meant to showcase artistic and technical competencies, character design portfolios are critical for both job applications and connecting with freelance clients. This can be a valuable tool for animators or designers, too, revealing strengths worth playing up and weaknesses worth addressing. When building a design portfolio, aim for quality over quantity (typically around 10 pieces), with each inclusion highlighting the initial sketch, various iterations and the final design.
Real-World Examples and Case Studies
Character design, like many aspects of animation, is best understood through examining real-world examples. These can be analyzed to reveal the impact of specific character design techniques, such as shape language or color palettes for characters. They could also form excellent references as you embark on the character design process.
Analyzing Iconic Characters
Inspiration abounds, and chances are, you can learn valuable lessons about character design simply by taking a closer look at characters you’ve known and loved since childhood. To provide helpful character design inspiration, we highlight a few of the most notable below:
Mickey Mouse by Walt Disney
Revealing the power of simplicity, Mickey Mouse draws on shape language to convey friendliness with his rounded ears. Bold colors and high contrast also help him stand out.
This memorable mouse also reveals the value of iterative design; his appearance has shifted considerably since the early Steamboat Willie days, in keeping with evolving cultural values and design trends. Still, as the Walt Disney Family Museum’s Nicole Hellman explains, we continue to “recognize Mickey Mouse in his iconic red shorts, yellow shoes and white gloves.”
Sonic the Hedgehog by SEGA
Sonic the Hedgehog was created as a rival to Nintendo’s Super Mario. Who would have guessed that more than three decades later, the blue blur would be on almost equal footing with the overall-wearing plumber?
Artist Naoto Ohshima’s design gave the character a sense of explosiveness. Rounded features made it easier for him to roll and spin at super speeds. Also essential for a lovable, anthropomorphic mascot is his big eyes that can express more than words could.
Elsa from Disney’s Frozen
We know her today as a loving sister and a magical queen, but the iconic Frozen protagonist Elsa actually began as a full-on villain. It may be difficult to imagine the ice queen with spiky black hair, but this, in fact, was the original vision for the now-blonde protagonist.
Hair design was a crucial component of Elsa’s evolution as a character, with a blog for Walt Disney Animation Studios revealing, “Throughout Elsa’s journey, her hairstyle has been designed to reflect her emotional state of being and is frequently changing to reflect her story.”
Kratos from God of War
One of the most popular characters in the history of PlayStation, Kratos has undergone a bit of a glow-up in recent years. The original design by Charlie Wen emphasized his physicality and morbid backstory. The 2018 reboot still called attention to the dried ashes of his deceased family, but he also received a gruff beard to help him blend in with his new Norse-inspired surroundings.
Industry Professional Spotlights
While iconic character design examples provide a wealth of inspiration, this can also be found in the innovative forces behind these memorable figures. Guided by passion yet possessing well-rounded technical and artistic skill sets, the creative professionals detailed below reveal the secrets behind their most powerful characters.
Shigeru Miyamoto (Creator of Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong)
Shigeru Miyamoto is responsible for some of the most iconic characters in gaming history, including Super Mario, Donkey Kong and Princess Zelda. These characters have remained relevant thanks to character design fundamentals such as shape language and color theory.
Tetsuya Nomura (Character Designer for Final Fantasy Series)
The Japanese Role-Playing Game (JRPG) scene was already thriving by the time Tetsuya Nomura had his big breakout with Final Fantasy VI. The industry was about to evolve and mature in a way that few, if any, were expecting, due in large part to the characters created by Nomura. Final Fantasy VII brought JRPGs into the mainstream — and players couldn’t help but grow fond of characters like Cloud Strife and Aeris (while despising antagonist Sephiroth).
Hayao Miyazaki (Co-Founder of Studio Ghibli)
A beloved Japanese artist and animator, Hayao Miyazaki has had a remarkable influence on multiple generations of creatives across genres, including manga, anime and feature films.
Miyazaki’s seminal works include My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, all featuring unforgettable characters. His vivid, hand-drawn style offers a visual throwback to a simpler time, evoking instant nostalgia with a touch of mystery.
Ayami Kojima (Character Designer for Castlevania Series)
Konami’s Castlevania series found success in the 8- and 16-bit eras, but it took a bold step in a new direction with 1997’s Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The character designs also played a pivotal part in the game’s success, as they featured stunning renditions of the legendary Dracula and his nemesis Alucard. Kojima brought a distinct style to Castlevania, blending gothic and anime aesthetics to great effect.
Yoko Shimomura (Composer and Sound Designer)
While visuals form the basis of character design, this is one of numerous elements to shape the most impactful characters. Talented composer Yoko Shimomura harnesses the power of sound to add depth to video game characters and settings, as evidenced by her work on the beloved Kingdom Hearts series. She enhanced Tetsuya Nomura’s visual creations with emotionally resonant compositions and distinct musical motifs.
Work With RMCAD to Design Characters That Captivate
Are you eager to create tomorrow’s most compelling characters? Refine your process and build your portfolio with help from Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD).
Whether you study online or on-campus, you can gain a world of inspiration through our animation degree programs, which emphasize both artistic and technical skill development. Request more information today.
