What is my game concept?
My game idea is based on Anxiety. You begin the game very deep down in the sea. The player’s aim is to go from room to room to eventually reach the surface.
The game is a metaphorical take on the metaphor “I feel like I’m drowning”.
Why have I chosen this idea?
I have recently been diagnosed with anxiety so being able to create a character somewhat based off my own struggles is important and interesting to me.
What type of character am I creating?
I am going to create a deuteragonist. In this game the player has to navigate and over come puzzles themselves.
Personality traits for my character:
- Introverted
- Sensitive
- Creative
- Cynical
- Insecure
- Nervous
- Quiet
Shape Language
Throughout the design process of developing a character, whether it’s a concept for an animated TV series or film- artists always start from drawing basic/primary shapes. The shapes commonly used for this process are circles, squares and triangles. Each shape can have a different meaning for a character and altogether give off a certain persona.
For example circles can be used to create the shape of a face or body structure which doesn’t just make it easier to design but it can also create a innocent, friendly and soft look making the character visually likeable. Circles are most likely to be used in a children’s animated TV show or possibly in a children’s game.
For the character’s I’m designing I want them to be mainly formed through triangles because it gives off a more strong and threatening look.
My character:
Based on the traits I listed previously and using shape theory I want to incorporate mainly circles. Circles represent softness and could reflect introversion.
Craig Mccracken
Shane Prigmore
Yannick Pignot
Outfit Ideas
From the images I looked at in Pinterest, one of them reminded me of the dress Taylor Swift wears in her Cardigan Music Video.
I also looked into Billie Eilish as the whole idea of having to be in rooms underwater is similar to her Happier Than Ever music video.
After looking into both Artists I decided to use Taylor Swift’s outfit to inspire the dress on my character. The song ‘Cardigan’ is very much about carrying emotional grief and weight. I want the dress to be a symbol of the weight the character carries throughout the game. The unchanged nature of the dress could evoke this longing for something that is no longer present, just as the cardigan in the song represents the warmth and safety that once was but is no longer there.
Since looking at Taylor Swifts dress in one of her music videos I decided I’d like to create a similar dress. I love the idea of having a white, baggy dress to symbolise purity and insecurity however I would like to experiment with different colours and versions before coming to a final design.
Dress design ideas:
After looking at previous images I wanted specific pictures I could use to influence me. Out of all of these my favourite is the bottom right image. It is only tight fitting from the chest upwards and down below that it’s loose and flowey. The only thing I dislike about this dress is the lack of detail so I will look into different ruffles I could add.
These are some pictures of dresses with ruffles. My personal favourite is the top left dress. The ruffles are quite basic and are not too detailed.
My drawings:
Before adding details to a dress I sketched out three different designs to see what type of sleeves I preferred. My favourite is the first dress design.
Using the ruffled dresses images I began drawing different designs on my chosen dress style. I really disliked the first one so for me this was a definite no, however I really liked the other three so it was a tough decision.
I decided to go with the bottom left dress (the third) as it had a fair amount of detail but not too much. I also prefer the look without the belt and the other dress with extra ruffles at the bottom was a bit too much for me.
Colour experimentation:
Character design ideas:
My three main inspiration for my character design come from the artists of Coraline, Fran Bow and Child of Light.
I like the proportions mostly on Child of Light out of all three of these, however I will experiment with different proportions and maybe incorporate other components from these designs as well.
One thing all three of these characters have in common is that they’re all wearing yellow. This would have been done intentionally by each designer. Since Fran Bow is similar to my game I will look into the colour and why it may be a suitable choice for my characters clothes.
After finalising the dress design I wanted to see what it would look like on. This is just a basic sketch to see the fit of it.
After seeing what the dress looked like on I began the character design process. I started out with more of a Fran Bow style drawing.
I quite liked this drawing however It didn’t really fit in with the environment design. I also need to do some sketches in different poses.
I sketched some drawings in an idle gesture. The proportions may change.
For the walking poses I made them more slouched and hunched over to make her more awkward-looking.
These are some quick sketches to see what my character would look like walking. I sketched one design with longer proportions and one with shorter like the character in Child of Light.
My favourite out of the two is the shorter proportioned sketch.
I was happy with how my character finally turned out, however I wasn’t happy with the eyes. My main inspiration for these eyes is Coraline. Her eyes are big and round, which is what I want for my character.
I sketched a brown pair and a blue pair. Out of both of them my favourite are the blue as this fits the colour pallet and the aesthetic of being water themed.
Finalised character designs:
