For this project I have been assigned the role of the character artist. To better understand my role and what will be expected of me I am conducting research into what professionals of the industry do. For this research I looked at a job profiles website, a career pathways website and finally a job application guide.
Job Profile
https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/animation/pre-production/character-designer
What does a character designer do?
visualise and create the look of characters. Often using research into relevent fashions and cultures. Mostly using the directors descriptions and concept art to infrom the work. A high standard of drawing skills are required as the character will have to be drawn both digitally and physically.
You must be good at collaboration and willing to take constructive critisicsm to iterate and better the design.
Career Pathway
https://www.cgspectrum.com/career-pathways/character-designer
What makes a good character designer?
The ability to take abstract ideas and visually incorporate them into a character. Being able to quickly visualise and represent your idea for the character. A keen eye for detail in expressions body language etc. Researching the style required of the character.
Job Application Guide
https://atomhawk.com/resources/applicant-qa-guide-character-artist/
This is an applicant guide for character artists to apply to AtomHawk, an outsourcing company for the creative production in video games.
- Strong understanding of the fundamentals of art
- key eye for design
- clothing design
- The ability to iterate upon a design multiple times
- creative problem solving
Character Designers I Admire + Materials I Already Own
Character design is a huge passion in my life so I already own a number of books revolving around it and follow many character designers, for this project I revisited some of these inspirations
Beverly Johnson – Draw Great Characters
Bev Johnson is an illustrator and character designer, I love her simple but effective designs.
This book contains 75 exercises for designing characters, I often use it when I am stuck or have art block.
Johnson, Beverly. Draw Great Characters and Creatures. Penguin, 3 Dec. 2019.
The fundamentals of Character Design
The Fundamentals of Character Design is a large book filled with advice from over 15 different character artists. It contains not only advice on how to create characters but also how to turn this into a career.
I use this book for inspiration from all the different artists, the myriad of styles allows me to draw from each different one.
Bishop, Randy , et al. FUNDAMENTALS of CHARACTER DESIGN : How to Create Engaging Characters For. 3dtotal Publishing, 2020.
Pernille Orum
https://pernilleoe.com/myportfolio
Pernille Orum is singlehandedly my bviggest inspiration when it comes to character design, I have been following her for years and aspire to have as strong a style as her.
Her work as a character designer has led her to work for Disney, DC and publish a number of books. I own her book the art of Pernille Orum which details her process of designing characters and how she approaches artworks.
Pernille Ørum. The Art of Pernille Ørum. Worcester, 3Dtotal Publishing, 2020.
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