Objective:
Out of the ideas I amassed previously, I have come to the conclusion that the creative project I aim to produce this semester is a Character Design. Character Design simply put is the creation of a new, original character. Typically utilized in comic books, animations and video games (Bancroft, 2016). The end goal of this project is to produce my own original character including back-story and sketches following a similar design path to Tillman (2011).
Part 1: Research & Backstory
- Weeks 3-5
Part 1 is the research stage, there will be no sketching for this portion. This stage exists to help plan my characters theme and archetype. Theme being the overarching traits that define the character, where as archetypes are essentially the mould that allows us to categorize them (Tillman, 2011). Once the research into archetypes and themes has been done It will allow me to create a character sheet outlining their traits and their backstory which will help fine tune the design process.
Part 2: Sketch Brainstorming
- Weeks 6-9
Given the above character sheet and backstory, the goal of this section is to begin digitally sketching possible designs of the characters hairstyle, clothing and weaponry that I can then take and apply to a range of possible character designs as front character views.
Part 3: Designing
- Weeks 10-13
This stretch of the project involves refining the concepts I have constructed in the previous step. I’ll start to construct orthographic projections of these designs. Orthographic drawings are 2D representations of 3D objects, hence they will allow me to represent the object from different angles (Webster’s New World College Dictionary, n.d.). Furthermore, I will then refine the design that stands out to me the most. Once the final design has been polished, the orthographic will be done in full colour as my final creative piece.
Overall, my goal for this project is to re-ignite the passion I had for drawing when I was younger, and also to help me transition from drawing on pen and paper, to the foreign world of drawing on a tablet.
References
Bancroft, T. (2016). What is character design? Retrieved from
https://taughtbyapro.com/news/what-is-character-design/
Orthographic Projection. (n.d). In Webster’s New World College Dictionary.
Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/orthographic-projection
Tillman, B. (2011). Creative character design. Burlington, MA: Focal Press.
Jeremy Ruggiero 