7 Tips for Iterating on a Character Design

[@ponykazy3725]

It's kinda funny, the other day I was creating a bee character. as I was doodling design ideas, I remember that bees have fuzzy mouths (at least that's how I'd describe it), so I gave the bee a little mustache. references are so cool!

[@Gonzzink]

my entire project for this semester is character design, with an end goal of a mock up for my video game,and your tips have helped tremendously! Seriously one of my new favorite channels. is there a rule of thumb for how complicated a game character should/can be? I heard somewhere that a character more than 7-10 strokes to draw means it's too complicated.

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Ah hah, this is an interesting question. That 7 strokes idea is pretty subjective. For example, how much of the screen is the character taking up, what kind of game is it, art style, etc? Fire Emblem characters are ridiculously complicated, but they generally only exist as single frames that take up half the screen for dialogue, or pixel assets for movement. What you really want to do is keep an eye on two things: Clarity and Economy. Economy is pretty obvious, when it comes to animating a simple character vs a complicated one, for all the actions you need it to do in the game, all the enemies of similar art style, those things add up, and simplicity will help you with cranking out art assets. Clarity comes through in a few things: We may not have NES graphical limitations anymore, but there's still generally a limit to screen size, especially with phone games. If your character is loaded up with 4 bandoliers, a scar across her eye, a cape, a slogan on her shirt, eventually it just becomes way too much visual information at once. The other way clarity factors into a design is in how readable their activity is. Sonic and Mario wear white gloves for a similar reason that old black and white cartoons do, to clearly distinguish where their hands are in a limited visual setting. Sonic also wears bright red shoes, which contrast with his body. At no point do you question what pose sonic is in. Also consider that the more simple a character is, the more we fill in the blanks ourselves and project onto them. This is part of why the silent protagonist is so popular. Use big easy to read shapes and colors, and you'll make things easy for yourself and the person that would play your game. Hope this is helpful, I would love to see your project at the end! As you'll see coming up on the channel, I'm getting into a bit of game development myself.

[@Gonzzink]

I really appreciate you taking the time to reply. Thanks a lot for this and I would love to share it at then end of the semester. (Now I definitely have to keep my head in the game and make some good stuff haha) I'd would love to see your game development work and glad you'll be making more game development content! I have just recently started working in game development. My first game jam project is on my website www.Gonzzink.com if you're interested. Luckily I made some friends who can code so I can focus on art direction, game mechanics, and art assets. I'll be bugging you with more questions in the future.

[@CashKingD]

Woah, why does this only have like 40 views? This channel deserves way more subscribers. Nice work!

[@CharacterDesignForge]

+CashKingD Thank you so much! :D Just getting started out this month, but new people will come in time. Right now, I'm focused on putting out as much that people can get value from as possible. If there's anything regarding character design you have questions about, let me know!

[@Yipper64]

1:03 i have dont this recently. im making a game where a robot is building a sand castle to defend an orb. so basically tower defence where you build the tower. i started with a generic robot, the color pallet was lots of dark blues because thats just what i chose to look metalish i guess. so when i went to redesign the whole thing, i thought okay so im going for a sort of cute style here, i should make him a lot rounder, so i did, secondly i thoughts, okay, so hes a builder right? what does a builder look like? oh yeah a contruction worker. so i made him orange. and i like it this way. it also adds to the game because im making the enemies in a blue-ish hue (they are mainly made of ocean mud) and the good guys a more orange hue (the main character, but also sand soldiers that he makes) and that separates the two visually.

[@Madison__]

Just found your channel! Im surprised how little views you have for such a good video!

[@woopsoup1838]

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. 1:25

[@thejaderabbit5288]

Lol

[@williamhazzard5908]

Nice Bee movie quote

[@mslightbulb]

Because bees can barely think. Their brain is super small.

[@Aeiouaaaaaaaaa]

I’m so happy this exists. I came into the comments specifically to look for this and the community did not disappoint.

[@cosmicspacething3474]

This quote was inevitable

[@racheln8563]

I have what could be considered a similar problem. I have a human character done in the mildly caricatured style of, say, "For Better Or For Worse." Unfortunately, it's difficult to keep it "on model." How do I keep it consistent?

[@julioperonerocholl9364]

I have never understood why the character is designed in different poses.. In a course I was told that if you leave it in one pose and try different ideas, it will be easier to decide which one is the best. Also, there are poses that overlap and you lose details of the character. If it is advisable to create different poses, Which are the most recommended? thank you and amazing video!

[@dltgrm373]

Great video dude, really helps to get out ideas :D keep the good work

[@TheBlackLobo]

... what about Tardigreave

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Niiiice

[@Vagolyk]

I guess you remembered the greave. Sadly that is still tha leg guard in the armour, the arm guard is the gauntlet, but it's nothing like the tardigrade so the glove is still an great alternative.

[@fmbray_]

T A R D I G L O V E

[@theraiden1018]

Why the lack of views???!! wtf?

[@CharacterDesignForge]

XD Appreciate that

[@kairon156]

Not knowing what Iterating means almost turned me away from this video. I wouldn't be surprised if that's apart of the reason.

[@snappy6324]

＊ Hey Brookes, fun question! How do you feel about Mickey Mouse and his revolving ears?

[@arandomlizard3411]

I N F I T E T W I S T I N G

[@kairon156]

Gauntlet could be another name for her weapon.

[@jj_the_ent]

Actually bumble bees do have hives just their combs are a lot more messy than honey bee combs

[@Jay.B.2046]

For the algorithm.