Character Design Secrets Everyone Should Know

Evgeniy Evstratiy teaches how to create compelling character designs, starting with a clear idea and then gathering references. The next step requires using techniques like visual mixing, "what if" scenarios, and genre fusion to generate ideas. Focusing on silhouette, proportions, and scale to define your character's shape. Once that happens prioritize facial features, pose, outfit, and equipment to convey personality and backstory. Use iconography and body exposure to enhance character identity. Remember, design principles apply universally, whether for grounded or entertainment-focused projects.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
00:19 - Idea
03:49 - Foundation
07:04 - Personality
10:38 - Outfit & Equipment
15:06 - Conclusion
15:47 - Outro
RELATED LINKS:
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#CharacterDesign #ConceptDesign #conceptart
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ABOUT PROKO:
Instructional How to Draw videos for artists. My drawing lessons are approachable enough for beginners and detailed enough for advanced artists. My philosophy is to teach timeless concepts in an entertaining way. I believe that when you are having fun, you learn better. I take pride in producing high-quality videos that you will enjoy watching and re-watching.
CREDITS:
Artist | Instructor - Evgeniy Evstratiy ( / evgeniy_evstratiy )
Producer - Stan Prokopenko (www.stanprokopenko.com), Sean Ramsey (www.peoplewhodrawstuff.com),
Script - Evgeniy Evstratiy
Production Assistance - Sean Ramsey
Editing - Evgeniy Evstratiy, Sean Ramsey
Publishing - John Birchall, Alex Otis
Music by Epidemic Sound

[@ProkoTV]

A big thanks to Evgeniy Evstratiy for sharing his knowledge on character design! For more on the topic check out this design lesson - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZvMfJ-CepiBq6ssi=JWcuQqzqacvnX1NV

[@evgeniy_evstratiy]

Thank you Stan for the opportunity and I hope this information is helpful to the audience!

[@RogerioPereiradaSilva77]

Thank *you* for sharing all this knowledge in such a helpful, direct and concise format, good sir!!

[@Timvangalenart]

Very good concise video! Loved it.

[@Ubreakable-lr2dk]

didnt know braum was an actually reallife human lul

[@retrosoul-]

This was incredibly helpful. I'm wanting to design my own comic book superhero, so I will definitely keep this video in my favorites for reference.

[@efae]

Thank you so much 😇

[@davidhenry5671]

I would like if there was a course from Evgeniy Evstratiy teaching character design as I like taking more depth into it and watch him while he is drawing. if it's possible , this would be perfect.

[@ProkoTV]

Everyone interested, come like this comment!

[@viejus]

It would be awesome to have a character design course taught by Evgeniy!

[@JudoMitzu]

One of the best designs videos here. Short, simple, and with lots of examples.

[@ProkoTV]

Glad it was helpful!

[@leandrorp6642]

Evgeniy is crazy good artist, both his ideas and shape design

[@ProkoTV]

We couldn't agree more!

[@silverblue73]

Yeah I’m looking him up, his shapes and control of light are 🤌

[@alexisazrael2876]

The "idea" part of the video is incredible, it's impossible for me to create characters and that part has made me think a lot

[@sirmikesalot8679]

This quite literally posted the second I needed it. You guys never cease to amaze with your impeccable timing!

[@ProkoTV]

Perfect! Glad it helps!

[@3k3u3]

I was just going to say this!

[@Diddles_Doodles]

Same lol

[@FirstDraftPhilosopher]

Evgeniy is such a personality! Such a fun video! Bonus: I feel like I learned stuff too!

[@ProkoTV]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@StrungHigh]

No time wasted, many topics covered, clear examples. This may be the best vid on art I've ever seen. I'll be coming back to study it for awhile.

[@ProkoTV]

Thanks!

[@notcornelius123]

What a fantastic goldmine of a video you did man, congrats! So glad tonsee you on Proko!

[@thealphaoozaru7755]

This video is INCREDIBLY informational and is the best character design tutorial I've ever watched! I hope to make a game one day so I'll carry this knowledge with me and make it work with my creativity. Ev's art is incredible and his style is great!

[@nashonightmare]

This is awesome. Thanks Evgeniy and Proko for awesome content.

[@mostafaz5872]

Incredible video! I think this can apply to all sorts of designs, not just characters.

[@aegresen]

So much fantastic information jam packed into a relatively short video. Amazing stuff. Get designing chums!!

[@DrawnUpComics]

Great video. This was explained well with great examples. Thanks, guys. I learned a lot.

[@dawnwriter7112]

Evgeniy is really a brilliant artist. Very inspiring work

[@milkbread5036]

this was super helpful!! I really like this workflow.

[@aaricuka]

This helped me a lot thank you so much. By the way I love your content and u explain things very clearly

[@bentationfunkiloglio]

Great artist AND he rocks a Salvador Dali mustach! Absolutely, gorgeous character design.

[@hayeonkim7838]

Thanks for so useful and valuable video as always ❤❤❤

[@diegom1215]

0:57 hell yeah, kickass Strogg design

[@tzarsar]

Thank you so much, this helps a lot!

[@Ilovepopcorns]

Really good video that everyone should see!!

[@afrancis7475]

This was a good video. Saved it in my playlist.

[@malikgarcia699]

I didn’t know Bronson teaches art 😂

[@RayfieldA]

Exactly!! 😅

[@radhikabaijal23]

This is so informative!

[@efae]

Thank you so much for this ❤❤❤❤

[@inexistence631]

This video is a GOLD MINE.

[@theall-seeingeye2341]

what an amazing artist!! >:O

[@luffysan4876]

love the way he tells it

[@johnnydy1384]

Thanks man.. your "chicago bulls like" beard style is as best as your craft. Kindly continue inspiring us..

[@mahrukhfareed2748]

Well done 👏

[@ooky4986]

This is a really good video

[@MarcLaisneARTVenture]

Great work

[@Hazardreem]

Excellent Video 👏👏👏

[@lamidraw]

thank you! now I can understand better ;)

[@evgeniypupkin5763]

damn, that is gold!

[@966Ranger]

Btw, can someone tell what software does Evgeniy use for his moodboard? It looks very handy and simple at the same time

[@akkudak]

its pureref, a free amazing software to organize references

[@966Ranger]

@@akkudak many thanks!

[@966Ranger]

its sooo cool being taught design by a pirate

[@ProkoTV]

This is an important lesson in character design, right here. What people see immediately is what they'll assume.

[@cemarhyarts]

pure gold

[@seppoday]

6:36 is such simple but effective way to show design possibilities

[@madmaster3d]

good video ty

[@ProkoTV]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Copa20777]

Thank you🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@shirayukihime7384]

Will there be courses from him in the future? I would love to learn more about character design from him:)

[@ProkoTV]

We'd love that! That's up to him and what his availability is.

[@MuffinGacha]

i love your mustache

[@ProkoTV]

Us too!

[@samankucher5117]

awesome

[@Chaogardenx]

Thanks Bronson and Proko

[@RayfieldA]

I KNEW someone else would say what I was thinking!! 😅

[@kinnoafrenky5445]

wow. just wow.

[@cookieDaXapper]

....sketch and refine, Refine, REFINE.

[@davidaugustofc2574]

Should I design the outfit with the same shape language of the character or have it represent the current state of mind? I know characters that swap outfits often while still being recognizable

[@lichdesign]

I have insane amount of chaos in the way i gather references and it's clear that I fucked it up as well. Still the hardest part for me to categorize them.

[@artecco]

Could you tell us which program or app you used for moodboarding?? (Not Pinterest but the 2 different ones that seem to appear in the video) I use an iPad pro but sometimes it's hard to do a moodboard and that one you group things looked amazing

[@ProkoTV]

If you're using Procreate, you can create a reference layer. It's a pretty handy feature they include that won't even show up in your process replay. In this, though, he's using PureRef.

[@joavelozo]

Masterclass

[@fandeandreaarruti]

I like how I intuitively understood this , but I need practice.

[@ProkoTV]

We believe in you!

[@Graavigala85]

my biggest issue when trying to make characters is getting the pose down. I have been working years as turnaround artist or clothes designes that trying to make characters stand in interesting poses has become issue for me

[@sfwcommenting]

I would be interested to see if a recognizable silhouette still applies to characters that are lesser known. Kind of like playing "who's that Pokemon" while only knowing Gen 1, you know? Feraligator might be recognizable... Once you know him.

[@ProkoTV]

Knowing who the characters already are does a lot. But with good design, you can already have a pretty solid chance at guessing a lot about characters from just their silhouettes. You definitely won't go "THAT'S ELECTABUZZ" if you don't know them. You'd be a psychic to know their name lol But you can infer so much from that classic Electabuzz pose in a silhouette.

[@rexxundeat4328]

When explain about char design what if a combine b + c . Is LoL char Braum from your student idea? 😂 What if my teacher + Mucle body + Big Shield . Thankyou for explanation Proko + Evgeniy

[@neruoue123]

can our amazing artist also teach us how to grow such an amazing moustache?

[@ProkoTV]

We'll talk to him about doing a course on it. 😂

[@darkknight4353]

Off topic question. What collar mic are you using

[@evgeniy_evstratiy]

Boya BY-V10

[@darkknight4353]

@@evgeniy_evstratiy Quality is very nice..Its affordable too..Thank you for replying

[@IlyMelley]

0:18 nice biblical reference

[@DiablitoKawaii]

I feel like patching the Frankenstein monster

[@kevinchopra9111]

I played the Evil Within...thought it was good...

[@Fethennour]

No offense to great artist Evgeniy, but I am so glad subtitles are available.

[@theturkishprince]

I absolutely love his wild west gold rush designs. So deliciously nasty

[@thompsonm1888]

Bronson is a good artist , we all know

[@zaidaliahmed7869]

Ngl, I was so confused looking at this art, because I thought this was Maki's art (Art of Maki) But I guess it's just similar style?

[@luigispadaccini140]

1:45 What if... I were to purchase fast food and disguise it as my own cooking?

[@ProkoTV]

If it's just for you, hell yeah you cooked that Big Mac! But if you go to sell something, you'll have to put some more work into it than that.

[@luigispadaccini140]

@@ProkoTV To be cleair this is not my idea, is from a Principal

[@ProkoTV]

@@luigispadaccini140 Seymour's steamed hams are one of our favorite New York delicacies, for sure!

[@ms.pirate]

1:12 The evil within is SUCH an underrated series! Too bad the company shut down by Microsoft

[@evgeniypupkin5763]

agree :(

[@emmanuartmoz]

Thanks man, but can create for vídeo game characters designer

[@Overk1ng72]

What do you think of my first video proko?

[@ProkoTV]

You have some great points! You did linger on the more "rough" looking pages and showed those in the thumbnails so it made us think that was the "final" work. We were surprised to see inked pages a while into the video. Lead with that banger result and then pull back and show the process. For the new viewer who is unfamiliar with the highest quality results you achieve, you only have a couple seconds to make that first impression and get a click. They can just scroll on by or click away into so many other art tutorials on the internet. You made sure to give people realistic tips and that was great! There's no magic bullet and it's good to keep it positive, despite that. Keep at it!

[@holabrian7009]

This guy looks like Braum

[@TianbaMamu]

holy shit.

[@dovha]

yo

[@zayhansdah]

another Marc Brunet?

[@ProkoTV]

But with different facial hair! lol

[@o_rest_man6532]

Darth vader? More like ghost rider

[@TheCraben]

No offense to the artist. He is very talented and skillful. But please. Can we get over this type of design already? It has been the standard for almost 15 years now. It looks very generic nowadays. I know I sound harsh, but that is my opinion. For the most part the costume design is amazing though

[@ME_K.O]

This is the earliest ive ever been on an art video. I dont even actively draw but i love Proko vids💕🥲

[@animationstorm5868]

Me too😂