7 Character Design Tips!

Step 1: Plan more.

Mood boards

2. Get to know your characters. Focus on their essence rather than their visuals.

2.1 How do we apply this?

3. Add colors that invoke the character's mood:

This one is tough, NGL, I struggle with color too sometimes, because I don't want to take a random choice at designing something. It goes against the definition of the very word 'design'. Whether the decision is made by feeling or deliberate thinking, at least there is a reason there and that's what matters, if you can elaborate on it and expand it, that's perf.

A worse sin than adding random colors is adding colors based on a color theory chart, which is basically 'let's paint this red because red is the danger color!!!!', which isn't a skeleton key to fit everywhere and solve all kinds of color-based problems, of all sorts, and with the same solution.

Hopefully, many of these will invoke a certain mood, they invoke a certain sense, you don't even have to do an elaborate study, nor take much time analyzing. Just take those in as if you're at a museum, see which one you want to cast for your character, there you have a color comp that matches the tone of your work, if not, keep going.

"The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things."
- Paulo Coelho

4. Find your audience and the gamer archetype you want to sell to.

We work for client's customers, not for our amusement, not for the studio's director, not for the game journalists, not for Metacritic, the work is done for our client's client, the gamers.

Do we always have to pander and sell to the archetype of the young teenager who plays an MMORPG and wants to see an oversexualized elf, wearing impractical armor because you know, they are in puberty? If we work for a studio's mission that aligns with this, then yes.
If you're doing your personal work and building your portfolio as a student, I'd encourage you to explore adjacencies and find other solutions to sell other than to sell to the lowest common denominator, what's commercially safe, many may disagree with me and that's fine, it's a safe bet to tailor your work to be the most commercial safe avenue, however, I'd argue we don't need just anyone and everyone to be our clients, we only need our niche.

I want to go back to those aesthetics for a second, which, paired often with slot machine mechanics, with loads of sounds, and colors popping out a loot box? It sells because of obvious reasons, it's what some gamers want to buy, and it's what they want to see, at their stage, in their life, fulfills their entertainment value, but can we explore different archetypes? so we can also sell to adults? teens? female gamers? etc? What's your story? Your personal myth? What's theirs? Sell that, again if you don't know who you're selling to, you don't know yourself as a designer.

The first paragraph, as an example of content, works for a myriad of reasons, I never dissected it in a proper design laboratory (mind maps, persona profiles, discovery) but at a first glance, I dare say it works because:
- The teenager as the target audience, is growing up into adulthood, so normally, they are more inclined to see those kinds of visuals.
- They also search their inner sense of adventure and seek to unlock wonders of the world and their own inner mythology, so an RPG-like system serves that as well, bundled with reward systems.

"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are." - Carl Jung

5. Never just 'pose' your character, use their body language.

When I was being mentored by Simon Lee aka Spiderzero, I learned a lot about theories and methods like this, the soul and inner fire of a creature and character.

At the time I was still digesting all that, it was too much for me to wrap my head around, but it was making sense, like a book that was too complex for me to understand but I understood it held value, the seed grew roots, and one day I'd hope to see the tree flourish onwards even more.

Because Zbrush and 3D are very handy, we often forget the downside of software, there's no gravity in our work, the work easily floats, so we need to pay attention to that. Mixing 2D and 3D techniques have proved beneficial, they help with rapid generating detail and a benchmark while the 2D adds flow, fluid, drama, and action, and of course, body language and gravity.

6. Be more subtle.

This is a recap from 'Tank Boy' above on the first point, as I think I need to stress it. The point of using a Rhino, Elephant, or a charger type, is really about being inspired by nature, it is not a designer's intent to *copy nature* but to be inspired by it. Hence skinning a Rhino with metal plates would have been too literal, too easy, too cheap. The animal language is there, but you have to work for it, you have to digest it, it's not a one-bite snack, and because of that, I think it's savored better by the audience.
For instance, if you look closely at 'Tank Boy' in the first points of the article, you'll notice the neck armor is really a rhino's face but simplified into abstraction, the Ecko United stickers serve a purpose there too, as well as the Jiu-Jitsu patches over the jacket.

I remember there was a 1:1 skinned Rhino in the spiderman series, you could obviously tell it was influenced by a Rhino because it was literally a Rhino with metal plates on. This isn't wrong but it's not what I like to do, the sense of wonder is gone, and anyone can understand and digest it quickly, I don't like serving the punchline right away, personally speaking, we all do things different, there's no right or wrong, I believe for what it was, it probably served the intent well though.

7. Break away from the fundamentals.

This was one I didn't realize I was doing until an art director stopped me on my tracks and told me so. 'Forget visual languages, and making shapes all nice and tidy, who cares if they all align mathematically perfect, like they do on Halo? I rather you focus on the character itself, who they are, what they are on about, and work from there instead.' and he continued. 'Whenever I hear the words ''visual language'', I cringe a bit, because I know the client wants something they saw in Anthem or Halo, or somewhere else and want us to copy it.' Design your characters by story instead.

There's nothing wrong with knowing the fundamentals, fundamentals are important, but don't stop there, go back to what made you want to start in the industry in the first place. Art is not mathematical nor fully methodical. A lot of people will want to tell you what the most efficient use of your time and skills is, question them, be punk rock about it. Go your own way, find your niche and yourself too.

"Knowing others is wisdom, knowing the self is enlightenment. Mastering others requires force; mastering the self requires strength; he who knows he has enough is rich. Perseverance is a sign of will power." - Lao Tzu

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About the Author: Miguel Nogueira is a freelance concept artist, designer, and storytelling strategist.He's also worked with studios to help mapping solutions to reach their audience, unlock the gamer's sense of wonder and myth, as well as their needs, while collaborating with the studios under fun work processes.

He's been featured at CGSociety Hall of Fame and Behance, also on Kotaku and 3DTotal. He's also recently worked with Frictional Games on the release of Amnesia's Rebirth and an upcoming, AAA, unannounced MMORPG as Character Design Lead.If you're interested in having Miguel speak at your event, want to sponsor his content, or start a project, please send all business inquiries to: hello@menogcreative.com