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>> Hey, art nerds.

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We are going to be talking
about character design.

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Now, creating an entire character from scratch,

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human or otherwise, takes
a lot of creative energy.

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Every artist has their own creative process,
so there is no right way to create a character.

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But, typically, the character design process
for each artist begins at the same place.

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Before even putting a pencil to paper or pen
to tablet, a character designer should start

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with the most important step of all, research.

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It can be helpful to try and
deconstruct why certain characters

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and their characteristics
work and why some don't.

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Study other characters, and think about
what makes them so successful and what

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in particular you like about them,
their personality, their style choice,

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or maybe you just really dig their hair.

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You need to take a deep look into
your character's personality in order

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to develop a visual idea
of its physical features.

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So one big influencer for your whole
design is who your character is aimed at.

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What group of people is your
character intended for?

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This group is referred to
as your target audience.

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Think about the age of your intended audience.

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For example, characters aimed at
young children are typically designed

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around basic shapes and bright colors.

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Be sure to also take a close look at
your audience's gender, personality,

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or subcultures that they may be a part of.

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Whether you're creating a llama, robot, or
monster, you can guarantee there are going

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to be 100 other similar creations out there.

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Your character needs to be
strong and interesting

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in a visual sense to get people's attention.

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Even its silhouette needs to be striking.

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So what special trait does
your character possess?

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Do they have any usual or unusual quirks?

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Maybe some cool prop hat or weapon
they seem to always carry around

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or that illustrates some aspect of their being.

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Exaggerating the defining features of your
character will help it appear larger than life.

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Exaggerated features will also help viewers
identify the character's key qualities.

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Is your character supposed to be super
fast, curious, smart, evil, kind, strong?

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What can you do to exaggerate or accentuate
these features your character possesses?

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Colors can also communicate
a character's personality.

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Typically, dark colors, such as black, purples,

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and grays depict baddies
and malevolent intentions.

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Light colors, on the other hand,
such as white, blues, pinks,

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and yellows express innocence, good, and purity.

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By changing only the color, you can change
how your character is perceived by others.

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Interesting looks alone do not
necessarily make for a good character.

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Its personality is key as well.

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A character's personality can be revealed
through animations or even as simply

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as how he or she carries themselves.

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While some characters appear to be
confident, standing tall and relaxed,

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others may appear very timid, with
shoulders ever so slightly slouched,

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keeping their arms close and eyes
avoiding contact with all others.

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The personality of your character doesn't
have to be particularly agreeable,

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but it does need to be interesting, unless
your character is purposefully dull.

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The basic shapes you use to construct
your character can contribute

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to its perceived personality.

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If you want to learn more about this, I have
a whole video that goes into shape language.

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So be sure to check it out.

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Expressions showing a character's
range of emotions and depicting its ups

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and downs will further flush out your character.

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Depending on its personality, a
figure's emotions might be muted and wry

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or explosive and wildly exaggerated.

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Subtle alterations in the shape
of your character's eyes, mouth,

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even eyebrows can change
its expression dramatically.

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As the old saying goes, the eyes
speak louder than the mouth;

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and emotions can be seen around the eyes.

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Even with only being able to see the
eyes of each of these characters,

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I bet you can get a pretty close guess as to
which emotion he or she may be expressing.

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The driving force behind a character's
personality is what he or she wants to achieve.

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Often, the incompleteness or flaws in a
character are what make them interesting.

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And to help out -- figure that out,
your character needs a backstory.

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Developing its backstory for your character
is important, especially if you're planning

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for the character to exist
within comics or animations.

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Where does your character come from?

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How did it come to exist?

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What life-changing events has it experienced?

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Having answers to these questions are
going to help back up the solidity

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and subsequent belief in your character.

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Sometimes telling of a character's
backstory can be more interesting

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than the character's present adventures.

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The deeper you go, the more
real your character will be.

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Relationships, hobbies, bad habits, routines,
things they collect, things they hate,

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what home is like, what they wish
to accomplish, the list is endless.

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Even when you think you are nearing the end of
your character's design, question each element

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of your creation, especially
things such as its facial features.

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The slightest alteration can have a great
effect on how your character is perceived.

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Things like head shape; hairstyle; facial
features, such as eyes, ears, nose, mouth;

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even the fit of your jeans on
your character says something

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about their personality or their mission.

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Baggy, lazy, comfortable, athletic jeans.

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Got some relaxed, stable,
and more reliable jeans.

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They got those stylish and
creative skinny jeans.

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Okay. So there's so many options, so please
pay attention to every single detail.

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The idea of character design is to go
on a creative dive into the unknown and,

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from that abyss, pull out the best design
that matches the character description.

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Great and memorable characters come as a
result of the time and creative energy put

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into making them by character designers.

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And think about this.

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Every single character you've ever seen on TV or
played in a video game was designed by someone.