Dy: Ma Om DYN of a... CHARACT ER WANE LahThe Basics: - A character designer is the artist responsible for conceptualizing and designing all of the characters in an animated television oT - This specific branch of the design team focuses on using their comprehension oye (-4(ef My: [1° RC aa-lle considerable draftsmanship skills to create new characters based on the scripts, redress primary characters, do visual development explorations and create character turn-arounds to guide the animation team.Pre-Boards and Post-Boards While character design happens continually throughout the production of each episode, there are usually 2 primary stages: Designs done BEFORE the storyboard artists start boarding in order to give the board artists reference.... And designs done AFTER the board is in progress/complete, wherein the designer bases their designs on the board artists’ drawings. Most productions have a mixture of both!No two productions are alike and the role and scope of a character designer's job rTM Ee Uaye (MTs Cee NG depending on the show... Now let's talk character design!Day 1: Design Handout At the beginning of each episode, the character designer is given the script to read in advanced of their DESIGN HANDOUT. The design handout is the meeting where character designers are assigned their specific characters that they will need to design IN PREPARATION for boards. During this meeting, the Showrunner and the Director of the episode will also tell the designer if there are any specific attributes, racial specificity or personal characteristics that they want the designer to incorporate while designing. For example: “This character has a kind of Ryan Reynolds, comical-cool type of vibe.” ol7 “This character is half Korean/half Puerto Rican so try to be conscious of this while designing [tel en aeDay 1: Design Handout [continued] The designers receive their character assignments based on several factors: - The specific designer's strengths For example a character designer who is better with fashion may get the majority of the costume designs. -The availability of the designer Because multiple episodes are in play at once, some designers may wind up with more on Vinee OE e aoa ee -The designer's SPEED If a design needs to be turned out fast, it will usually be handed to the speedier designer. Once the character designer has their alotted characters, they head back to their Cintiq and get cracking!Rough Sketches Using photo references and the specifications of the Director/Show runner as their guide, the designer will start sketching out iM e [IN eee Mure lsd The designer will also incorporate their own taste and interpretation to give their designs flair and use their own artistic vision to really push the design. The designer will create 3-6 different eee Mey mul Meets Teme Lit ecTa body shapes, outfits, hair styles, etc-- this is the visual development stage. The goal is to create a nice variety of potential directions that still serve the story designated characteristics. [For example: say the script calls for a “gym trainer” character... Are they tall? Short? Lean? Buff? SUPER Buff? Vaguely resemble Brock from Pokemon? The character designer explores all the options!]Pr etre COU Once the designers have their rough sketch line-up, it’s time for the review! The DESIGN REVIEW is a meeting where the Art Director [primary overseer of the OVERALL LOOK of the series] and the Show Runner look at the new designs and give their feedback and notes. Usually the result of this initial design review will be a FRANKENSTEINED new design based on specific parts from the different sketches. elm. C_let) orm ae AACA ASS “| like the head from #1, but the body from FoR Tare Ml -1a MOM dala) mel eee YoY eat=1 tam aM LW A-Team Bile eLe Kel g will just like ONE WHOLE design. lie: “Let’s go with #4."] But the Frankenstein-ing is more common.Reviews and Reviews The process of Design Review--> Tweaks--> Repeat can go on several more times until the Show Runner is satisfied with the design. It can take a while to get the exact look of the character working just right for ate MeaLo NUE Usually if the small tweaks persist past a certain point though, A LINE PRODUCER or PRODUCER will step in and tell the design team/Show Runner when it is Ulam CoM [UCM le\ (odaCe ate pm PX-t1(° lh Once a rough 3/4 front design of the character is settled-ish on, it's time for the eS fel Teno mut Meera cla TURN AROUNDS are the process by which the character designer draws the new CelSs fel Me Lcce-val wale [Mole Maa el UL (elt 3/4 front, front, profile [side], 3/4 back, back. A Ae engi lae) lee 1e) ESSENTIAL. They are the guides that show the board artists and more over the animators how the character looks from different angles and shows them how to keep the character CoTamutete (=m NAN CM LTA) through different poses.DYey-t-M dal laa We In order for the animation to be fluid and believable, character designs NEED to be able to turn properly... and often times during this stage of turning a character, designers will realize where certain features on the character do not turn WELL. Common things that can come up are: - Body shapes or costuming that looks awkward from different angles. -Facial features that do not translate to certain angles well [ie, noses that don’t work in the front view] -Clunky or angular parts of the design that are messy to turn. If a design doesn’t turn well, chances are IT WON'T ANIMATE WELL. As a result of this, the designer often has to KEEP TWEAKING and changing the design to get it to turn just right.Clean Lines Once the character designer gets the design to turn, they start cleaning up the line work.... and once again more inconsistencies or odd things may arise in this stage of tying things down. Designs are often tweaked again as they are cleaned up because the tighter line work makes design issues more obvious. The entire character design process for the yee lee Merete mE) Nal CH) ells 2 weeks from handout to clean up. [Of course this can change depending on the production!]Is The Design Finished? Designs may still be in flux right up until the episode actually SHIPS [goes to the animation studio to be animated]. The boards can also greatly affect the design. For example: The Director may request design changes based on story elements or how the design is used in the board. [le: “I have a scene where Character X pulls up their hood to cover them from the rain, so let’s be sure to give their sweater a hood.” DESIGN and BOARDS are very collaborative, often informing each other both ways. The Director and the Art Director usually work together to make sure their respective teams are alert to the shifts in design and story.Post Board Designs Once the boards are done, the character designers may receive new designs in addition to whatever designs need to be tweaked based on boards. To save designers time, during that initial HANDOUT, Directors can call out which characters the board artists can board WITHOUT a pre-design.... But once the boards are done, those boarded characters will still need to be designed properly! SCREENSHOTS of the boards are sent to the character designers who then create on-model character designs based on what the board artists roughed in.Mouth Charts Another stage in the TV animation character design process is designing mouth charts. Once the boards are finished, the character designer will typically design MOUTH CHARTS for the characters to be sent to the animation studio along with the turn around and the animatic. BU Mem leew Mr mM lela Clay mouth shapes are for different syllabic and vowel sounds, [For example: “A” mouth shape, “O” mouth shape, “F” mouth shape etc] The mouth chart guides the animators when they animate the characters SPEAKING. This insure’s that the character remains on model as they speak their dialogue.Special Poses! A SPECIAL POSE, is a specific character design based on an EXTREME or EXAGGERATED drawing done by the board artist in the storyboard. The character designer will tie down this extreme pose and make it more on model, while keeping the same energy in the board drawing. This is to help the animation team know how to interpret and handle the very exaggerated pose in the board so it doesn’t break style. UE TexeM ety la inedent-4-1e-)Maar-le- lek 31¢ 1a 16 that drawing these crazy and dynamic special poses can be especially fun!]Do Character Designers Color Designs? Typically NO. Most TV animation production pipelines have a seperate artist known as A COLOR STYLIST whose job is to color the designs and props. OW ra emery ls lm Sie [lye MIE) A ee eee Mer eet Some character designers may use GRAY TONES in their designs to help break up the linework, block out different shapes and subtly guide the color stylist in the direction they were thinking. Of course, every show is it’s own unique animal and there may very well be instances where you may be allowed [or ASKED] to color your character designs.Who Do | Work With? Primarily, character designers work closest with the ART DIRECTOR. The art director is the foremost person in charge of the over all look of the series. Much like how the Director guides the Story Team to make sure they are all making the same story... ...the Art Director guides and supports the (Safe em MLC Rew) Mare late designs ARE THE LOOK OF THE SHOW. Character designers will also receive some notes from Directors and Show Runners. Character designers may communicate with Color Stylists to discuss their ideas for the color treatment on certain things. [For example: | thought maybe this character’s hair could be two-toned]Who Do | Affect? Character designers both affect and are heavily affected by STORYBOARD ARTISTS. [and by that virtue, directors]. The way designs are used for the story can greatly dictate what the design needs. These two departments are often very symbiotic.Tools of the Trade For the most part, Character designers in TV animation are working in ADOBE PHOTOSHOP [or similar programs such as Procreate]. Photoshop provides a tidy UI to both sketch and polish designs and is a software any aspiring character designer needs to be very fluent in.Advice for the Aspiring Character Designer If you are interested in BECOMING A CHARACTER DESIGNER, here are some good things to consider! #1) PRACTICE TURN AROUNDS Because turns are so important to the TV animation pipeline, knowing how to turn a character properly is essential in a great character designer. #2) BE FAMILIAR WITH MOUTH CHARTS Less integral than turns since most shows will teach you their in-house system for mouth charts, but researching what the standard mouth shapes are is a good way to prepare.#3: PREP THAT PORTFOLIO! Strong character design portfolios ETE) | aa S Mee My ACYL ULES - Show you have a range of STYLES: Especially in TV, chances are you will need to bounce between several different types of shows with different styles. A good way to show your breadth as a designer is to have 3 vastly different styles in your portfolio. For example: 1- your native style/comfort zone 2- super cartoony 3- super anatomical/anime/realistic The specific design languages don’t matter, this is to show you can ADJUST your drawing FS AY MoU Ula Celt M Te UEH TV animation needs designers to know how to become CHAMELEONS where necessary.#3: PREP THAT PORTFOLIO! A good strategy for showcasing your design chops is to CREATE ONE MAIN PROJECT in your comfort zone style. - Consider using a preexisting property like a fairy tale and making “YOUR TAKE” on the characters. [le, what does Cinderella look like in your style?] -Do character lineups and vignettes of scenes BY mr lelat em Mt Mt MTN interact/their personalities. SPM M Le lW mie mC MUt lela le Ela MUL a LCP LMU NG eV MSL LM aha gy AN ONO - This exercise is a good way to showcase your handle on EMOTION and STORYTELLING... as well as DRAFTSMANSHIP.#3: PREP THAT PORTFOLIO! You might also consider showing some of your preliminary sketches and explorations Ue eae eM CLC ERC This will show YOUR THINKING PROCESS when you design. MU iteMet cutter wean (ee (lm aC te CoM ol Mey mca) same project, just nice lineups of characters to show you can SWITCH STYLES READILY.More Tips from PY-Sife lam ad ges) #4; DRAW ANIMALS Nothing really shows your draftsmanship skills quite like drawing a horse or a giraffe. Practice drawing animals because inevitably, there will be a time when you have to draw one as a character designer! See if you can stylize animal anatomy in different ways. #5: DON’T JUST COPY If you really like the style of a certain show, try to incorporate aspects of it... without just copying the EXACT STYLE. Try to create designs that FEEL inspired by other things... but don’t read as fanart. Put your own voice in there! #6: HOARD IMAGES led geyi-eHe)g =) Reiar-g-Le1k mt o(—1116 18 Ye Fl AeA) MASSIVE COLLECTIONS of photo references of things that inspire them! Save photos of outfits, hairdos, people, poses-- ANYTHING that sparks your imagination... [And try to be organized with the folders haha]More Tips from PY-Sife lam ad ges) #7: KEEP YOUR LAYERS ORGANIZED In TV animation, one Photoshop file is passed from artist to artist through the pipeline so a messy layering system can be A NIGHTMARE for whoever touches your files next! Always strive to be organized when setting up your photoshop files so that you are kind to whoever has to deal with it next! :) #8: JUST KEEP ON DRAWING More than other positions in TV animation, a character designer needs to really know how to DRAW. Of course this depends on the type of show, but being a strong draftsman with a wide Eee NAOMI YI ODN ALAE), Com elem alel ac) DESIRABLE DESIGNER... and will ultimately help you maintain longevity in your career! So try to keep on observing, studying anatomy, and pushing your drawings!And that’s all I've got! BMC eeu Meut ld and others, visit www. toyarave.com/day-to-day-series Link on my bio!