Introduction:

Have you ever wondered how Walt Disney came up with iconic characters like Mickey Mouse? Have you ever thought about the choices behind the costumes and looks of your favorite Marvel superheroes? Have you ever pondered the process that went into creating the colorful characters of Nintendo games? Ultimately, all of those questions can be answered through the concept of character design. Character design is “is the process of fully developing a character’s style, personality, behavior, and overall visual appearance in the visual arts..,” all done so deliberately in order to use design as “as a means of conveying stories,” (“Character Design…,” Nashville Film Institute.”)

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Concept:

The purpose of this workshop is to introduce students to the process of character design for animated film, television, video games, comics, and more. Through learning about the steps in designing a character, students simultaneously learned to navigate their own personal creative processes in addition to developing technical skills in drawing and coloring. The workshop began with introductory classes delving in the fundamentals of character design, shifted into brainstorming sessions for the students to create their very own character, then transitioned into thumbnail sketches exploring and refining possible design ideas. The final project of this workshop was a model sheet featuring each student’s original character design, which was submitted to ArtsFest alongside a booklet showcasing the steps in their design process. 

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History and Distinction:

 

Character design has been an integral aspect of visual media for centuries, but has only become relevant since the rise of animation as a new spectacle within pop culture in the beginning of the 20th century. This popularization of this new genre and the introduction of character design as a modicum of storytelling can be attributed to the pioneering genius of Walt Disney, who introduced the idea of “endow[ing] his characters with personalities, making them feel and react to events,” by equipping them with readable and relatable actions, expressions, and designs (Lazarescu-Thois). Nowadays, character design as a dedicated study has attracted numerous communities online, where artists share their own original designs and break down the successes and failures of others.

 

Methods:

 

Through this workshop, students learned about the process that professional artists go through when designing characters, including activities like thumbnail sketching, brainstorming, mind mapping, and creating Mood Boards. The sources that went into almost every lecture included industry examples - such as concept art for a Pixar movie or the model sheets of characters for a Nickelodeon show - and even some personal experience and advice. Social media was also a great source of inspiration, as there are thriving communities of artists dedicated to exploring character design specifically on sites like ArtStation, DeviantArt, and more.

In addition to participating in activities geared towards designing a character, students also engaged in class-wide discussions, where they were free to share any concerns or thought processes explored in each class session. They also received regular feedback from the workshop leader, the TA, Arts Scholars faculty, and from other “Creating Characters” students as well. These discussions were comfortable, casual and encouraged students to express their concepts and creative processes in a judgment-free environment. Another idea central to this workshop is that a concept will not be perfect from the beginning; students should not be afraid to mess up and make adjustments as they go. A ‘no erasing’ rule was also implemented for certain sketching sessions; a rule learned from a previous art instructor at UMD. Withholding from erasing allows artists to acknowledge mistakes and build from them, rather than smudge them out of the creative process entirely.

 

Audience and Impact

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The ideal audience are those who view the exhibition earnestly, not tossing it aside as simple doodles and cartoons, and instead view it as a genuine art form that helps people explore their imaginative side, tell interesting, often personal stories, practice diverse styles of illustration, and discover their own unique creative processes.

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References:

• Botella, Marion, et al. “What Are the Stages of the Creative Process? What Visual Art Students Are Saying.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 1 Jan. 2001, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02266/full. 

• Lazarescu-Thois, Laura. “From Sync to Surround: Walt Disney and Its Contribution to the Aesthetics of Music in Animation.” The New Soundtrack, vol. 8, no. 1, 2018, pp. 61–72., https://doi.org/10.3366/sound.2018.0117. 

 

Acknowledgements:
 

I would like to thank Heather, Harold, and Gabi and all of the Arts Scholars faculty/staff for all of their incredible support this semester. I would also like to thank my amazing TA Katie for her positivity, kindness, and advice. I really appreciate the support and guidance I received from the Arts Scholars leadership, and of course the other Arts Scholars who were members of my workshop as well. I also want to shout out my family for their continuous love and support in any and all of my endeavors.