Character Design The Objective: Create original full-body trading card characters that could conceivably be made into action figures; keep in mind: 1) dynamic poses 2) nonverbal communication 3) dynamic color scheme 4) props 5) costume/attire 6) environment 7) animal totem

• NAME CHALLENGE: Create 5 characters based off of 5 names.
  • Consider era/context.
• PET CHALLENGE: Design a pet & its owner.
• RIVAL CHALLENGE: Design 2 rival characters.
• FOOD CHALLENGE: Design a human character based off of the shape/color of a fruit or vegetable.
• EXPRESSION CHALLENGE: Design 4 different expressions for a character. Sketch. Ink. Color.
• LIFESPAN CHALLENGE: Draw your character as a child, teenager, young adult, middle age, senior.
• BUDDY CHALLENGE: Design a best friend, sidekick, partner or rival for your character.
• STYLE CHALLENGE: Draw your character in the styles of 5 different artists.
• OPPOSITES CHALLENGE: Design your character. Now create a character that is his/her opposite.
• PROP CHALLENGE: Design a prop. Now design a character based off of that prop.
  • Extra Credit: Next-- design a character that you would not expect to see with that prop...to throw in some irony.
• ANTHROPOMORPHISM CHALLENGE: Look around you at your immediate surroundings, find an object. Draw this object as a person.
• GENDER CHALLENGE: Take one of your existing characters & change his/her gender.
• PERSONIFICATION CHALLENGE: Design a character that will act as the personification of a concept i.e. chaos, order, magnetism, war, peace, love, hate, etc.
• PERSONALITY CHALLENGE: Design a character based off of a given personality trait i.e. cute, evil, wise, etc.
• TYPE CHALLENGE:
  • Design 10 robots.
  • Design 10 Vikings.
  • Design 10 Wizards/witches.
• CONVEYANCE CHALLENGE: draw one subject (person, place or thing) 5+ different times, conveying the concept of this subject in 5+ different ways
  • Change lines. Size. Color. Pattern. Distort, shrink, enlarge, mess with proportions, simplify, complicate, build this subject out of something else (smaller parts?), change the material that it is made out of. Change the mood/theme. Time of day. Weather.

Observational Sketch Assignments

• 2 minute Animal sketches; Look up an image & sketch (in 2 min.)...
  • Mammal
    • feline
    • canine
    • equine
    • rodent
    • other
  • Bird
    • songbird
    • raptor
    • other
  • Reptile
  • Amphibian
  • Insect/Arthropod/Arachnid
• 2 minute plant sketches
• 20 minute for 10 landscape thumbnails (just focus on conveying the idea)
  • desert
  • mountains
  • river
  • beach

Illustration

• Design a tattoo for
  • Magician
  • Dancer
  • Mortician
• Draw thirteen black cats. You figure out how, with what media, in what context, etc.
• Weird things to find in jars. If it helps, make a list, then illustrate that list.
  • 2 ways of doing this: 1) blank page o' jars template 2) students design their own jars as they go.
• Design a cabinet of curiosities.

Book Assignments

• Conceptualize, write, illustrate & publish a childrens' book.

In Groups

• Design a videogame
  • As a group, determine the plot/theme of the game
  • Assign aspects of game design to each person:
    • Item concepts & design
    • NPC concepts & design
    • Playable character concepts & design
    • Environmental concepts & design
    • Game 'look' concepts & design