Illustrating Characters That Stand Out
By: Zeke Rifareal, Graphic Designer
There’s a sea of unique characters that people make everyday. Whether it’s a child drawing their imaginary friend, or a professional illustrator designing a character for an upcoming animation. In a time when the world is more connected and more creative than ever, how can you make a character that stands out? What makes a character memorable? While illustrating characters is a continuous learning experience for me, I’d like to share some of my best practices and principles I used when coming up with my original character, Phoebe.
Phoebe is a girl chalk full of passion, dreams and weird interests! However, she feels that she’s only truly herself when she is freed of judgement based on appearance so she hides her face under a paper bag. Phoebe was born from a feeling of deep insecurity I struggled with before. I think a lot of people feel this too, and we try to fit in by hiding ourselves under a mask.
RELATABILITY IS KEY.
When you think about our favorite cartoon characters from childhood like Ash Ketchum from Pokemon, or Raven from Teen Titans, what made us remember them was their relatability— that we were able to connect with them.
Like in real life, we often remember the people we meet whom we had a meaningful connection with. The same thinking goes in character design. You have to make your audience relate with your character if you want it to be memorable. This is especially true when you’re introducing an original character that’s basically a stranger to your audience.
There are two common ways to go. You can either start by drawing first, then come up with your character’s background afterwards, or vice versa, start with their background first and move on to drawing after. In this case, we’ll be starting with the latter. I start by thinking about different scenarios, what aura would my character give off, and what I want people to think of my character in those events. For example, in a party, would people be excited when they see my character or would they even notice? I like to answer myself in three words to not overcomplicate the character. I then think of hobbies my character might be into—what he or she likes and dislikes, his or her flaws, and personality traits. Does he or she have any dreams? What experiences molded his or her identity?
The more you develop the background, the more focused and unique your character design will be.
SHAPE
Now that you have the foundation of your character, it’s time to form her! Shapes give off feelings. Curves and circles give off a feeling of softness while long curves give off a feeling of elegance. Sharp and jagged lines give off a feeling of aggression and even power while square shapes give a feeling of bulkiness and weight.
What shapes fit your character the most given its background? You can use a combination of shapes but it’s best to focus on one or two. One as the dominant shape, and the other for accents or areas you may want your audience to focus on. The simpler, the better because it makes your character easier to remember
Think about the easiest characters you can draw right now without searching them on Google, like Kirby from the Kirby gaming franchise or Pac Man. What makes them easy to draw and remember is the simplicity of their design.
HAVE A SIGNATURE TRAIT!
In real life, everyone is known for something unique to them, or they have a “thing!” Your character can be Snack Dude because he always has a snack with him, or be Rick the film critic, Luigi the Marvel fan, Celina the wannabe influencer, etc. Having a signature quirk makes your character more interesting and memorable.
You can express that trait visually through colors, an icon, or anything that makes your character, your character. Without these elements, your character would look generic or feel like someone else entirely.
While it’s fun to do, don’t equip your character with a lot of “signatures” because these would compete against each other, and ironically leave your character signature-less.. A signature should also reflect the identity of your character. Take Phoebe for example, since she’s shy and insecure, she conceals her face under a paper bag. She loves moths so she has antennae popping out from her head and has glasses in the shape of Moth wings. If you take out the bag, the glasses, and her antennae, her character and what makes her unique is lost.
FOCUS POINTS
In character design, you must be able to guide your audience’s focus to the character’s signature trait. You can use contrasting colors and designs to really make it pop.
A common mistake designers are guilty of is loading their character with details and patterns that steal the attention from what the audience should be focusing on. Your character becomes visually loaded and overwhelms your audience. To keep this from happening, I limit my signature elements to a minimum of three, and a maximum of five. For Phoebe, I resisted the urge to decorate her lower half to lead your eyes to her signature looks.
FLESH OUT YOUR CHARACTER
This tip is next-level but if you really want to create a character that stands out from the rest, try designing a whole new world for your character and your audience to experience. Add in stories where your character grows and develops, and companions your character can form relationships with. Basically the more stories you tell, the more believable your character becomes because he or she stops being a drawing and starts being an actual life that you can connect to.
The most important thing in character design is that you have fun and you enjoy the creative process. As Jerzy Kosinki puts it, ‘the principles of true art is not to portray, but to evoke.’
A distinct brand design, paired with exciting storytelling, helps audiences understand the value of your product or service. Need help in telling your unique brand story? Talk to us at info@teamasia.com.
