Character Design // Task 1: Personification
CHARACTER DESIGN // TASK 1: PERSONIFICATION
Week 1 - // 29/03/21
Ibrahim Fazal Ahmad / 0337423
Information Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylors University
INSTRUCTIONS
Week 1 (29/03/21)
First day of our second year! Greeted by Ms Anis again. We were briefed about the module by her along with a quick overview of all our assignments. We were then given a theme that we must abide by during the creation of our characters. This theme can carry over from here to Anatomy & Character Sculpture and Vehicle & Props Design. During class, we were given an exercise called the "blob exercise" in which we draw a random blob on our canvas and try to fill it in with whatever drawing we can come up with.
Figure 1: Blob Exercise.
The theme is Ancient Civilisations. We are also allowed to incorporate more modern ideas into it, such as sci-fi or cyberpunk themes. Most of my research has focused on two civilisations: The Indus Valley & Ancient Greeks.
I have decided to focus on the Ancient Greeks. I have done research on their society, Gods, clothing and much more. With this, I have a rough idea of what I plan to do with my character. I decided on his weapon firstly so I would know how to pose him on the silhouette. After our first lecture on character creation, I wrote down a few things on my Miro board and explained my idea to Ms Anis.
Figure 1.1: Worldbuilding
The world I would be creating is based on Ancient Greece, however, set in the future. The country would be very divided. My character would most likely be an assassin of sorts possibly an anti-hero. After discussing with Ms Anis, I refined my concept idea for the world along with start the silhouetting of my character.
Figure 1.2 Simplified story
After deciding on my world, I started working on my character. I built the world slightly around his concept of an assassin/hired gun. I did a quick study on an existing silhouette from Overwatch and analysed what I could understand from a professionals work.
Figure 1.3: Silhouette study on McCree (Overwatch)
Figure 1.4 Spear user references.
Figure 1.5: Spear pose sketches.
Figure 1.6: Pose sketches
After asking my friends, I was told the pose on the top row, far right was the clearest in terms of body language and personality. I enlarged the pose and blocked it out, after which I added on some rough clothing shapes. Such as his cloak (chlamys) along with the shoulder guards and shin guards greek soldiers (hoplite) used to wear.
Figure 1.7: Refined pose.
Figure 1.8: Pose with simple clothing.
After adding the clothing I realised that his free hand looked rather awkward and this pushed me to create another few poses with him doing different actions with his hands. 
Figure 1.9: Silhouette Experimentation.
After consulting with Ms Anis, she said she liked poses 2 and 3 the most. Now I must continue developing different variations of his clothing and consider what other objects and details he could be carrying on his person. She recommended using pose number 2 when figuring all of this out as his arm is stretched out.
I realised that he looked rather shapeless and quite young due to his body shape and added a bit more muscle definition on the silhouette without clothing.
Figure 2: Body type change. New(Left) Old(Right)
After deciding on a pose that I liked I moved onto creating outfit variations for him. The main idea I wanted to convey when creating these was that he's a scrappy assassin like character, someone who is intimidating and from the streets. Firstly I went and found some references to use when creating these designs, I wanted to create an asymmetrical look as it would further emphasise that he isn't someone who is prim and proper.
Below is the first outfit variation I had done, after showing it to Miss Anis I realised that I was really limiting myself due to his cape. Using it as a crutch to hide his design and not focusing on interesting shapes.
Figure 2.1: First outfit idea.
I created six more variations all being more inspired by Greek soldiers known as the "Hoplite". Along with other references I had found for interesting clothing online. I was told that number three screamed "Greek warrior" and I continued with that design. However, a small possible problem is that the mask would be hiding his face. My character is cocky and arrogant, and would definitely want his enemies to look directly at his face before the finishing blow. It would also interfere with his emotions and expressions when it came to that.
Figure 2.2: Outfit variations 1-4
Figure 2.3: Outfit variations 5-7
With number three as the chosen design, I made a few more variations of the design but with a little more detail. I then consulted with Mr Kannan and asked him to be brutally honest with my design. He said that it looked amateurish, there was no proper concept to his design. What made him different? Yes, he looks like a Greek warrior but what else? What else is there to him? What other elements could I add to emphasise his personality, add more story, break his silhouette? All of these things really helped me realise that I was not trying to experiment very much in terms of his silhouette at all. However, some of the advice I will have to use when I attempt something like this again. For now, I need to stick with what I have and fix the mistakes.
Figure 2.4: Hero Pose Silhouette Idea 1
Figure 2.5: Hero Pose Idea 1
Figure 2.6: Hero Pose Silhouette Idea 2
Figure 2.7: Hero Pose Idea 2
I have named my character "Nyx", named after the Greek Goddess of Night. He is someone who works only in the shadows at night, striking when his targets are susceptible to being fooled by his shadow tricks. I decided to further emphasise his shadow abilities, I would give him an entire arm that is being created by his magic. I also tried experimenting with his turnaround by giving him a shadowy foot but that one was slightly too much.
Figure 2.8: Turnaround Idea 1
I showed this design to Mr Kannan again and he said that there is an improvement but still a lot of things I could work on. He also pointed out that the design is too sharp overall and likely needs to be reworked a little, possibly removing the shoulder armour he has.
Figure 2.9: Turnaround Idea 2
With the feedback received I made some more changes to his design. I shorted his hair and added a "tainia", being a Greek headband that Ancient Greeks would wear. I also watched a lecture on Greek armour and in it, the chest plate had a very beautiful design on its back which I referenced into his design as well. After changing his story I also made his left eye be blinded due to an attack that he had faced when he was younger. I also gave him a knife called the "xiphos" which the hoplite (Ancient Greek warriors) would carry on the back of their belts.
Figure 3: Turnaround FinalI then took the turnaround design and applied it to his current hero pose. I am not completely satisfied with it, to be honest, there are many things I would like to refine, add, and change. Since we are allowed to continuously change our designs as this is only a proposal I will accept it as it is and submit it.
Figure 3.1: Silhouette Final
Figure 3.2: Final "Nyx"
FEEDBACK:
Week 1: Figure out my character's personality and how that would affect his posing, keep it neutral for now.
Week 2: The poses all look good. Ms Anis particularly liked pose 2 and 3 the most. Continue working on my character detailing since I have my hero pose finished now. Think about his character profession. How would he dress as an assassin, what would he be carrying on his person, etc? Not enough exploration, the one design feels too empty. Do more variations on his clothing.
Week 3: The design looks much better. The upper torso is lacking detail in comparison to the shoes. The scale effect on his belt is nice, keep it going lower to balance the sleeve and make the skirt feel less empty. The shoes look nice, look at Hanzo from Overwatch's proportion. Move his mask from the front to the back of his belt.
Week 4: Design looks amateurish, nothing to separate him from the crowd. Looks like a Greek warrior but what more could I add to his design to make him interesting. The shadow elements are an improvement but continue working on it, look at references. Overall too sharp in design.
REFLECTION:
Experience: This process was very fun but frustrating for sure. Being unsure of your own mistakes but knowing you made them is a special type of anger. I had a lot of fun in the ideation of Nyx, as his character isn't anything like I had made previously in this course or even in my personal life. Although it can be a pain to many, I personally enjoyed the research aspect of this class a lot as well. I've learned so much about Ancient Greece and their clothing, traditions, and more.
Observation: A good character doesn't require much explanation. Their looks will tell you everything about them. From their silhouette, is it playful or serious? To their items of clothing, are they well-off or someone who is more of a scavenger? Just these simple details can be overlooked so easily and I realised that I have so much to learn in the creation of characters. Their poses are also very important, how they carry themselves and want to be seen by others. Are they proper and mature? Or are they playful and bubbly? These questions need to be answered without a single word, but rather your design.
Findings: I've learned a lot about the Greek soldiers over these few weeks. Such as them using their large shields to protect not only themselves but also to cover their fellow soldiers during combat. They also have sharp ends on both sides of the spear, one for combat and one to stick into the ground (but also use in combat if the actual spear were to break). The Ancient Greek soldiers were known as "hoplite". I also found out that the plumes on their helmets were actually a form of psychological warfare, to appear bigger and intimidate their enemies.
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