Everything You Need To Know About A Character Designer
Do you find yourself rewinding to a particular cartoon or an anime a lot? Why is that the case? Have you given this phenomenon more thought?
Well, we can take a guess that it’s probably the protagonist, the villain, or some other character that you can relate to that makes you keep coming back for more!
In essence, what we are trying to get at is that character artists add so much to our lives, experiences, and memories, without us even realising their impact.
If this revelation interests you, dive into the world of what it’s like to be one.
Prerequisite Skills
• Drawing Skills
• Technical knowledge of drawing softwares
• Creative Thinking
• An idea in human psychology
Softwares
• Autodesk Maya
• ZBrush
• Blender
• Poser
• Daz3D
Salary Range
Work in:
• Advertising agencies
• Game Studios
• Branding agencies
• Media Outlets
• Freelance
Career Wayforward
• Senior Character Artist → Lead Character Artist
• Freelancer
Great character design is the seed that can grow into the biggest of franchises
A great character design can bring a lot of success to a particular franchise, brand, project, campaign, etc. Strong character designs have potent recall values with the masses, which keeps them in our cultural memory for a long time. Such engaging visual entities can boost brand value to stratospheric heights.
What does a character artist do?
Character artists, in theory, are known for planning, creating, and designing realistic characters for comics, anime, advertising, commercial films, and various other such mediums.
They are assisted through character scripts by a project overseer such as a producer, a director, or the client herself/himself. Then, it is the character artists’ responsibility to bring these characters to life, giving them personalities, cultural backgrounds, and other such props.
What are the skills required to become a character artist?
The most vital skill that any character artist needs is drawing. They have to be extremely gifted in their drawing, illustration, and anatomy skills.
Such skillsets help them develop characters in a realistic way by throwing light upon the character’s physicality, personality, unique dispositions, and so on and so forth. Such attributes make the audience believe that the characters are relatable and palpable.
Along with this, they need to be well versed in design software, have good communication and interpersonal skills, and operate efficiently within a team.
Where do character artists get employed?
Character designers are mainly hired by animation studios. They are also involved with game studios, developing and creating characters along with game designers. Advertising agencies require character designers to create mascots for their brand campaigns.
What is the career scope of character artists?
Due to the ever-growing and burgeoning industries of animation and gaming, character artists are always in demand when it comes to employment.
Other than these traditional pathways, character artists can also venture into advertising, branding, and other media outlets where good illustration-based artwork, graphics, and visuals are always lucrative for business and profits. Consequently, this helps character artists make a steady income.
Character design, like story design, requires a hook to grab the reader’s attention