Character Design

Explore & Discover

Great game characters aren't accidents — designers make hundreds of deliberate choices. Start by studying characters you already know. Pick three from games, books, or movies and write down: What's their silhouette? Could you recognize them in all black? What colors do they wear and why? What does their face say about their personality? Watch the GDC talk "Overwatch: Just the Two of Us" on YouTube to hear how Blizzard designers built each hero's look around their personality. Then visit the character art gallery at character.design (free) and browse 20 entries. Notice patterns: bold shapes for heroes, jagged shapes for villains. You're ready for the next step when you can describe three design choices a character designer made and why they probably made them.

Learn the Basics

Every memorable character has a backstory that shows up in their design. Visit Scratch.mit.edu and search "character creator" — explore five different projects other people built and notice what choices they gave the player. Then write a one-page character bible for a character you'll design. Answer: Where are they from? (Utah desert? A future Salt Lake City?) What's their job or power? What's their biggest fear? What do they want more than anything? What three adjectives describe their personality? This document is your north star — every design choice you make later should connect back to it. Pro concept artists use documents exactly like this. You're ready for the next step when your character bible answers all six questions with specific details, not vague ones.

Build Your First Project

Now draw your character — no artistic talent required, just courage. Start with basic shapes: a circle for the head, rectangles for the body, ovals for limbs. Draw five different silhouettes in under 20 minutes. Don't detail any of them yet. Which shape feels most like your character's personality? Bold and wide? Tall and thin? Hunched? Choose your favorite silhouette and draw it three more times from slightly different angles. Use a free tool like Sketchpad at sketch.io or download Krita (free at krita.org) on your computer. Watch Krita's beginner tutorial at krita.org/en/learn to get started. Take a photo of any paper sketches and import them. You're ready for the next step when you have one silhouette you like enough to develop further.

Experiment & Iterate

Add color and detail to your chosen silhouette. Research color psychology first: red signals danger or passion, blue signals calm or cold, yellow signals energy or deceit. Choose a three-color palette that matches your character's personality from your bible. Use Adobe Color (free at color.adobe.com) to build a harmonious palette. Now in Krita or Sketchpad, fill in your silhouette with flat color — no shading yet. Add one signature visual detail that tells a story: a torn cape, mismatched shoes, a glowing eye. That detail should connect to their backstory. Look at how Utah Jazz uniforms use color to signal team identity — same idea applies to characters. You're ready for the next step when your character design visually communicates at least two personality traits without any words.

Advanced Techniques

Professional character designers create expression sheets and turnarounds. Draw your character showing five emotions: happy, angry, scared, determined, and surprised. Keep the face recognizable across all five — that consistency is what makes a character feel real. Then draw a simple three-view turnaround: front, side, and back. The back view tells designers how to model the character in 3D later. Use Piskel (free at piskelapp.com) to create a pixel art version of your character — it's great for practicing clean shapes. Share your expression sheet on a free portfolio site like Behance.net or ArtStation.com to get real feedback from artists. You're ready for the next step when someone who has never seen your character can pick them out of a lineup of five silhouettes.

Final Project Showcase

Design a second character who exists in the same world as your first — maybe an ally, rival, or sidekick. Use deliberate contrast: if your first character is round and warm-colored, make this one angular and cool-colored. Write a brief for this character too, and make sure their designs look like they belong in the same universe. Then create a simple 30-second animatic in Scratch.mit.edu showing the two characters in one scene together — even stick-figure motion tells a story. Write a 200-word designer's statement explaining every major choice you made. Post both characters and your statement to the Scratch gallery with tags so other designers can find and comment on your work. You're ready for the next step when you can defend every design choice in your characters by connecting it back to their personality or story.