AnimationDevelopment

I picked ‘cute’ character design as a lot of tv programmes I watch/used to watch have this design.

I wanted to see if I could implement a successful tv character into a game concept.

‘Cute’ Characters After creating a ‘cute’ character moodboard i found that most designs had:

- A black stroke around the character

- Built using circles and round shapes

These were things that I was sure i wanted to implement when creating my character

ADD SKETCHES

How i picked my final design

One of my ideas were to have a business man and after a quick sketch I showed it to my sister in which she quickly replied that it looked like a badger, as I was turning my sketchbook around trying to see how she saw a badger I realised that it looks like an astronaut with its head backwards.

I loved the idea of having a cute astronaut character animation. Therefore, I took this idea on.

Initial Sketches

First TryUsing my sketches I scanned it and put it into illustrator, I then used the pen tool to trace round the picture. The image on the right is the outcome I got.

I didn’t like it, it was boring and lifeless.

I decided to do some research into other cartoon astronauts and created a mood board.

Moodboard

My character needed something to bring it to life, after reviewing this mood board I noticed that:

- The astronauts suits are often grey NOT white

- The suit tend to have blue and red detailing on it - connoting the USA and the UK.

- The helmet were NOT black, they tend to be a dark grey or dark blue

I used all this research to aid my character and make him a more approachable character.

Basic Sprite Sheet

Left leg forward Resting Right leg forward Resting Crouching

Creating a sprite sheet is important as it visually shows how each frame will change the character expression and movement.

Final Sprite Sheet

Based on the research I did, I made his suit a light grey #e6e6e6, his helmet visor #b3b3b3, his badge #4b6ce2 and his line detailing #c1272d. I think this made him so much more animate.

Basic Sprite Sheet

Right foot forward Resting Left foot forward Resting

View of the character from the front, I did this as I was not completely sure at this point whether the he was going to move towards the screen or not.

Final Sprite Sheet

Front, Back and Sides

Combining realism and cartoon

When thinking about backgrounds, I was inspired by Charlie and Lola. I thought it was really interesting combining realism and cartoon.

Development of Background

Breakdown of character - Front & Sides

Planning Movement

Animation

Animation Style

FEEDBACK FROM OTHERS

Flat moon

One of the remarks I got quite a lot was to the moon aspect of the background. Which was to make it completely flat, I decided to try it out but when testing it out and showing peers we agreed that it didn’t look as aesthetically pleasing as the other background did.

If I had more time..