Character Design – the JAG Bot
Recently I was reading a magazine I subscribe to, Computer Arts Projects, and the issue was all about character design. Actually when I say recently what I mean is last fall. I’ve always been interested in characters, as comic books were one of my earliest forms of art entertainment. But there has been a big move toward character design as a whole sub-segment of the design industry, spawning vinyl toys and even web comics.
I was immediately inspired to try my skill at character design. I quickly learned that it takes a lot of work and research to put together a strong character with any level of depth. This project reflects months of work as a side project. I started initially with sketch idea for a robot. I then scanned the sketch and took it to Illustrator where I set out to “build” my character in vector format, one shape at a time. Next I imported the character into Photoshop, sections at a time. Then I added texture, shading and other effects with blending modes and clipping mask layers. Finally I constructed the background scene where I imagined this character lives.
Being that my exercise was a simple illustration, and not the use of this character for a whole illustrated story or animation, I was free to develop the least amount of depth possible. But I learned that there is tons of planning, sketching and illustration done for any character that is intended to be used for any developed role.
I must mention that I was inspired and encouraged by two people in creating this project. One is a friend, Miguel, who is studying animation and character illustration at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. I’ve seen his complex story boards of what goes into the development of just the body structure of a given character, not to mention environment and storyline ideas. The other person is a guy by the name of Martijn van Dam, who I’ve met via Behance. His character illustrations for music event flyers are very inspirational to me, and remind me of a contemporary version of Robotech characters from my childhood.
If you like my JAG Bot design, you can purchase it on a skateboard or on a t-shirt.
