Creating vector characters

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Lorena Owens
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28 Project one 2D characters Adobe Illustrator Creating vector characters Characters can add a recognisable face to your work. But how do you go from a sketch to the finished product?

However, some of the core principals, especially in the early stages of development, are key to creating a well-executed and memorable character.

If you are following this project with a particular brief in mind, think carefully about the target audience and what sort of design elements will be suitable for that audience the usual concerns

Peskimo This design duo has been creating for a good few years now. Their characters have been made into toys, animations, billboards and clothes. Find out more at www. peskimo.

1 28 Project one 2D characters Adobe Illustrator Creating vector characters Characters can add a recognisable face to your work. But how do you go from a sketch to the finished product? Peskimo talk through their process Character design is such a wide and varied subject that the specifics of each character s process and gestation are unlikely to be the same for everyone. However, some of the core principals, especially in the early stages of development, are key to creating a well-executed and memorable character. We talk through the essential steps, from before you even pick up a pen and paper to working your design up as a vector image, and show you some of our processes for adding details to the character. If you are following this project with a particular brief in mind, think carefully about the target audience and what sort of design elements will be suitable for that audience the usual concerns apply as they do with all design. The character we created is intended to be a mascot of sorts, and aimed at all ages. It is usable at a variety of sizes, and in both print and animation. Peskimo This design duo has been creating for a good few years now. Their characters have been made into toys, animations, billboards and clothes. Find out more at www. peskimo.com On your disc You ll find the Peskimo tutorial files that you need to work along with this project on your cover disc, as well as an extra bold image of the character, in the Resources folder Skills Create shapes and apply colours and gradients in Illustrator Scan and edit your sketches in image-editing software CAP116.tut_2dchar 28 19/9/08 4:46:48 pm

Creating vector characters 01 Consider the brief: who is the character aimed at; what is it supporting?

Look through old sketchbooks and see if any previous sketches can help. 29 02 Once you ve collected your thoughts, start sketching.

Guidelines You may want to create guidelines for the character s usage character designers do this largely for animators. A few extra notes and sketches can convey so much useful information.

2 Creating vector characters 01 Consider the brief: who is the character aimed at; what is it supporting? Ideas will start to form immediately, but it always helps to draw upon your own inﬂuences and see what has been done before in similar ﬁelds. Look through old sketchbooks and see if any previous sketches can help Once you ve collected your thoughts, start sketching. Try different things on each new sketch, adding different key features to see what sits right with the character. Even the ones that look odd now will probably be useful in future. Guidelines You may want to create guidelines for the character s usage character designers do this largely for animators. A few extra notes and sketches can convey so much useful information. How short/long can its arms go? How would it look when it was angry? How would it hold a carrot? 03 Once you have a design that you are happy with, draw it and redraw it in different positions with very slight changes. Even the slightest alterations will help you ﬁne-tune the character. Consider potential accessories that will help bring the character to life. 04 It s important to ensure the face has enough scope to display a full range of emotion, particularly if the character is intended to be used narratively. Concentrate some sketches on the face and how the character will communicate with its audience. 05 We ve now selected one of the sketches to be the main illustration, so we will scan this in at 300dpi, grayscale. In Photoshop, click Ctrl/Cmnd+L to bring up the Layers panel. Drag the left and right arrows at the bottom of the histogram to enhance the contrast of the sketch. CAP116.tut_2dchar Also use this time to tidy up the sketch and delete any elements that you don t want to see when tracing it. There s no need to delete all the sketch lines, but any features that you moved or drew over may be best deleted before the next stage. Save this image. November 2008_ Computer Arts Projects 19/9/08 4:46:49 pm

30 Project one 2D characters 07 Open a new Illustrator document set to your ﬁnal dimensions, import the sketch and scale it to the size you want.

08 On a new layer underneath the sketch, create light-coloured shapes following the different elements of the character; one shape for the body, the face, each arm

It s a good idea to keep to a couple of colours and tones so that you don t get any nasty clashes with backgrounds.

For the cheeks, draw two red circles in place and group them. Copy and paste the face shape above the cheeks.

3 30 Project one 2D characters 07 Open a new Illustrator document set to your ﬁnal dimensions, import the sketch and scale it to the size you want. In the Transparency panel change the sketch s setting to Darken. You may also want to reduce the opacity of the image as the project continues. Lock this layer. 08 On a new layer underneath the sketch, create light-coloured shapes following the different elements of the character; one shape for the body, the face, each arm and each leg, for example. Toggle the sketch s visibility on and off to make sure that you are happy with the vectors. 09 Now is a good time to choose some colours. It s a good idea to keep to a couple of colours and tones so that you don t get any nasty clashes with backgrounds. It also looks more natural, which is good for this character. 10 Add a face early on it helps you to become acquainted with the character. For the cheeks, draw two red circles in place and group them. Copy and paste the face shape above the cheeks. Select the cheeks and the copied face and click Ctrl/Cmnd+7 to create a clipping mask. 11 We want this character to remain simple, so we are only going to give it mitten-like hands and very simple feet. If you want to give your character toes, or hooves, now would be the time to do it. CAP116.tut_2dchar 30 M h id 19/9/08 4:46:50 pm

Creating vector characters 31 13 Copy the face shape of the character and paste it above all the face elements, and apply an artbrush to the outline of this shape just as you did

12 Before moving on to adding detail and texture, we will work on the character s accessories, in this case a belt with a big skull buckle.

Different styles The look we talk through here is quite a traditional illustration style; it looks natural with a textured outline and gradients to suggest detail.

Peskimo tutorial ﬁle in Resources. 14 In the next issue of Computer Arts Projects we will be animating this character; now is a good point to switch to Flash if you want to do that.

15 To add hairy texture to the body, drag the ﬁll colour to the currently empty line colour. In the Brushes Panel, play around with the different brushes and choose one you like.

4 Creating vector characters Copy the face shape of the character and paste it above all the face elements, and apply an artbrush to the outline of this shape just as you did with the body. Make sure the ﬁll is empty and that the line colour is the same as the hair of the body. 12 Before moving on to adding detail and texture, we will work on the character s accessories, in this case a belt with a big skull buckle. Add some round teeth to the circular buckle and a face, and create a shape behind the main skull shape to give it depth. Different styles The look we talk through here is quite a traditional illustration style; it looks natural with a textured outline and gradients to suggest detail. If you are going for a more modern and striking look, you should consider using bold lines around the character, like the hairy dude that you will ﬁnd on your cover disc, in the Peskimo tutorial ﬁle in Resources. 14 In the next issue of Computer Arts Projects we will be animating this character; now is a good point to switch to Flash if you want to do that. Some of the details and texture we are adding in the following steps don t translate well or aren t necessary when animating the character. 15 To add hairy texture to the body, drag the ﬁll colour to the currently empty line colour. In the Brushes Panel, play around with the different brushes and choose one you like. The art brushes are particularly good for adding a natural texture to an object. CAP116.tut_2dchar Draw some arcs outside the body and ﬁll these with a gradient, from white to a darker version of the hair colour. Use the Gradient tool to have the gradient run from the tip out. Give a transparency setting of Multiply and an opacity of around 20%, and copy them around the body. November 2008_ Computer Arts Projects 19/9/08 4:46:51 pm

32 Project one 2D characters 17 Use the Pathﬁnder tool to add the elements of the skull-buckle s face together. Create three boxes of different widths over the skull.

18 Draw a shape for the shadow of the character s fringe. Set it to Multiply with a low opacity. Use Ctrl/Cmnd+X to cut this object to the clipboard.

Open interpretation Halfway through creating this character someone saw it and commented on its cute nose.

There s no right or wrong way to interpret a character and this is a good thing!

Now you can create a shadow along the edge of the character, with either a gradient or solid ﬁll. Create a clipping mask with these new objects.

5 32 Project one 2D characters 17 Use the Pathﬁnder tool to add the elements of the skull-buckle s face together. Create three boxes of different widths over the skull. Make two of them darker than the skull colour and one lighter, tilt them to about 30 degrees and create a clipping mask for these, as with the cheeks in step Draw a shape for the shadow of the character s fringe. Set it to Multiply with a low opacity. Use Ctrl/Cmnd+X to cut this object to the clipboard. Double-click the cheeks and press Ctrl/Cmnd+F to paste the fringe shadow in place and into the same clipping mask as the cheeks. Open interpretation Halfway through creating this character someone saw it and commented on its cute nose. It doesn t have a nose, we replied we had always assumed the black semicircle on his face to be a mouth. There s no right or wrong way to interpret a character and this is a good thing! 19 With the body selected, click Object>Expand Appearance, ungroup the resulting group and use the Pathﬁnder to combine it into one shape. Now you can create a shadow along the edge of the character, with either a gradient or solid ﬁll. Create a clipping mask with these new objects. 20 Select the left horn, then copy and click Ctrl/Cmnd+F to paste it directly above. Give it a gradient ﬁll of white to a very dark brown (almost black). As before, apply a transparency setting of Multiply and adjust the angle of the gradient to match the horn. Repeat for the other horn. CAP116.tut_2dchar This is the end of the project, but there are always ways to add to a character. One of the important things to remember is when to hold back, as fussy and over-detailed characters can look awkward and run the risk of turning people away. 19/9/08 4:46:52 pm

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