character design
Crafting fictional appearances
Character design is the process of creating a fictional figure's visual appearance—their physical features, clothing, silhouette, and distinguishing details.
The term belongs primarily to animation, video games, comics, and illustration.
Good character design makes figures instantly recognizable and communicates personality at a glance: The character design tells you she's a villain before she speaks.
A character design also refers to the resulting artwork itself.
- backstoryCharacter's past narrative
- animationTechnique creating movement illusion
- silhouetteFilled-in outline shape
- proportionsRelative amounts or dimensions
- body languageUnspoken physical expression
archetype · illustration · motivations · concept art · turnaround · reference sheet · three-quarter view · strengths · storytelling · color palette · color theory · weaknesses · personality · facial features · emotions · storyboarding · line of action · sketching
- game developmentgame engine, game engines, game designer, rendering, programming
- animation artcels, background art, backgrounds, concept art, storyboards
- imaginative designconcept art, dreamscapes, fantastical creatures, world building, visual storytelling
- visual mediafilm, video, drawing, photograph, television
- animationanimation, animator, animators, cartoon, cartoons
- art stylesimpressionism, surrealism, cubism, realism, pop art
character designbackground art
Non-focal visual elements
set design · prop design · environmental art · world building · landscape design