Concept Art and Character Design
Project Descriptions
Project: Maya/Unity Character Design
Client: Asset Production Date: May 2019 Project Description
Students were tasked with designing a character in a 2D format, model that character in Maya, create and apply UVs to that model, and import it to Unity. Issues Encountered The initial design for the character included flowing robes that I did not have the time to learn how to model, so the outfit for the character was drastically changed. Since this was a project designed for learning, I also did not know how to use Maya or Unity in the beginning of this project. |
Solutions
Given the limited time given to learn how to use Maya, the outfit for the character was mostly integrated directly with the model. This made it so I only had to make two models: the character and the character’s hat. Much of this project was learning how to use Maya, so I had to apply different tutorials and research the software’s capabilities. Skills This project required proficiency with both Maya and Unity, as well as a search engine to teach myself how to fix problems I was encountering. This project also required communication between the professor and myself, both to give updates on the project and to ask for help when needed. |
Project: Helper Character
Title: Sadie Mendoza Client: Intro to Character Design and Development Date: September 20, 2020 Project Description
The objective of this project was to design and develop a character for a theoretical children’s game that would help the player throughout said game. The target audience was children around 5-15 years old. Issues Encountered The main issue for this character design was designing the game that the character would be in. The main focus was the character, but quickly designing assets for a game targeted towards younger children proved to be somewhat time consuming. |
Solutions
Since the main focus of the project was the helper character, much of the game’s design was based around the character. Keeping in mind the target audience, several iconic witches’ tools were scattered around the environment to help solidify that the helper character was a witch. Skills Designing Sadie required knowledge of the target audience, writing skills to flesh out Sadie, and mindful design. This project was made in Google Docs and Adobe Photoshop. |
Project: Player Character
Title: From Stories of Old: River Solheim Client: Intro to Character Design and Development Date: November 15, 2020 Project Description
The objective of this project was to design and develop a player character for a theoretical game. The target audience was 15-30 year olds, especially LGBTQ+ 15-30 year olds. Issues Encountered Other than minor issues concerning things such as what weapon would be most appropriate for this character, the biggest issue was designing a believable transgender nonbinary character. |
Solutions
While minor issues were solved by looking at the setting the player character was in, as well as referencing their background, creating a believable transgender nonbinary character took some research. The solution was to design a male presenting character and redraw them with similar proportions but as a more female presenting character. Skills This project was made in Google Docs and Adobe Photoshop, and required research and knowledge pertaining to anatomical differences based on puberty as well as transgender and nonbinary identities. |
Project: Antagonist Bible
Title: From Stories of Old: Joshua Reid Culus Client: Intro to Character Design and Development Date: October 20, 2020 Project Description
The objective of this project was to design and develop an antagonist character for a theoretical game. The target audience was 15-30 year olds - I created this antagonist for the same game as the Player Character project. Issues Encountered Creating a design that fits both the fantasy world of the game and the normal world of the antagonist. Effectively communicating the antagonist’s powers in one image was also an issue. |
Solutions
I decided that the best way to combine the antagonist’s past and present was to have the antagonist slowly cover his job uniform with the fantasy world’s leather armor. The antagonist’s powers are based on nightmares, so I made a concept piece with a shadow monster picking people up with too many human hands. Skills This project was made in Google Docs and Adobe Photoshop, and required world building knowledge. |
Project: Antagonist Bible
Title: From Stories of Old: Joshua Reid Culus Client: Intro to Character Design and Development Date: October 20, 2020 Project Description
The purpose of this project was to create a complete character bible, including sample dialogue, a flowchart of the game’s story, and a prototype of the character. The target audience was 15-30 year old fans of the Youtube channel Unus Annus. Issues Encountered This character needed to be recognizable to Unus Annus fans without mimicking the characters of Unus Annus exactly. On top of this, this project required more writing and planning for the game portion of the character bible - resulting in a shortage of time. |
Solutions
I based both genders’ presentation on the Camp Unus Annus outfits, adding some touches that were personal to the character. The shortage of time was taken care of by dedicating more of my time to the project until if was completed. Skills The project was completed in Adobe Photoshop and Google Docs. Dedication to the completion of the character, with quality of content in mind, helped in the creation of them. |
Project: Making a Video Game
Title: Time and Place Client: Video Game Design Studio Date: May 2020 Project Description
Time and Place is a narrative based 2D game, where the player character, Agni, must navigate her school life as a cyclops in a world post human-cyclops war. The goal of this class was to design and create a game with a small team. Issues Encountered Due to the small team size, switching mid-semester to online learning due to COVID-19, and having to start from scratch, time was a major problem for Time and Place. There were also issues with unclear communication by the Lead Designer, as well as having to switch to the Lead Designer’s art style. |
Solutions
The problem of time was managed by setting up clear due dates within the team to keep everyone on track, as well as taking on each other’s work when necessary. Communications issues were discussed within the team, and cleared up as quickly as possible, with ideas of how to avoid those communication mistakes in the future. Lastly, I took extra time to study the Lead Designer’s art style to be able to match what they wanted me to create. Skills Proficiency in Adobe Photoshop, animation within Adobe Photoshop, schedule management, team interaction and communication, ability to study and replicate another person’s art style, and proficiency in Adobe Premiere . |
Project: Making a Video Game
Title: S.T.A.R.s: Space Traders and Raiders Client: Asset Production Date: December 2020 Project Description
The class was tasked with creating a video game based on the board game Space Traders and Raiders. The professor was the executive producer, with students being sorted into different jobs mirroring the games industry. Issues Encountered The style guide was not completed by the Art Lead until several artists had completed a few of their tasks, and job allocation between artists was highly unbalanced. |
Solutions
During one of the team’s weekly meetings, I communicated with the Art Lead about the style guide, prompting them to complete and give the art team said style guide. The problem of unbalanced workloads was fixed by communicating with the art lead, and giving tasks out to those who had little work for the upcoming week. Skills This project required communication skills, not only to communicate with the Art Lead, but to make sure all of the assets from different artists matched each others’ thematically. Adherence to the style guide, proficiency with Adobe Photoshop, and understanding of the game design pipeline were also necessary. |