So here is the final character design I submitted for my Unit 1 assessment. Her name is Rose! She is warm, friendly, positive and extremely generous, always ready and willing to help anyone; people, but also any animal or anything that comes across in her surrounding! She is around 12/13 years of age, but as the leaves and fruits mature, she matures with them.
She loves to bundle up in scarves and jackets and hats as the season brings in the cold winds. Her one major flaw is her self doubt, she is often too critical of herself and doesn’t think of herself as beautiful. The season in many ways makes it easier for her to cover herself up.
One of the key things whilst thinking about this design, was keeping in mind that the audience needed to be able to connect her to autumn. I had received some crucial feedback from my tutors and peers that the colour wasn’t enough to convey the concept so I needed to add a motif to her that would make it obvious.
I thought it would be a nice idea to add an acorn to her hat! Acorns are very autumnal as they fall along with the leaves, but they are also notably one of the most popular symbols for autumn! I also spoke with Christina about this and she suggested adding a bag to the character. So I thought it might be interesting for her to have an acorn shaped back pack! I also changed her shoes to fluffy boots, which give her that cozy, warm autumnal look!
I’m really happy with how this turned out! I also got some great feedback from MACA alumni, Paul J Nicholson, who very kindly gave us a talk on character design. I showed him my turnaround and he gave me some amazing feedback with notes, so I look forward to follow up on those tips! His talk also inspired me to continue to practise creating characters and broaden my skills in character design!
Here are some previous versions of the design: