Illustration & Visual Narrative - Task 1: Character Design

Name: Caitlin Alina Anthony - ID No. 0383177
Module: Illustration & Visual Narrative 

Exercises - Character Design

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Moodboard

Sketches

Digital sketch created by ChatGPT.

Rationale

The Story of Margo, Pip, and Flynn: The Glow Below

Setting

The trio live in Lumora Reef, a hidden underwater city powered by glow in the dark crystals. Neon coral skyscrapers, school of fish in formation, and clams DJs around every corner. The reef used to be a peaceful place until the Deep Drift, a creeping darkness from the ocean trench started draining the reef's light source.

The Mission (Plot)

The glowing crystals that keep Lumora Reef alive are slowly going dark. A strange shadow called the Deep Drift is spreading though the ocean. No one knows where it came from, but it drains light and life wherever it goes. Most sea creatures are scared. Some don't believe it's real, other's think it's too late. So, Margo, Pip, and Flynn believe they can stop the Deep Drift, and they're the only ones brave enough to try.

Margo, Pip, and Flynn team up to save the reef's light.

• Margo finds old maps and solves puzzles to figure out how the crystals work.
• Pip uses his adventurous attitude to explore dangerous places and collect rare glowing treasures that power the reef.
• Flynn goes on brave missions to dangerous parts of the reef to turn lights back on.

The Trio: How They Became Friends

Margo the Turtle

Personality: Margo is smart, calm, and loves learning new things. She spends most of her time in the reef library, reading about sea history, maps, and magic crystals. She liked to think before she acts. She is quiet but confident, loves tea, puzzles, and cozy caves.

Role on the Team: Margo is the one who figures things out. She reads old maps, solves puzzles, and finds out how to stop the Deep Drift from taking the reef's light.

Pip the Octopus

Personality: Pip is a curious and fun-loving octopus who collects glowing things. He explores shipwrecks, dark caves, and glowing gardens to find treasures no one else can. His cave is filled with sparkly jellyfish lights and shiny stones. He is exciting, playful, always full of ideas.

Role on the Team: Pip is the explorer. He finds hidden crystals, sees things others miss, and keeps the team's spirits high with his energy and silliness.

Flynn the Shark

Personality: Flynn is fast, loud, and loyal. He's a thrill seeker, surfer, and is part British. Despite his tough guy swagger, he's got a big heart and is deeply protective of his friends and marine habits.

Role on the Team: Flynn is the protector. He dives into danger, helps others feel safe, and gets things done when quick action is needed.

Final Output

Final Artwork Line Art

Final Artwork Color & Shading

Techniques Applied

I applied key techniques from class such as character design fundamentals, visual storytelling, and th euse of expressive shape language. I focused on how posture, facial expression, and props could communicate each character's personality and unique role within the team. 

Using Illustrator, I practiced tools introduced in class like the shape builder, pen tool, and pathfinder to refine character forms and silhouettes. I also applied color theory to establish contrast between the characters while keeping a nice palette that reflects their underwater world. I explored additional methods through research, such as adding soft glow effects, texture overlays, and subtle lighting gradients to give each character more dimension and mood.

Self Reflection

This was my first experience working with Illustrator, and also my first time exploring character design. Coming in with no prior design background, I was initially overwhelmed by the tools and creative decisions involved. However, this project became a meaningful introduction to both the technical design and the storytelling potential behind each visual choice.

Through designing this trio, I learned how colors, shapes, and small details like props or expressions could express personality and team dynamics. One of the biggest challenges was balancing the characters so they each felt unique, yet part of a cohesive group.

Despite the learning curve, I grew more confident in using Illustrator's basic tools and in making design choices with intention. Given more time and experience, I could have pushed the designs further and added more detail to better reflect each character's personality and environment.

Weekly Updates

Week 1: Introduction & Briefing

Introduction to the class and what to expect for the first project. We joined our Google classroom and set up our Adobe accounts. In the mean time we were set to play the "Bezier" game. We were told to practice our pen tool technique on Bezier at home to prepare for next week.

Week 2: Adobe Illustrator Tutorial 

We started off this class logging into Illustrator and choosing a character from Figure 1. We got a step by step guide from our professor which we executed on the character we chose, I chose the ghost. 

Figure 1 - Provided Character Sketch

Figure 2 - Ghost Line Art

Week 3: Coloring & Shading

In today's class we focused more on the coloring and shading of the ghost. Again it was given step by step in class, while we executed it on our own computers. I decided to give my ghost a purple flare, with grey accents. I did find it difficult to imagine shading, so I had to work on that.

Figure 3 - Ghost in Colors & Shading

Week 4: Character Design

Throughout week 2 up until now we have been tasked to come up with ideas for our Task 1. I asked for feedback on my ideas, I knew i wanted to include sea creatures in my design. It was either 3 of the same animals or 3 different sea creatures, so I ended up with an octopus, turtle, and shark. I used Pinterest for ideas, then somewhat sketching and drawing over from sources, to finally putting them into ChatGPT and letting it create an image for me to start outlining on Illustrator. (Figure 4)Eventually with some back and forth I got a sketch I liked and started using the pen tool.

Figure 4 - Final Sketch

It took a few attempts to get the characters how I liked, with all the curves, I ended up using the curvature tool as well as the width tool to add depth to the characters. I also changed a few original characteristics I had for them, e.g, the octopus had a hat, but i gave him goggles instead or giving the turtle hair. After a few hours and different days, I finalized them, can be seen in Figure 5. 

Figure 5 - Final Line Art

And finally, the coloring and shading of the characters, this was definitely the fun part, playing with all the shades etc. In the beginning I did get frustrated because when using the Live Paint Bucket it would undo some of my work, so I did some research and ended up adding a layer only for coloring and another one for shading. I also looked up on YouTube how to give the illusion of glowing to Illustrator and so I did that with the Gaussian Blur.

Figure 6 - Final Character Design

Week 5: Card Design

Today, we got a step by step tutorial on how to create a character card, using the ghost as an example again. Also got briefed on our next Task, got advised to think of ideas for a card from one of our characters from Task 1.

Figure 7 - Exercise Card

Week 6: Composition

Figure 8 - House Composition