Characters are the life of any story, and the conduit to which a consumer carries themselves through the events of the story. The design of a character can be purposeful and metaphorical, but a successful character has their own personality and identity that makes a relatable connection to the consumer.
Through the creation of my own character designs, I want to communicate the personalities of characters, the usage of archetypes and thematic representation, and how technological advancements can affect character designs. I aim to make these characters immersive by adapting some of the techniques used in existing examples of real life architecture into my own designs.
Some examples of an immersive character design are the Spartan super-soldiers from the Halo series. (1) These characters are part of humanity's military force in the future, and wear full suits of armour while taking on dangerous missions. I believe these character designs to be immersive because the characters can still portray their personalities through unique gestures and stances while in their armour - which can be difficult to accomplish. These designs are effective in making a connection with the consumer while not showing the character's faces, and have practical designs that could be replicated in the real world.
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| A Mark-IV Spartan render in Halo Wars (Microsoft Game Studios, 2009) (2) |
By reproducing the detail and structure of this character design, I was better able to understand how the components of the armoured suit fit together in a practical sense, as well as how the suit fits to the Spartan's body. This was helpful in me portraying the same identity that the super-soldier in the example has and I believe I was able to achieve that.
The series of mini-experiments focused on light, and how changing the amount or type of light around a character can affect what its design communicates. I started by changing the hue of the Spartan design to see if different colours would be more or less effective in portraying the original identity.
Next, I placed the Spartan in darkness, with a focus on the beams coming from his helmet lights. Interestingly, this changed the original stance of heroism and bravery, to one of mystery and caution.
I believe these were effective experiments because I discovered that by simply changing the colour of the armour, I could convey a different tone, and a focus on low-light conditions provided a clear transformation in what is being communicated. These experiments are small examples of what can break or add to the immersion of a character design.
From these experiments, I have managed to identify the characteristics of Halo's character designs, which will assist me in designing my own vehicles that effectively communicate a narrative. These characteristics are practicality, identity and detail. With these aspects in mind, I created an experimental response that relates to one of the fictional worlds from my Final Major Project.
This response is in the form of a character group illustration, showing some of the main characters from my FMP. I have used characteristics of character designs and adapted them to show technological advancements, archetypal representation, and the personalities of characters. This resulted in an image of three of the Mars military force soldiers, each with different identities as shown through individual stances, gestures, and weaponry.
Overall, this experiment inspired me to explore immersion through character designs using examples of fictional designs, as well as helping me to understand how identity and personality is communicated through the visual language of these designs.
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(1) Halo. (2001-2017). [Video-game series] United States: Bungie Studios / 343 Industries, Xbox, Microsoft.
(2) Microsoft Game Studios, (2009). A Mark-IV Spartan render in Halo Wars. [image] Available at: http://i.imgur.com/fuAfQoX.jpg [Accessed 16 Feb. 2017].
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