Responsibilities of a Character Designer

For this semester, I have been granted the role of main character designer. A character designer is someone who visualises and creates the look of individual characters.

A character designer is someone who visualises and conceptualises the look of individual characters displaying action, anatomy and varying perspectives. They are usually given a description by the director and turn their personality into physical qualities through facial expression, poses and posture. 

A good character designer will:  

• Have a keen eye for detail in human expression 
• Has the ability to understand the story of a character 
• Creates memorable and iconic characters 
• Has a very high level of technical skill
• They will have a passion for animation, as a medium and a love for the industry
• Have an understanding of the capabilities of an animator

Character designers are also responsible for creating multiple variations of a design for one character. They then show these to a director and implement any feedback they receive to achieve a result that they are happy with. They also carry out research into the anatomy of characters and relevant fashion styles. A character designer’s role heavily relies on the ability to draw well. Once a design has been approved of, the character designer will then create a model sheet which will show the character from multiple angles. In 3D animation, the modeller will use this sheet to create the character. Where as in 2D animation, the animator will use the sheet to ensure that the character is “on model”. Character designers are employed by an animation studio rather than freelancing.

Tools of the trade:

(ScreenSkills)