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Below are a selection of character designs I completed for various personal, professional, and academic projects. To learn more about each individual project, click the links listed with my work.
Professor Pavlov & Me
"Professor Pavlov and Me" is a children's TV show concept about the adventures of Pavlov's Dog and Schrödinger's Cat. To see more of this project, click here.
Professor Pavlov, Millie, Guinea Pig, Lab Rat, and Darcy are the typical cast of characters present in each episode. They work together on each experiment as their unique personalities counterbalance one another. Pavlov, Millie, and Darcy are all based on real science experiments or theories, while Guinea Pig and Lab Rat were created to honor all of the common animals used in scientific research everyday. (PS: Want to REALLY see a fish drive a car?! Click here to check it out!)
Deer Season
"Deer Season" is a short film about two bounty hunters chasing a criminal through a post-apocalyptic city. To see more of this project, click here.
I designed the character of Lucia: a tough bounty hunter hardened by the post-apocalyptic world. I wanted to give her a practical look, with clothes that would be realistic for action. To achieve this, I took inspiration from female characters in both classic western and post-apocalyptic films, comics, and TV shows.
In our film, our characters encounter a 2D animated creature that resembles a deer, which they believe to be a monster. It was challenging to create a scary/mysterious design that could still believably be a deer. I ended up taking inspiration from the shape of deer skulls, and emphasizing sharpness to give it a menacing look.
Under The Bed
"Under The Bed" is a short film concept about a 12 year old girl and her best friend: the monster under her bed. To see more of this project, click here.
The three characters in this concept are June, an awkward tween, Pony, a friendly monster, and Laila, the coolest girl in middle school. It was difficult to capture the awkwardness of adolescence in one design, while sharply pivoting to what would have been seen as the "ideal" girl in another design. Of course, even a popular middle school girl has insecurities and awkwardness, but I had to design her from June's point of view: someone she would have seen as completely perfect and put together.
However, the most difficult design of all was the monster, Pony. I wanted to keep his design somewhat big and monstrous, while still making sure he could realistically be June's best friend. I initially started with a bug-like design, but slowly incorporated elements of dogs and horses overtime. And of course, I had to make him a little bit fluffy, too!
SCADpro x RedKulture
Through a SCADpro internship, I worked with the company RedKulture on their new character driven brand, "Yom Yom". To see more of this project, click here.
Boyanga is the magical pet of RedKulture's character, Yom Yom. She is a sassy, catlike alien that accompanies Yom Yom on all her adventures. I aimed for a cute, appealing design with bright colors that I knew children would love.
Every hero needs a villain! Meet the Pukis: little mischievous aliens that are always causing trouble for Yom Yom. Their leader is King Puki, who sends his tiny minions off on destructive missions. These guys were a big challenge! Our team needed to find the perfect balance of cute and menacing, so it took lots of iterations to land on our final designs.
Market Mischief
"Market Mischief" is a short film about a mischievous little pixie's hunt for the perfect snack. To see more of this project, click here.
Our crew needed a way to populate our film's whimsical world! So, I created various sketches/tests of characters for the film. The team took this artwork and used it as reference for their designs.
Character Design Exercises
These are a selection of character designs I created to practice my skills. To see more, click here.
"Luna Cocoona" is a character design based on the life cycle of the Luna Moth. While designing her, I experimented with elements from real world Luna Moths mixed with human fashion and hairstyles.
"Bubbles" is a creature designed to portray a symbiotic relationship between a rodent and a goldfish. The fish eats the algae that grows inside of Bubbles, keeping him clean and healthy, while the fish stays fed. I decided to mix elements from hamsters, jellyfish, anglerfish, and bears.
Together with a small group of people, I worked on a concept for an animated show about dragon trainers. I came up with three character designs for the project. Meet John, a grumpy goat-man, Jenny, a bratty little girl, and Priya, a peaceful woman trying to keep everything together.