Task 01 Character Design

23 April 2025 - 18 May 2025 ( Week 1 - Week 4 )

Hsu Myat Wati | 0381660 | Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Illustration and visual narrative | Taylor's University

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Table of contents

1. Documentation
   
2. Final output
   
3. Techniques applied
   
4. Self reflection
   

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1. DOCUMENTATION

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2. FINAL OUTPUT

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3. TECHNIQUES APPLIED    

Sketching 

This phase did not take a long time since I used to AI tool to help me transform my imaginative characters into rough sketches. I got my ideal look for all three characters in my third attempt. I am satisfied with the results because it is minimal yet each has unique features and characteristics. 

Line Art

This was the most challenging phase for me since it's my first time using Adobe Illustrator's pen tool. The first step of making the outline went well for me as I followed our lecturer's tutorial, where he showed the easy way to combine and subtract shapes. However, I was struggling when I had to adjust the thickness of the stroke in every area where I thought it might make the line smoother and give it a natural look. I started to get used to it after finishing the first two practices. I also learned the new shortcut key(P) for pen tool and (Shift+W) for adjusting line weight.

Coloring

Coloring was easier than I thought, as the lineart layer already had the outline, which I could just use to color separate parts. I applied the shortcut(K) of the live paint tool for a smoother painting process. 

Adding shadows and highlights

This is the second most challenging phase, when I try to spot the most suitable area to add shadows and highlights. This phase also makes the use of the pen tool a bit harder as I cannot see where the line is, especially when creating curves and turns. The compound shape tool was helpful when I accidentally stacked two shadows or highlights along the way. 

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4. SELF REFLECTION

I learned several new tools and techniques after completing this task. I think memorizing and applying the shortcut throughout the process was the best decision I made. It makes the overall process so much faster and easier to proceed to the following steps. It was fun to come up with my own unique characters and use them for the following tasks. 

I realized creating characters with pen tools was so much clearer and cleaner than using the brush tool. I learned a lot more about Adobe Illustrator and the step-by-step process of creating characters, starting from sketching to finalizing with adding shadows and highlights.