Character Design

Character Head Shots by Darrell Wright and Lois Cockerill

We initially decided to make most of our characters children between the ages of 11-16, although this comes with its own set of unique challenges, like the dreadful uncanny valley.

Sid (Character) from Toy Story (1995)

To avoid this pitfall we decided to look at some cartoons that depicted children in a far less unsettling way. Unfortunately, this left us with surprisingly few 3D animated shows, so we took inspiration from the visual qualities of "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" and "Codename: Kids Next Door".

The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (Left) and Codename: Kids Next Door (Right)

We particularly liked how Billy's eyes were drawn, in a similar fashion to almost all characters from Codename: Kids Next Door, two innocuous little black dots. We thought that inheriting this particular trait for our characters might help avoid the uncanny valley, as often the uncanny is due to eyes appearing lifeless when clearly attempting to mimic human eyes.

We also decided to try and keep the characters heads as simple as possible, using basic shapes while attempting to give each one their own unique silhouette.

Character Concept Art by Lois Cockerill

We also tried out various other styles and characters before settling on our final designs. These were our initial character designs for our main character: the victim. By experimenting with different art styles, clothing and defining features we chose our favourite design and began finalising it.

Initial Bully Designs by Lois Cockerill

When designing our initial bully concepts we decided to look at common bully stereotypes in pairings, groups and even individual ones. By giving our characters' harsh expressions, confident postures and violent mannerisms, we created concept designs that gave off an unwelcoming feeling. A threatening, uncomfortable feeling; a feeling a bully victim no doubt has encountered before. After experimenting with the styles and character designs we picked the strongest one and started working on it's final design.

Colour Schemes for Victim by Darrell Wright

Victim Clothing Design by Darrell Wright

Because we are setting the story in a school we decided it would be a good idea to use a school uniform, Doing so would  greatly reduce the amount of time spent in character design. These are some of the uniform ideas and also a semi-final character design for the main character "Victim".

Victim Reference Sheet by Darrell Wright

Character Expression Sheet by Lois Cockerill

Victim Model Packet by Darrell Wright

This is the final design for the "Victim" character.

Colour Schemes for Tall Bully by Darrell Wright

Tall Bully Reference Sheet by Darrell Wright

Tall Bully Monster Designs by Darrell Wright

Tall Bully Transformation by Darrell Wright

Tall Bully Expression Sheet by Darrell Wright

Tall Bully Poses by Darrell Wright

Tall Bully Model Packet by Darrell Wright

This is the final design for the "Tall Bully" character.

Short Bully Colour Schemes by Lois Cockerill

Short Bully Reference Sheet by Lois Cockerill

Short Bully Monster Designs by Lois Cockerill

Short Bully Transormation by Lois Cockerill

Short Bully Expression Sheet by Lois Cockerill

Short Bully Model Packet by Lois Cockerill

-Darrell and Lois