Character Design Lecture 2 : SHapes in design

 Diskussed By J.J. *Jolanta Jasiulionyte*

The second lecture of character design covered the importance of shapes in design.

Shapes are important in a way it can evoke a particular feeling and perception of the character.

To give few examples,circle is used mostly to create a feeling of security, harmlessness and cuteness. Its only because in our life the shapes that are round have this meaning. For example babies.

Contrary to that triangles are used to create uneasiness and a feeling of danger. Like Justin Wyatt explained, its deep in our subconscious – man is scared of sharp things and understands it as potential threat.

And squares should evoke a feeling of strength, reliability and security. Just like architecture is stable , so can  a design look,  made using lots of firm squarish shapes.

But the true designing begins when one try’s to employ a variety of shapes to convey the personality of the character. A great example Justin Whyet gave us was Obelix’s design.He’s a gentle giant, so the two main shapes used in his design are square for the upper part (firmness) and a circle for the lower part (soft and harmless).

After being  acquainted with shape purpose in design we were given a task to draw few designs using variety of shapes.

To see more examples of  theory application for character designs done by J.J. *Jolanta Jasiulionyte* go here