Slapstick - Character Design

I knew I wanted to have a contrasting dynamic between the two characters, and therefore I wanted to reflect this visually too. I wanted the older angry guy to be quite small and hunched over, and the younger guy to be much bigger (also needed to sell the bench gag).

One of my favourite studios is Laika, their concept art and 2D work being particularly inspiring to me, so I created a mood board for my character designs, using it as inspiration. This definitely helped me, as I could draw elements from different characters. I wanted to focus on Boxtrolls, and their design choice of voluminous bodies with thin limbs.

I like my final design for the smaller guy, however I do think I rushed the character design for both of the characters, but especially the bigger guy. I should have explored more shapes rather than focusing on the same one and just tweaking it. I should have also drawn different poses to get a feel for the character's personality, which would give it more appeal. I do like both the designs, as they still have quite a bit of character and are also simplified.

One area I struggled on was the side view for the smaller guy, and how the head joins with the body. Looking at Mr Gristle really helped with this.

Finally I created the character turnarounds. These became more of a rough visual guide rather than a chart I followed exactly, due to the lack of detail. I feel I should have spent more time on this, as well as drawing a fuller turnaround for the bigger guy to help with animation.