Design Team RPG - Part 2/3

(Characters, backgrounds, props...)

Author

nowayjermaine
March 24, 2024

Hey Past-me,

Last week I talked about 3 big picture roles in an Animation Design Team.

When I first started, I had only a vague idea of what jobs or roles were available. I didn’t know what their day-to-day duties would be or where to start learning about them.

Luckily, I landed an internship at Nickelodeon and learned firsthand from some amazing artists what my future could look like.

But not everyone gets that chance like I did and you can’t find everything you need to on the internet.

So here’s what I found out…

Heads up for today:

  • Continuing the Design Team RPG Cheatsheet

  • Bringing you backstage toward a potential future with some options to get started in the right direction

  • 3 design roles focused on Characters, Backgrounds, and Props

Design Team RPG: Part 2

Designers are like wizards.

Your job is to imagine entire worlds out of thin air.

You’ll create anything from coffee shops to monuments, cereal boxes to spaceships, everyday heroes to one-of-a-kind villains.

You can specialize in any category you want, you can design your career that way. If you want more opportunities, learn how to draw more things. Specialize in subjects or techniques, have people come to you for your unique skillset and taste.

Here are 3 more roles you can play in a Design Team:

Character Designer (The Soul Carver)

Baldur’s Gate 3 Character Customization

The one who breathes life into characters that roam the crafted worlds. With each design, they sculpt personalities, histories, and dreams, carving the soul into visual form.

Mindset: A beholder of life's diversity, translating traits into memorable forms.

Skillset: Crafting the heroes and villains, defining their appearance and essence.

Skill Tree: Drawing, Perspective, Gesture, Figure Drawing, Anatomy, Facial Expressions, Shape Design, Costume Design, Fashion Design

Responsibilities:

  1. Draft initial character concepts from the script.

  2. Develop turnarounds, expression sheets, mouth charts, and special poses.

  3. Collaborate with the art director for revisions.

  4. Finalize designs for production, ensuring characters are ready for animation.

Resources

Practice: Anthropomorphic Design Practice

Draw characters by combining human features with those of animals or objects around you, like a pet or a gadget. Imagine them as human characters, considering their looks and clothes. For example, transform a cactus into a desert wanderer with prickly armor. This improves your design skills and creativity.

Character Turns by Justin Runfola
Designs by Yashar Kassai and Maxime Mary

Background Designer (The World Maker)

Terraria

The one who crafts the silent stages for the story to unfold—the deep woods, electric cities, quiet towns. They create environments that enhance the character’s story and help convey the different moods that the narrative requires.

Mindset: A dreamer of spaces, conjuring worlds with depth and detail.

Skillset: Designing the stages where the stories unfold.

Skill Tree: Drawing, Perspective, Storytelling, Layout and Composition, Light and Shadow, Architecture, Landscapes and Environments,

Responsibilities:

  1. Conceptualize environments based on script and vision of directors.

  2. Create rough background layouts for key scenes or areas

  3. Develop an overview map of the area, keeping in mind the camera placements and staging areas for characters.

  4. Finalize background keys, hookups, or elevations as needed in the required style and organize them properly for animation.

Resources:

Practice: Stage Swaps

Change a famous scene's setting to somewhere entirely different, like moving a fantasy battle to a futuristic city. Think about how the new location changes the scene’s feel and character actions. This helps you learn to adapt stories to new settings, a key skill for creating engaging backgrounds.

Background Designs by Chris Tsirgiotis

Prop Designer (The Widget Wizard)

Diablo 2

The one who invents all the objects characters interact with— from ancient books to high-tech gadgets. They fashion items that are not just tools, but also key to moving the story forward and adding depth to the world, making each prop feel like it has a tale of its own.

Mindset: A meticulous creator, emphasizing function and form in every prop.

Skillset: Detailing the tools, items, effects, and graphics.

Skill Tree: Drawing, Painting, Composition, Storytelling, Texture and Materials, Mechanics, Communication

Responsibilities:

  1. Identify prop requirements from the script/storyboards.

  2. Sketch initial designs and gather team feedback.

  3. Develop detailed prop sheets, including turnarounds and functional details.

  4. Create final prop designs with clear instructions for any important details for animation.

Resources

Practice: Iconic Prop Remakes

Redesign five famous movie, game, or book props, like a lightsaber, for a new genre, but keep them recognizable. Consider how each prop's design changes in the new setting. This encourages creative thinking about how props function and signify their backstory, while keeping their original essence.

Props/FX/Graphics designs by Dustin d’Arnault

I couldn’t find this information all in one place.

One of the things that inspired me to write these newsletters was video game manuals from back in the day, like this Player’s Guide for Earthbound.

I’m surprised I haven’t come across a player’s guide to becoming an artist…so that’s why I’m writing these letters, sort of a testing ground for what info I’d include if I could give this guide to my past-self to help them save from banging their heads on a wall when they can’t get past their boss battles.

Anyway, the last one in this series is next week, covering the magic of color: Background Painting and Color Design.

Talk to you soon,

Future-you

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