Monday 3 December 2012

Childrens character design

As part of my Puffin Wind in the Willows brief I have been looking at different character designs from previous books, old and new of the classic childrens book. There is such a variety of different illustration approaches. I am wanting to approach my designs in a more modern way than most of these by possibly simplifying the characters down as much as possible. As I do not see the point in trying to replicate previous designs for my own book cover.



You can tell that these are fairly old illustrations as they have a very classic feel about them, the characters have quite a realistic look to them and they are all of the same proportion. They have a very child friendly manor, being quite cute. I like the way they have been given colour, its very subtle and soft, which again makes it more child appropriate.











These characters look as though they were designed before the ones above. I dont particularly like the design approach, I dont feel it is as child friendly as the one above. I think this is down to the use of black lines that give them detail. The characters themselves also dont look as friendly as the others, they dont have that same cuteness.










These characters are beautiful. They look so soft and friendly, the badger is my favourite. Badgers can be quite nasty animals but they have made him look old, wise and very sweet. This is the sort of design approach I would like to take with my own designs but a bit more simplistic.












These characters are even simpler and the way they have been coloured is very soft, it looks as though they have used watercolour which has worked very well. I like how they have watered out the background and then added darker, more defined detail on top.













I have also been looking at other animal illustrations to give me some more ideas, its interesting to look at look at realistic designs and more vector based ones. These ones above look very realistic but have been coloured in, in a sketchy way. Very nice.











These are very cute designs, they have all been vectored and are all simplistic. I like how the colours have been kept to a minimum as with the detail.










I do like these designs but for some reason because of the way they have been coloured, they look a bit blurred. The colour palette has probably intentionally kept pale with brown and greys but I dont think these would be suitable for a childrens book. They dont seem very child friendly.













I love this style of illustration but I dont think it would be something I could use for my designs. It is a very contemporary approach to illustration but again I dont think it would work in a childrens book, especially a classic like Wind in the Willows.












I put these on here because they were animals wearing clothes. Most of the existing character designs for the Wind in the Willows also wear clothes. I am not sure if I want to stick with traditional design approaches or think of something new. Naked animals?













I like how these look very sketchy and you can tell they have been hand drawn and coloured. Maybe this is something I could consider as it looks a bit different to the current designs.












This badger is very simply drawn, I like how fat he is. He looks as though he has been drawn quite quickly but it works. The only down fall is that his eyes look a bit scary because they are all white.









Some of these work well and others look a bit odd. The best ones are the fox, bear and wild cat. I think the others dont have a realistic resemblance as these 3 which then doesnt make them work as a set.






The sketched black and white badgers work well, but I think this sort of illustration would work better in an information book rather than a story book.




















These are cartoon characters for a well known childrens cartoon. These are the sort of illustrations I aspire to design but for a younger audience.













I like how the outline of the badger is quite straight and sharp but he still looks friendly.










This badger has a sketched look but almost seems like it has been done digitally. It has been done very well but he looks a bit too grumpy. I want to design characters that seem very friendly and welcoming to children between the age of 4 and 7.













I like the pose of the rat but I dont like the way they have used the black to fill it in and add detail, he looks too old fashioned.













I like how this one is between realistic and cartoony. It is quite charming in its pose.














This rat is very friendly, his clothes make him quite charming and the colours are very soft.

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