Our homework we were to complete for Week 1 was to take 3 existing characters and break down their design into basic shapes.!
When I was deciding what designs to break down, I considered what ones had the most prominent use of shapes. The designs that sprung to mind were Mr King Dice from the video game, Cuphead, Edalyn Clawthorne from The Owl House, and Peridot from Steven Universe. Each character, to me, is comprised of very stand-out shapes.
I doodled the characters I chose in their
respective styles, (which turned out pretty
good!) before breaking them down into their shapes.
King Dice is comprised of circles and squares; in shape theory, squares typically translate a character's strength and security, whilst circles translate commitment and love. This works ironically - as the dice that's used for the head thus falsely translates security and commitment, as die aren't reliable objects. The continued use of these shapes throughout the rest of the design further creates a
false sense of security: with the attributes translated by the shapes being antithetic to the true nature of the character.
Eda, on the contrary is made up of more pointed shapes. She is mainly comprised of sharp teardrops, with rectangles also featuring. The teardrops translate Eda's abrasive and sassy attitude - particuarly with the use of this shape for the eyes. The points of the teardrops also translate her wild nature, as pointed down triangles represent instability. In contrast, the rounded tops of the teardrops convey her more nuanced maternal and loving quaities. The rectangles also contribute to translate her strength and security she provides.
Finally, Peridot can be broken down into triangles and ovals. The triangles that would have translated her villainy in her previous design, now serve to convey her intelligence and snappy nature. The mixed use of upward facing and downward facing triangles respectively show her power and sense of direction, along with the instability that comes with this power.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the first week of this module! My group is made up of lovely people and we were able to brainstorm effectively - so I look forward to where we take these ideas!
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