Character Design - Task 1: Personification

29/8/2022 - 26/9/2022 ( Week 1- Week 5 )

Sasilvia Cheong Pei Hoong / 0345031 / Bachelors of Design in Creative Media

Character Design / Entertainment Design

Task 1- Personification

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1.Concept World Creation

In week 1 we were tasked to pick an existing narrative from any type of media (film, animation, games, comic etc.) and create a new character from that universe.

I love both anime and playing Genshin Impact, so it was a decision between those two. However, there were way too many anime to pick from so it would take a long time for my indecisive soul to decide. In the end I decided to go with Genshin Impact since I always wanted to create an OC there, I have always loved the character design from Genshin Impact since it was so unique and detailed. Yes I am obsess with having details, I find that every small detail in a character shows a part of the characters personality and how their backstory was, it is very interesting and I could talk about it forever. But lets stop here before a whole essay appears. :D

After picking out my universe I started doing "research" on the game. It wasn't much of a research for me since I play the game every single day, so I already knew every part of the story and world that Genshin Impact had. I compiled the Genshin world and existing characters together to give me an idea of the similarities and difference that each of the characters have, since there are many regions so each character from that region will have a distinctive feature on them. 

Fig.1.1 Genshin Impact, Week 2 (5/9/2022) 

Character
My character's name is Hanae Fuji, which translate as blossom and wisteria. She is a demon from Inazuma and a special double vision user who holds both electro and pyro visions. She wields a sword as her weapon and is a companion of Scaramouche, who known as the Sixth of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers.

The first thing I had in mind when creating my character was to have her as a double vision user since there were none of them in Genshin yet where it would be really fun to come up with her attack moves while developing it around the gameplay style in Genshin. Secondly, for her backstory and personality, I wanted her to be insanely strong and fierce but in reality she is kind and shy. Since, every single characters in Genshin had a specialty dish, I wanted one for mine as well so I looked through multiple existing Inazuma dish that none of the characters had occupy yet and chose it for her based on her personality. Last but not least, every Genshin characters requires level up materials for both ascensions and talent upgrade, I went through the materials that are found in Inazuma and gave in to her. The most significant material is the Naku Weed where it is incorporated in her design. 

Fig.1.2 Character's profile, Week 2 (5/9/2022) 

Moodboards

My character's design is based on Japanese traditional clothing with a rebellious and rouge look. She has markings all over her body due to the fact that most of her powers were sealed away because she was not able to fully control them. The VFX gameplay is based on her attack moves that was created in her profile which can be found fig. 1.2..

Fig.1.3 Moodboard compilation, Week 2 (5/9/2022) 

Silhouette and character study

In week 3 we were task to study the silhouettes of existing characters in our chosen universe. Since my character is from Inazuma and incorporates traits from Inazuma characters, I looked at Inazuma female characters at the same time to study their characteristics. This will help my character fit into the game more and avoid looking like some outsider.

Fig.1.4  Inazuma characters, Week 3 (5/9/2022) 

Fig.1.5 Inazuma characters silhouette, Week 3 (5/9/2022) 

Fig.1.6 Significant characters designs in Genshin Impact, Week 3 (5/9/2022) 

I also studied Scaramouche's design since I thought that they both are companions, it would be nice if both my character and Scaramouche had at least one accessory in common.

Fig.1.7 Scaramouche, Week 3 (5/9/2022) 

2. Character Conceptual Development

Below are the 8 thumbnail silhouette sketches for my character. The pose of my character is reference from Yoimiya in Genshin. 

Fig.2.1 8 thumbnail silhouette sketches , Week 3 (12/9/2022)

After receiving feedback from Ms. Anis, I decided to progress with the 2, 3,4 and a combination of the 7 and 8 sketches. I noted down what I liked and dislike in the progressive silhouette sketches so that I can gather the elements that I liked and incorporate them in the final design. Where first glance she has to look like a character from Inazuma. I also asked myself a few questions when reviewing the sketches, "Does her outfit and hair matches her personality?", "Will her hair get in the way when she is fighting?", "Does she look like an Inazuma character at first glance?". Other than that, I also made sure to incorporate elements that suits her lore and name meaning. 

Fig.2.2 4 progressive silhouette sketches , Week 3 (12/9/2022)

For her hair, I decided to go with the one in the 4th sketch and used the hair accessory from the 2nd. Then for her clothes I went with the one in the 2nd sketch, then combined the back cloth from the 3rd sketch into it since I loved the rebel feeling that the 3rd one was giving off. As for her leg garment I used the one from the 4th sketch. Last but not least her shoes are developed from the 3rd sketch. I added on details such as a clan crest from her demon clan, her markings all over her body, wisteria patterns on her sleeve since her family name is Fuji which means wisteria. My character's proportion is 7 heads excluding the bun she have on her hair and her geta shoes.

Fig.2.3 1 detailed silhouette (B&W) , Week 3 (12/9/2022)

After that, I did the turnaround sketches of my character. 

Fig.2.4 1 detailed turnaround study from silhouette (head to toe) , Week 4 (20/9/2022)

Final

Fig.3.1 Final Task 1: Personification - slides. Week 5 (26/9/2022)

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FEEDBACK

Week 3 (12/9/2022)

Good development, looks like a character from Genshin. Make sure the Japanese elements are more visible because at first glance she looks like she's from Liyue. It is nice to see that there's a lot of exploration in the hair. The first 1st progressive silhouette sketch makes her look nice, the second one looks very tribal like she belongs with the hilicurls, and the fourth one is nice it can be explored further there. The braided hair looks like something Genshin does not have yet. 

Week 4 (20/9/2022)

Very nice, love the aesthetic of the art style. You manage to figure out the hair and it looks great. One suggestion for the body markings for the left leg is to make it more like a dragon tail spiraling around it since it looks a bit bare compared to the right leg with the leg garment and all. Overall great work. 

Week 5 (26/9/2022)

Really good, great attention to detail, it can be seen that a lot of research has been done through the game and lore of Genshin Impact. You could leak the character and people would believe it was from the game. It looks like a character that can be added to the game and be a boss that Paimon would fight XD.

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REFLECTION

I have always loved making OCs, ideas was flowing non-stop especially since we were able to choose any universe we want our character to be from. Genshin Impact is a game I live and breath with, I can never go a day without it, so I was able to take every small details that the game has and incorporate it into my character. I found that the silhouette sketching was so fun, I have actually never done it before as I always just sketch out random clothes I want on my characters. It helps planning much more easier. I also enjoyed adding all the details on my character, drawing details had always been something so therapeutic and relaxing for me. But other deadlines had to come between my therapy session </3