GCD6107 Character Design- Task 01: Personification

on

24/09/25 - 15/10/25 (Week 1-Week 4)

Chika Clarissa Widjaja / 0378636

Character Design/ Bachelors Of Design (Creative Media) / Taylor's University

Task 1: Personification


TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • INSTRUCTIONS
  • LECTURES
  • TASK

INSTRUCTIONS


LECTURES

LECTURE 1: World Creation  (24/09/25)

When creating a world you need to think abt the elements inside it.


Process of world building

  1. The inside out method:

When you already have a story about the character, and start to build around it


  1. The outside in method:

When you already have a world you want to build, create specific details for your world. Once the world Is complete, they then introduce the character.



Key Elements in World Building:

  1. Location: In this planet, this dimension, countries, village, can be limited to where your character lives.
  2. Water: sources of water in your story world. (Lake, sea, etc.)
  3. Landscapes: Mountains, rivers, lake, planes, cliffs, etc. 
  4. Climate: Winter, summer, depending on the environment you want.
  5. Characters: Who are your world’s main inhabitants? Human? Mythical? Mix? How do they interact with each other?  But for now just stick to one character which is your character in the project.
  6. Governance: What is your world’s governing system? Who rules the world? Politics, Power struggles. 
  7. Social Classes: What social difference exists between people? Are some groups more feared than others? 
  8. History: How has history shaped your world? E.g war, buildings broken etc. Traumatic events.
  9. Technology: Does the world have electricity? If no, how do they have light, etc. 


TASK for next week:

Create a moodboard of a world you want to make . Around 30 images, total character and world. Use canva.  Find inspiration, build the character from that inspiration, then next week do consultation.



LECTURE 2:   (01/10/25)

Identify key visual ideas 

From the compiled references, identify the more unique and interesting visuals the best resembles your theme. List out your character key traits like gender, age species, and physical build. Understand who your character is.  

 

Thumbnail sketch 

Associate shapes to the characteristic traits listed.  



LECTURE 3: The Power Of Character Design (08/10/25) 


  • Characters are emotional anchor: they carry story, tone, and message 
  • Greate characters 
  • Genre and audience shape appearance, personality, and motivation. Incoprate elements that attracts that age group: 

  1.  Children (6-12): Clear goals, bright colors, moral clarity (Pokemon, adventure time) 
  2.  Teens (13-18): Conflict, Identity, rebellion. (Spiderman, Attack on titan) 
  3.  Adults (18+): Complexity, realism, subversion (Breaking bad, The Witcher 

 

Core Principles of Character Design 


  1. Clarity : Characters must have a an easily understood goal or core desire that drives their actions. Without clarity, audience disconnects. What is it that they expect to achieve?  

Ex: Monkey D.Luffy 


Motivation: Freedom and becoming pirate king

Every decision reinforces that simple, pure drive. 

Clarity makes him a consistent emotional center in a huge cast. 

 

   2. Contrast: makes the characters visually, behaviourally, or ideologically distinct- especially from others in the same world. 

 

Ex: Light Yagami 

  • Polar Opposites 

  • Their contrasting ideals drive the plot, one seeks control through power, the other through truth. 

  • Their Visual Contrast (sharp vs slouched posture, neat vs messy) deepens that conflict. 


 

   3. Consistency 

  • Actions, dialogue, and decisions should all reflect their traits and world. 


 

   4. Change: Dynamic characters evolve- emotionally, morally, or physically. Change is what makes them memorable. 

 


Have an emotional hook: 

-Admiration 

-Empathy 

-Nostalgia 

-Fear 

-Intrigue 



LECTURE 4 
No lecture, we were given time to do our task and can consult if we want to.



TASKS


Task 1-Personification

On our first day, we had a lecture on how to design your character and some key elements to how to be good at world building. From there, we were given the task to create a mood board for our character based on a franchise. I chose to make a character based on Sugar Rush, one of the games in the movie Wreck it Ralph. Initially, I wanted to do animal crossing, but I figured it would be too plain.

I watched the movie to refresh my memory and to analyze the characters. From what I observed, they all have the same body type, big ears, small nose, big eyes, outfits and kart based on a food/candy, and even their names is related to the food that they're based on. Considering this, I start to brainstorm and decided to base my character on a lemon. She's lemon-themed character who is sassy, cheerful, and expressive, kind of like how a lemon has that sharp but refreshing taste. I wanted her to stand out from the rest by giving her a bold personality that matches the bright color theme.

Moodboard


Fig 3.1 Moodboard, Week 1 (25/09/25)

Silhouette Studies
After creating my moodboard, I study the sillhouettes and the shape of the characters in sugar rush even further. From this, what I noticed, they all have:
  • Head bigger than the body
  • Body proportions are around two heads tall
  • Round heads
  • Four Fingers
  • Big ears
  • Dynamic Poses
  • Leg starts out thin, then flares outward

All of these need to be included in my character design to make it feel as included in the universe as possible.



Fig 3.2 Silhouette Study, Week 2 (2/10/25)

Outfit Studies
I also did an outfit study with the characters in Sugar Rush to help me create my outfits later on, and to make sure they have some similarities with each other. They all have similar characteristics in their outfits, such as: 
  • All of the characters have a food that represents their outfit.
  • All characters have a head accessory that aligns with the food they’re based on.  (Taffyta: Strawberry, Gloyd: Pumpkin, etc)
  • All the girls character is using a skirt.
  • All character’s shoes follow their foot shape.
  • Most have leggings that has stripes.
  • Outfit follows a main color for the color pallete. (Vanellope: green, Jubileena: Red, etc.)
  • Long sleeved jacket.



Fig 3.3 Outfit's Study, Week 2 (2/10/25)


First Sketch

This is my very first sketch of my lemon character. I added lemon elements, and messy sharp hair to indicate lemon's pattern. 


Fig 3.4 First Draft, Week 2 (2/10/25)


Character's Story
After observing the outfits, I figured it was too simple, and my character wouldn't really stand out, especially since after hearing the lecture from Mr. Fitri, I needed to create a story for my own character. Inciting incident, motivation, and conclusion. So, after thinking, I created a simple story that can help me extend the outfits a bit more. I also chose the name Lulu the Limonade , as I noticed Sugar rush's characters have a pun intended name that matches their food.


Lulu the Limonade is one of the older racers from Sugar Rush. She’s loud, energetic, and kinda chaotic — always moving, talking, and doing a bit too much. Her energy feels like a burst of lemon: sharp, wild, and hard to handle. Because of that, she used to overdo her racing moves, which made the gameplay look broken. Players thought the game had a bug and reported it, so Sugar Rush got marked “out of order,” almost getting removed — all because of Lulu.

When King Candy (who was secretly the villain) found out, he tried to delete her data to “fix” the problem, just like he did to Vanellope. But something went wrong, and Lulu escaped, hiding deep inside the game. She built a little secret home using random bits she found, and over time everyone forgot about her. She turned into a rumor — a ghost story the racers whispered about, not knowing she was still there, quietly watching the races. Even though she was forgotten, Lulu kept herself busy and never lost hope that one day she could race again and show that being “too much” is actually her strength.
One day, Vanellope finds Lulu’s secret spot while exploring. Lulu tries to hide, but Vanellope recognizes her, and they instantly connect since both were treated like glitches. Vanellope convinces her to come back, saying things are different now that King Candy’s gone. Together, they become the duo players love — wild, fun, and different — turning their quirks into something that makes them stand out from everyone else.



Thumbnail Sketches

After telling my idea to Mr.Fitri, he told me he likes the idea and I can move on. I moved on to digital to further explore my character's outfit with the new story. From the thumbnail sketches onward, what I improved was- I made them look more messy and worn out, and also added more things that I took into consideration such as:
  • Dried lemon peel to show aging 
  • Lemon knee guards for protection
  • Messy hair

Fig 3.5 Thumbnail Sketches, Week 3 (2/10/25)


Progressive Thumbnail Sketches

I asked Mr. Fitri for feedback on how I can improve my character, and he suggested that I need to add more lemon related elements and green and lemon colored.


Fig 3.6 Progressive Thumbnail Sketches, Week 3 (2/10/25)


I made sure the outfit still stay true to the original movie, but with minor adjustments to fit her background story. Since this outfit will be based after she got forgotten, I included:
  • All props & outfit is lemon based (lemon zest, peel, candied lemon, lemon patterns, etc).
  • Outfit & props are not in good condition (ripped, dirty, broken, etc).
  • Lemon necklace that she used during her racing times
  • Lemon sour belt
  • Lemon pouch tied to her ‘belt’ used during her racing
  • Lemon as knee guards
  • Lemons as shoulder pads
  • Shovel made by lemon parts used for scavenging
  • Hand wraps made by lemon laffy taffy
  • Lemon hat (brittled and broken).
  • Dried lemon decoration in hat

Fig 3.7 Outfit Labeling, Week 3 (2/10/25)



Tool/Weapon

I then sketched out the prop that she was going to be holding the whole time. My idea is a tool to help her scavanger around the candy world to find items. I first sketched out the two different tools made out of lemons:

  • Number 2 is suppose to represent an axe, where she can use it to dig, with decorations around the staff such as lemon sour belts, leafs, sticked with melted candy. 
  • Number 3 is a candied lemon as the base, with lemon peel as decoration for the handle.

However, when receiving feedback from Mr. Fitri, he told me that it does not fit the world since it's too sharp, and it needs to be more kid friendly and suitable for her tiny hands.


Fig 1.8 Tool Sketches Week 4 (2/10/25)


So I sketched out another prop where its more round, and kid friendly. It's meant to represent as a candy scoop. The scoop, made out of a lemon, where the middle area is bitten off to create a hole (hence the bite marka), and decorations in the staff made out of candy melts as glue, and sour belt lemon, with a tiny lemon at the end of the staff. 


Fig 3.9 Final Tool, Week 4



Final Turnaround
I showed Mr. Fitri my progressive sketch and he told me I can proceed to do the Final turn around for Fig 1.


Fig 3.10 Final Turnaround, Week 4


REFLECTION

This assignment was tricky at first, mostly because I know I struggle with creating ideas since I have a lot of ideas in my head, I just don't know how to arrange it. But once I know what I want to make, it was a lot of fun. I get to "customize" my own character and think about a lot of stuff. I think its still lacking though, because I feel like I could've done the outfit more effectively to reflect her lore, but at the same time it was difficult because the Wreck it ralph franchise is more of a cartoonish vibe, so creating this scavenger messy look was really hard. Another thing I'd want to improve is the proportions of the character, I didn't realize while making it that the head is too big and wide, and that I should've measured it better comparing it to the sugar rush original characters. I definetly would make more weapon sketches too If i had to do this the second time, but at the time I was kind of rushing, so I didn't get to explore more. Overall, this assignment was fun and tricky at the same time.










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