Project - Creature Design

I had the most fun when creating the creature for my project, but I also found it the most challenging part. I knew from my theme and world that I would be designing a large insect, but I wasn't sure at first which route to go. I started by gathering references, taking note of particular shapes and ideas that I liked the look of.

I started by thumb nailing lots of different silhouettes, then I took the ones that stood out to me the most and filled in a design. At this stage, whilst drawing and looking at reference, I decided I liked the rounder, softer look I seen in a lot of cartoon insects and decided it would be a good fit for my world. I was also thinking more of how to make this design a character, and not just the standard pollinating insects in the world. I wanted it to be something that would be able to have some kind of relationship with others. This is why I decided  going forward that my design would be for a 'character pet'. 

I then chose the designs I liked best and made more iterations of them. At this stage I was still looking for a rounded design, but one that was interesting enough to stand out and be easily readable.

I then refined some of these iterations further. I was finding this stage difficult because of the amount of similar sketches I had been doing, most not even reaching the stages shown here. I was finding it hard to take a step back and look at them critically, so I decided to convert them back to silhouettes.

I again chose the silhouettes I felt worked best and asked others around me which ones they found easiest to read and most recognizable.

I ended up with two silhouettes that were very similar, and combining them together to use both of their strengths. I also experimented with some of the smaller details, mainly looking to personify the design at this point to make it seem more appealing and 'human'.

After my iterations I polished the design until I had something I was happy with. I chose to have long fur around the neck that looks like a scarf to make it seem more pet-like and domestic. I kept the wings small in comparison to the body to show it's small and cuter size. I made the 'bottom' large in contrast to the body as I found it made the silhouette more visually interesting.

I then looked back at my earlier references to work on the colour of the design. I wanted the colours to look warm, appealing, fun and communicate visually what the creature was. I chose a few of my favorites to compare below. I like the yellow and black, as they are associated with bees which are a well known pollinator, and works really well with the bee-like design of the creature. I also like the grey and white design, but I worried it was too colorless.

I tried out some colored eyes with the grey design, but I ultimately went with the black and yellow because I felt it communicated what the creature was more effectively than the others.

I then drew the creature from the side, front and back. This was so if it was theoretically given to a modeler they would be able to model from the character sheet. This was the last step before my final concept sheet which I will be posting soon.  

I had so much fun with this creature and I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I am not used to the world of concept design so it was hard to keep exploring new ideas and move past my initial concepts. This project has also highlighted to me a lot of the areas I need to work on, while also helping me improve in them. I want to learn a lot more about shape, colour and communicating visually.