FOUR
MEaning of PLAY
consequential sequentials
Does Shape have meaning?
shaping your choices
Our choices have consequences, the characters we create represent something, and hopefully that something is what we intended. Even the basic shapes themselves have connotations. In signage a triangle with the pointed side down is used as a yield sign. When the pointed side is up it’s used as a warning sign.
Every element of our drawings is a sign that the viewer is interpreting based on their experiences, culture, and knowledge. Likewise the choices we make in our designs come from our own experiences, culture and knowledge too. So the more we have experienced, lived, and learned the better the choices we make in our designs.
the act of playing
We want to work in the creative industry, but does it have to be work? If we are doing character design for entertainment mediums such as comics, animation, and such isn’t the whole point to have fun and entertain? And if we are having fun and making content that entertains us, it’s more than likely going to entertain others too.
The process of sequential character design we are exploring here is all about play. Like a child with a toy, except we are designing the toy. But the play part is the same. The imagining, the dreaming, the asking what if? As you develop your creative process you have the opportunity to imagine a process that is custom built for you, to realize your own creative potential – and why not make it fun?
