Overview
Characters and mascots give brands personality and make messages memorable. This course teaches you to design and build illustrated characters in Illustrator—from initial concept and shape language to polished vector artwork ready for branding, marketing, or animation.
You’ll learn to create characters with distinct silhouettes and appealing proportions, design expressive faces that convey emotion, construct characters efficiently in vectors, and prepare your artwork for various applications. Whether you’re designing a brand mascot, editorial characters, or illustrated personas, you’ll develop a systematic approach to character creation.
Format: 1 Day | VILT
Who Should Attend
- Designers creating brand mascots and characters
- Illustrators developing character-based work
- Marketing teams building memorable brand personalities
- Anyone who wants to add characters to their design toolkit
What You’ll Learn
- Develop characters with distinctive shape language and silhouettes
- Design faces that express personality and emotion
- Construct characters efficiently using vector techniques
- Add shading and depth to flat character designs
- Create character variations and poses
- Prepare characters for branding, marketing, and animation
Course Outline
Module 1: Shape Language and Silhouettes
- How shape communicates personality: circles, squares, triangles
- Creating distinctive, recognizable silhouettes
- Proportions and appeal in character design
- Sketching and iterating before committing to vectors
Module 2: Designing Expressive Faces
- Facial proportions and placement
- Eye styles and how they convey personality
- Mouths, expressions, and emotional range
- Creating expression sheets for consistent characters
Module 3: Vector Construction Techniques
- Building characters from simple shapes
- Pen tool techniques for organic, appealing curves
- Symmetry tools and mirroring for efficiency
- Organizing character parts with layers and groups
Module 4: Shading and Depth
- Flat vs. dimensional character styles
- Adding shadows and highlights for depth
- Gradient and blend techniques for soft shading
- Maintaining style consistency across shading
Module 5: Poses and Variations
- Creating multiple poses from a base character
- Action poses and gesture
- Costume and accessory variations
- Building a character asset library
Module 6: Preparing Characters for Use
- Delivering characters for brand guidelines
- Preparing artwork for animation handoff
- Export formats for different applications
- Creating character usage documentation
Prerequisites & Technical Requirements
- Basic drawing skills in Illustrator
- Adobe Illustrator CC installed (latest version recommended)
Customization Options
This course can focus on your specific character needs—brand mascots, editorial illustration, children’s content, or game and app characters. We can work within your brand’s visual style or help establish a new character direction during the session.