Week 1 — Character Concept, Story & Research

Story, purpose & visual research

Define who the character is, what they do, and what the design needs to communicate.

What will be covered

• Character role and story function

• Personality, motivation and key traits

• World, culture, environment and context

• Design requirements and constraints

• Cultural, historical, anatomical and visual research

• Building a focused reference library

Assignment

Create a character brief and focused research/reference board.

Output

Character brief + research/reference board

Week 2 — Visual Exploration & Ideation

Thumbnails, references & visual exploration

Use the research to start designing and explore many possible visual solutions.

What will be covered

• Fast thumbnailing and rapid iteration

• Shape-based exploration, shape manipulation

• Reference combination and manipulation

• Photo-bashing and paint-over

• Costume and prop ideas

• Colour and value exploration

• Broad silhouette and proportion exploration

• Push ideas quickly before worrying about polish

Assignment

Create a broad set of character explorations and identify the strongest design directions.

Output

Exploration sheet showing multiple design directions

Week 3 — Character Design Development & Problem Solving

Shape, proportion & design problem-solving

Select the strongest direction and solve the design rather than simply generating more ideas.

What will be covered

• Select the strongest visual direction

• Refine silhouette and shape language

• Resolve proportion and scale relationships

• Strengthen visual hierarchy and readability

• Clarify the major design shapes

• Test variations where a design problem remains

• Use targeted exploration techniques to solve specific problems

Assignment

Develop the strongest Week 2 direction into a coherent character design.

Output

Refined character design

Week 4 — Costume, Props & Design Language

Costume, props & material language

Build the character's world and personality through what they wear, carry and interact with.

What will be covered

• Costume structure and hierarchy

• Props and accessories

• Materials and surface language

• Function and believability

• How costume supports silhouette

• How props reinforce story and personality

• Balancing primary, secondary and tertiary details

Assignment

Develop the costume and key props around the chosen character.

Output

Costume and prop development + updated character design

Week 5 — Design Refinement & Finalization

Refine, simplify & finalize the design

Rsolve the design as a whole, remove noise and prepare it for rendering.

What will be covered

• Clean up proportions, shapes and construction

• Strengthen silhouette and readability

• Remove unnecessary details

• Check costume, props and material consistency

• Improve visual hierarchy

• Make final design decisions before rendering

Assignment

Bring the character to a final, production-ready design state.

Output

Finalized character design

Week 6 — Rendering & Material Language

Value, colour, light & materials

Use rendering to communicate the design, not simply to add detail.

What will be covered

• Value structure and focal hierarchy

• Colour relationships

• Lighting direction and mood

• Material separation

• Edge control

• Selective detail

• Painterly rendering while maintaining the strength of the underlying design

Assignment

Render the finalized character into a compelling finished illustration.

Output

Fully rendered character artwork

Week 7 — Character Presentation

Views, callouts & character presentation

How to communicate the design clearly to another artist, designer or viewer.

What will be covered

• Choose useful character views

• Key presentation or storytelling pose

• Design callouts

• Important costume and prop details

• Organize information clearly

• Create a presentation that supports the design rather than competing with it

Assignment

Build a professional character presentation around the finalized design.

Output

Character presentation sheet

Week 8 — Final Polish & Portfolio Presentation

Final polish & portfolio presentation

Bring the entire process together and focus on clarity, polish and presentation.

What will be covered

• Final visual polish

• Composition and hierarchy

• Consistency between design and final artwork

• Final critique and self-review

• Make the last high-value changes

• Present the project as a complete portfolio piece

Assignment

Complete and present the final character design project.

Output

Final character artwork + portfolio-ready presentation

*Please note. Even though we adhere to a week-by-week structure for our class program, the course’s structure is subject to modification in order to calibrate and optimize the class to the students’ needs. This is to always actively work on the best possible knowledge channeling for our students.

- The unique opportunity to learn from the mistakes of your veteran instructor which took years to realize. Students get a serious head-start because of this.
- Art Guidance and unique opportunity to witness live demos in making by industry professional Kobe Sek.
-Fast Thumbnailing and generating ideas on the fly
-Shape language exercises
-Building your own references kit
-Fine tuning your toolset
- Mastering designing characters.
- Development of several high industry standard character designs ready to use in your portfolio.
- Understanding philosophy behind designing complex and original characters
- Creating "believable" characters.
- Taking on multiple variations thruhg studies and targeted stimulating tasks.
- Advanced 2D/3D techniques.
- Working on high-level concepts.

Dedication and passion for concept design and illustration.
Equipment – laptop or tablet and Photoshop or some other 2D graphics program (and knowledge of how to use it), 3D software (preferably Blender)
Motivation and discipline to fulfill homework.
Ability to speak and understand classes in English.