Character Design Research Articles

Innovative Research on the Integration of Boneless Chinese Painting Techniques and Commercial Comics Based on Big Data Analysis

Nationality is the world. A new type of comic theme with Chinese characteristics has become a new art form and popular trend, and is deeply loved by people. This article focuses on the development of Chinese comics and the needs of authors and customer groups, analyzes the development and creation of Chinese comics, and analyzes the advantages of introducing unique Chinese painting methods into comics from three perspectives: composition, coloring and character design, To bring the boneless technology of Chinese painting into comics, and at the same time, Chinese commercial comics use the Internet and other media to find more commercial cooperation to make Chinese comics and commercial comics more harmonious.

Masculine Pleasures as Normalized Practices: Character Design in the Video Game Industry

Scholars have extensively studied video game labor practices (e.g., Bulut, E. (2015). Glamor above, precarity below: Immaterial labor in the video game industry. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 32(3), 193-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2015.1047880 , Bulut, E. (2020). White masculinity, creative desires, and production ideology in video game development. Games and Culture, 16, 1555412020939873; Banks, J. (2013). Co-creating videogames. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing; Kerr, A. (2010). The culture of gamework. In M. Deuze (Ed), Managing Media Work (pp. 225-236). London: Sage; O’Donnell (2009). The everyday lives of video game developers: Experimentally understanding underlying systems/structures. Transformative Works and Cultures, 2. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2009.0073 , O’Donnell (2014). Developer’s dilemma: The secret world of videogame creators. Cambridge, MA: MIT press; Johnson, R. S. (2013). Toward greater production diversity. Games and Culture, 8(136), 136-160. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412013481848 , Johnson, R. (2014). Hiding in plain sight: Reproducing masculine culture at a video game studio. Communication, Culture & Critique, 7, 578-594. https://doi.org/10.1111/cccr.12023 ); yet, few have exclusively examined the process of character design (e.g., Srauy, S. (2017). Professional norms and race in the North American video game industry. Games and Culture, 14, 478-497. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412017708936 ). Using a grounded theory analysis of 19 interviews with games designers and developers, this work complements existing research with insights on how gender and gendered interactions, technologies, audiences, market logics, and corporate culture integrate and influence character design practices. We found that technological affordances (e.g., game engines and related software; see Whitson, J. R. (2018). Voodoo software and boundary objects in game development: How developers collaborate and conflict with game engines and art tools. New Media & Society, 20, 2315-2332) converged with the masculine, heteronormative identities of game developers to shape normalized valued practices for character design, resulting in formulaic tropes that generally appealed to a masculine audience. Changes in status quo character design were attributed to diversity-conscious individuals, who operated within organizational practices privileging proven formulas over innovative designs.

ANALISA VISUAL DESAIN KARAKTER SERIAL ANIMASI “KUKU ROCK YOU”

<p><em>Nowadays, the influence of technological developments is increasingly rapid and widespread, especially in the creative industry. The cultivation of animated films is getting more serious, this can be seen from the maturity of the character design processing. One of them is </em><em>created by</em><em> Indonesian</em><em> </em><em>studio</em><em> film</em><em>, called “</em><em>Kuku Rock You</em><em>”</em><em>. This three-dimensional animated film won in the Asiagraph competition in 2008. This comedy genre film tells the story of a native chicken who is obsessed with becoming a rock singer with a funny and unique story.</em></p><p><em>The purpose of this research is to analyze the character design in the Kuku Rock You animated series. This research use holistic character design theory, so that the results of this research can be useful for animators or illustrators in creating a similar product.</em><em> </em><em>This research used qualitative methods that provide descriptive data about character designs that are theoretically capable of being iconic characters and are expected to be well received by the audience.</em><em> </em><em>The result of this research are a form of analysis of characters designs that exist in the Kuku Rock You series through a holistic character design theory approach</em><em>.</em></p>

Indonesia Kris Representation on Virtual YouTuber “Anya Melfissa” Visual Identity

The rapidly evolving motion capture technology has made it possible to solve online identity problems with the medium of moving character design known as Virtual YouTuber. Spontaneous reaction in Livestream media can make fictional character feels real through a virtual avatar. As such, anthropomorphism representation can be used and Anya Melfissa is a Virtual Youtuber whose moe anthropomorphism of Indonesia Keris. However, the visual identity of Indonesia Kris is hard to find by most people and the problem is interesting to study using the theory of semiotics, anthropomorphism, and kris visual identity. The method used to analyze Anya Melfissa’s character design will use visual text analysis to identify its visual elements such as icon, index, and symbol. The results of the analysis show that Anya Melfissa’s character design has a kris visual identity which is at the level of thirdness in Peirce’s semiotics theory. The conclusion obtained from the kris representation in Anya Melfissa’s character design is proven to exist and requires a deeper level of understanding of Indonesian kris itself.

Designing Anthropomorphic Cat Family Characters in 2D Animated Short Film “Hanyut"

Jakarta is often, if not regularly, being hit by a natural disaster in a form of floods. Floods have affected not only human but also domestic animals like cats, chickens, and pigeons, especially in Kampung Pulo. There are not many films out there that show the struggles and sufferings of animals during floods which is why author and team decided to make an animated film about it titled “Hanyut”; how are their conditions; how can they survive the events. In the scope of the film preproduction, author decided to focus on character design which is designing the cat family characters in the 2D animation film “Hanyut”. The designs will be limited on character designs for the cat family that consists of the mother cat and her two kittens. Although anthropomorphic, these cat characters can not talk and walk on 4 feet (quadrupedal), but have similar personalities and emotions as human beings. Moreover, the research design will be limited on the drawing style, basic shapes, body proportions, as well as hair and eye colors that will be used on the characters. Data collection for this qualitative research was done by literature reviews, on-site observations, observations on animation films, and surveys about the characters’ appearances to be used during the character designing process. By doing this research, the writer wants to create the cat family corresponding to the story plot and can attract people’s sympathy with the characters’ characterizations.

Depiction Heroic Animated Characters: Describing a Brief Process of Archetype Embodiment into a Genuine Nusantara -Inspired Content

The importance of characters in in animation has received much attention in research on digital content industries, as well as an important tool for acting in animation content. This article highlighted the importance of archetypes and attributes in the Nusantara-based character design. This includes the review of current trends and envisages the weaknesses of character design in animated films, along with recommendations to improve character design’s traits, parameter, silhouette, and suggested archetype. In conclusion, well-designed animated characters of Nusantara with strong resonance imply to increased audience satisfaction. Future research is recommended to elevate a good development of character design in contributing economic benefit for 600 million population in Southeast Asia in developing Nusantara digital content.

Finding “Appeal” Factors in Local Animation Character Design: Formalistic and Visual Semiotic Analysis (FVSA)

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui faktor ‘daya tarik’ dalam desain karakter animasi lokal. ‘Daya tarik’ adalah salah satu dari 12 prinsip desain animasi dan sering dianggap ambigu. Untuk mencapai ‘daya tarik’, salah satu metode yang digunakan adalah Viewer’s Impression Words (VIW) yang merupakan modifikasi dari Kansei Words (KW). Metode ini menggabungkan teori formalistik dan semiotik visual untuk mencapai Viewer’s Impression Words (VIW), bagian penting dari Kansei Engineering. Hasil penelitian daripada ujikaji ini, dapat disimpulkan bahawa metod ini mampu untuk membantu peserta ujikaji memilih kata VIW yang sesuai seterusnya ke arah aktiviti selanjutnya iaitu proses prinsip longgar. Metode ini dilihat sebagai teknik baru untuk memperbaiki proses dalam memperoleh VIW atau Kansei Words untuk digunakan dalam latihan pengukuran untuk menemukan pengaruh (emosi) dalam memahami ‘daya tarik.’ Ini untuk mencapai prinsip longgar dalam desain karakter animasi lokal.Kata kunci: Kata Impressi Penonton, Desain Berasaskan Pengguna, Desain Karakter

Realization of interactive animation creation based on artificial intelligence technology

AbstractIn film and television animation works, animated characters are the soul and core of the work. The behavior, language expression, and emotional expression of animated characters play an important role in the expression of the animation theme and content. Aiming at the problem that the mobile animation system can only add and change actions for a single virtual character, and the characters cannot interact with each other, this paper analyzes the technical principles, technical characteristics, and application scope of human–computer interaction (HCI), taking sensors as the research object. An algorithm for separating the human body from the background environment in the depth image is proposed. Through the calculation of the depth value, the calculation results are compared, and the target human body and the background are effectively separated. In the depth data processing, the algorithm of judging the pixel offset value is used to identify the body part, and a sensor‐based HCI system is designed. The depth‐of‐field data map acquired by the sensor is used to identify human body parts and determine actions, thereby realizing HCI based on action recognition. Simulation test results show that the effective rate of the system is 80%, and the design of animated characters can be put into the visualization stage. Using the algorithm in this paper, the physical signs of the animated characters can be quickly identified, so that the next action of the animation can be more clearly captured. Has a certain practical value.

Development of a Positive Body Image Chatbot (KIT) With Young People and Parents/Carers: Qualitative Focus Group Study.

BackgroundBody image and eating disorders represent a significant public health concern; however, many affected individuals never access appropriate treatment. Conversational agents or chatbots reflect a unique opportunity to target those affected online by providing psychoeducation and coping skills, thus filling the gap in service provision.ObjectiveA world-first body image chatbot called “KIT” was designed. The aim of this study was to assess preliminary acceptability and feasibility via the collection of qualitative feedback from young people and parents/carers regarding the content, structure, and design of the chatbot, in accordance with an agile methodology strategy. The chatbot was developed in collaboration with Australia’s national eating disorder support organization, the Butterfly Foundation.MethodsA conversation decision tree was designed that offered psychoeducational information on body image and eating disorders, as well as evidence-based coping strategies. A version of KIT was built as a research prototype to deliver these conversations. Six focus groups were conducted using online semistructured interviews to seek feedback on the KIT prototype. This included four groups of people seeking help for themselves (n=17; age 13-18 years) and two groups of parents/carers (n=8; age 46-57 years). Participants provided feedback on the cartoon chatbot character design, as well as the content, structure, and design of the chatbot webchat.ResultsThematic analyses identified the following three main themes from the six focus groups: (1) chatbot character and design, (2) content presentation, and (3) flow. Overall, the participants provided positive feedback regarding KIT, with both young people and parents/carers generally providing similar reflections. The participants approved of KIT’s character and engagement. Specific suggestions were made regarding the brevity and tone to increase KIT’s interactivity.ConclusionsFocus groups provided overall positive qualitative feedback regarding the content, structure, and design of the body image chatbot. Incorporating the feedback of lived experience from both individuals and parents/carers allowed the refinement of KIT in the development phase as per an iterative agile methodology. Further research is required to evaluate KIT’s efficacy.

A Study of Japanese Campus Girl Animation Characters

As one of the most popular types of animation, the success of Japanese campus girl animation is closely related to the character setting that meets the aesthetic needs of the audience. The closed character of the core character is the general feature of Japanese campus girl animation works in character design. The specific expression of the closed character changes with the development of the times. This kind of works can be roughly divided into salvation of each other's relationship between classmates, friendship between teachers and students, and family relations to be remedied. It reflects the ideal psychological needs of girls in seeking pure friendship, yearning for good love, pursuing women's rights, longing for equality between teachers and students, and hoping for family love. There are also some shortcomings in Japanese campus girl animation works, such as paying too much attention to the hero's emotional development, ignoring the pressure of their entrance to school or employment, and so on. It is necessary to further analyze and summarize the rules, so as to learn from and innovate in the creation of Chinese girl animation works.

Application of Physiognomy for Comic Character Development in “Menjelajah Negeri Rempah” Comic

This research aimed to document the journey of character development in ‘Menjelajah Negeri Rempah’ comic with physiognomy studies. Indonesia was known as a maritime country that had emerged as one of the largest producers of spices in the last centuries. Unfortunately, younger generations of Indonesia lacked the knowledge of spices. This was one of the reasons why young Indonesians were less concerned with the existence of spices. Several things had been done by the government to socialize the glory of spices in the past so that spices would return to their glory in the future. The researchers who were involved in the teaching and learning process in the Visual Communication Design department wished to take part in this effort through comics to help the government spread knowledge to the younger generation through visual languages they liked without appearing patronizing. In creating this comic, one of the priorities was in the development of characters, which needed to be designed in such a way so that the characters were more easily recognized, and the stories came alive. To strengthen the character, it applied physiognomy in the development of the character designs contained in the comic. It used the design thinking process as a continuously applied design method in this character creation development. It consisted of define, research, ideation, prototype, select, implementation, and learn. This research results are in the form of the comic ‘Menjelajah Negeri Rempah’, which aims to introduce Spice Route as this country’s potential instead of the more famous Silk Road. The result of this research still requires additional data, considering that in the process of making comics, apart from building a relatable character, a strong story is also needed.

How the Visual Design of Video Game Antagonists Affects Perception of Morality

The visual design of antagonists—typically thought of as “bad guys”—is crucial for game design. Antagonists are key to providing the backdrop to a game's setting and motivating a player's actions. The visual representation of antagonists is important because it affects player expectations about the character's personality and potential actions. Particularly important is how players perceive an antagonist's morality. For example, an antagonist appearing disloyal might foreshadow betrayal; a character who looks cruel suggests that tough fights are ahead; or, a player might be surprised when a friendly looking character attacks them. Today, the art of designing character morality is informed by archetypal elements, existing characters, and the artist's own background. However, little work has provided insight into how an antagonist's appearance can lead players to make moral judgments. Using Mechanical Turk, we collected participant ratings on a stimulus image set of 105 antagonists from popular video games. The results of our work provide insights into how the visual attributes of antagonists can influence judgments of character morality. Our findings provide a valuable new lens for understanding and deepening an important aspect of game design. Our results can be used to help ensure that a particular character design has the best chance to be universally seen as “evil,” or to help create more complex and conflicted emotional experiences through carefully designed characters that do not appear to be bad. Our research extends current research practices that seek to build an understanding of game design and provides exciting new directions for exploring how design and aesthetic practices can be better studied and supported.

Art toy as a tool for engaging the global public on the city of Surabaya

Art toys, often called designer toys, are three-dimensional figures of hybrid and stylised characters that are reproduced and commonly customised in limited quantities and sold among segmented hobbyists and collectors. Within this niche, however, there is an unexplored territory of art toy character design that is based on a city’s symbols. Such is the case with the city emblem of Surabaya, Indonesia, which already has the iconic images of a shark and a crocodile (Suro and Boyo). As Surabaya continuously focuses on its image, art toys based on the city’s symbols prove to be a potential platform and asset for engaging the public towards the city. If aligned and integrated well with tourism activities, licensing, branding, and various marketing communication media, it is a prospective resource and intellectual property for the city’s public diplomacy in local and global settings. This article traces and conveys the design process and investigates the possibilities and concerns of designing and promoting an art toy platform character named Subo, based on Surabaya’s city symbol.

The influence of modern trends in digital art on the content of training in computer graphics and digital design

The development of digital technologies leads to a variety of pictorial arts. With the advent of computer technology and communication technologies, areas such as computer graphics, computer and digital design, and phenomena such as digital art have emerged. The article analyzes these concepts, which provided an opportunity for further study. Based on the analysis of Internet resources on digital art, the following main trends are identified: virtual art, 3D printing, open source software, art of artificial intelligence, a combination of 2D animation and modern technologies, 3D painting, UX / UI design, game design, concept art and character design. Examples of reflection these tendencies in modern art are given. Given the selected trends, it is shown how they affect the content of training in computer graphics and digital design for students of the educational program "Digital Design" (list of compulsory and optional educational components, the content of educational practice). It is noted that to successfully work with computer graphics, students need to master traditional knowledge of pictorial arts (the concept of composition, color, perspective, proportions, shadows) and the ability to use them to create digital products using computer programs (2D graphic editors and 3D graphics) and digital technology (graphics tablet, personal and personal computer, projection equipment, camera, devices for VR and AR reality, scanner and printer, including 3D scanner and 3D printer).

Application of Computer Graphic Technology in Animated Scene

Animated scene design directedly refers to other styling design besides character design, which plays extremely important role in animated films. Scenes usually vary with plots of story, highlighting atmosphere and style of animation. Therefore, design of animated scene conveys characteristics of both technology and art. This article illustrates the specific application of computer graphic technology in animated scene, featuring the animation, the man on the stage, made by self.

Manik angkeran storytelling based on android mobile tap gameplay

This research objective was to structure a presentation of a Balinese popular folk tale as an educational strategy through a mobile game with easy-to-play gameplay. This study had 3 (three) main objectives: (1) building the Manik Angkeran story, which is the famous folk tale circulating in Balinese society, Indonesia; (2) realizing the Manik Angkeran game that highlights Balinese characteristics; (3) implementing easy-to-play gameplay. In developing the original story of Manik Angkeran, the strategies carried out were: (1) building a new story with the main character, Manik Angkeran; (2) highlighting Balinese characteristics in character design, game background, and background music in fighting scenes; (3) chosing tap-mode game considering the simplicity and efficiency. The result of this study was Manik Angkeran Game with Tap Game genre based on Android. The game requires players to tap on the screen to move Manik Angkeran, with a mission to defeat the enemy/monster to collect gold coins (Pis Bolong Mas). Later, these coins can be used to buy building materials, which will be used to build dormitories (Pesraman). The test results using the BlackBox Testing method showed that the functionality of the navigation buttons and the entire functions of the game were running well as desired. For the results of testing the game on several different screen resolutions, showed that the display of this game was able to adjust on different screen resolutions and the image display remains sharp. This game was also capable to run on a minimum Android device v.3.0 HoneyComb, until the latest version at this time is v.9.0 Pie. Research disclosure starts with the Introduction, which reveals the background and purpose of the study. Furthermore, the discussion swooped over to the research method used. The process of pre-production, production to post-production was he model or technique used in making games. The results revealed the evaluation of the black box to test the readiness of the system.

Augmented Reality Character Topeng Malang Dewi as an Effort to Improve the Quality of Student Learning Media

The preservation of the cultural and artistic heritage of our ancestors is important for us to persevere as a species. The purpose of this research was to introduce Indonesian culture, especially Topeng Malang, to the Indonesian society, particularly the teenagers, using 3D character media, implemented through augmented reality. The study followed the development research method of Borg WR and Gall MD. 3D characters were designed using the low poly subdivision surface technique, with a minimum number of poly but maintaining the detail of the character. Based on the results of the data analysis, the following essential points were obtained: (1) The character design of the Topeng Malang adopted the figures of Dewi Sekartaji and Dewi Walangwati. (2) The character design of the Topeng Malang character represented the posture, nature, and characteristics of the style. The result of this design was the implementation of 3-dimensional masks and character transformation in augmented reality media. Based on the results and the questionnaires used by the author to gather users’ knowledge of the character shape of the augmented reality media of the mask, 49.3% of the responses were found to be very good and 46.4% good. These results certainly add to the positive values of utilizing the 3D character media as a medium to introduce Wayang Topeng Malangan.
 Keywords: Topeng Malang, 3D character model

Research on the Communication Effect of Intangible Cultural Heritage Cultural Symbols by the Game Character Design in 'King of Glory '： Focused on the ‘Guangdong Lion Dance’

Research on the Communication Effect of Intangible Cultural Heritage Cultural Symbols by the Game Character Design in 'King of Glory '： Focused on the ‘Guangdong Lion Dance’

The Relationship Between the Characteristics of Collaboration Character Design of Financial Cards and its Usage Intention-Based on the Mediation Effect of Brand Preference-

The Relationship Between the Characteristics of Collaboration Character Design of Financial Cards and its Usage Intention-Based on the Mediation Effect of Brand Preference-

Does avatar design in educational games promote a positive emotional experience among learners?

Virtual learning companions, such as avatars, have shown significant potential in assisting learners—particularly in the Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) condition. Since there are many avatar design approaches which can be utilized in DGBL, questions arise on which type of these are most preferred by learners. Mainly, in ensuring that the design promotes positive emotional experience throughout the learning process. This research has specifically explored the realism aspect of avatar design. In particular, we have found that moderate cartoon-like character designs can be more promising in promoting positive emotional experiences among viewers, in comparison to slightly realistic and overly exaggerated avatar designs.