Introduction
Character design is developing ideas, sketching, outlining, and drawing made-up people or creatures, frequently from scratch. Their designers endowed these entities with distinctive personalities and traits, including their physical features, speaking patterns, gestures, and personalities. Model sheets, which enable designers to collaborate with other designers on character design, are used for a large portion of this work in the professional sectors. Scott McCloud uses character design to connect with the reader when explaining personal preference, style, and three essential qualities of comics, inner life, visual distinction, and expressive traits.
Discussion
Character design is imperative when showcasing personal references and style. Character reference entails the assessment that an individual gives people outside of work. Excellent examples of characters include teachers, volunteer leaders, religious workers, and pilots. Scott McCloud connects with the reader using character designs showcasing characters and style (McCloud 230). For example, the author draws a drug dealer villain by incorporating a burning cigarette in the character’s mouth. Additionally, this villain constitutes qualities that readers can familiarize themselves such as anger and power. Generally, Scott McCloud uses common aspects of people through character design, which the reader can quickly identify, improving their understanding.
Scott McCloud uses character design to show readers how a comic’s inner life can be expressed. While trying to explain how the inner life can be illustrated through drawing, Scott designs a character with their scalp agape. The skull’s opening shows that a comic’s inner life is vested in what they think and what gives them a reason to undertake actions. For this character design, the reader connects with the author as they hastily identify that something related to the mind is required to understand comics’ inner life. In another character design, Scott shows a character’s encounters by drawing multiple objects in the person’s mind (McCloud 235). These experiences and encounters help the reader to identify the individual’s history, making it easy to predict their actions in future situations. Generally, Scott uses character design by drawing objects that the reader can quickly identify for them to know the topic being discussed.
Character design is integral in illustrating the visual difference between comics. To show this disparity, Scott draws two individuals, one casually groomed and the other in official wear. The individual with casual attire has a cap on the side and shorts and branded t-shirts. On the other hand, the formerly groomed person has a suit, a briefcase, a tie, and black goggles. In this case, Scott wants the readers to understand the importance of the visual distinction between comics (McCloud 237). Therefore, he uses a character design of men’s wear to ensure that the reader relates and understands about differentiating comics in the work of art.
The last ability that Scott explains to the reader using character design is an expressive trait. These personalities entail those behaviors and speeches associated with a character in a play or art. Behaviors can be showcased through verbal or non-verbal cues. Scott draws a smiling face in this case, showing that the surface is happy. Additionally, Scott draws a character walking upright and boldly, indicating confidence (McCloud 238). These character designs help the reader appreciate the various behaviors of people, such as confidence and emotions like happiness in comics.
Conclusion
In conclusion, character design involves the creation of ideas through sketching, drawing, and detailing people and creatures in works of art. Scott McCloud uses character design to express personal reference and the three abilities of comic characters, which include expressive traits, inner life, and visual differences. The author draws a drug dealer and designs him in clothes that reflect his villain attitude. To show the intuitive life of the characters, the author draws a comic with an open skull. Lastly, the author demonstrates the visible disparity between characters by designing characters groomed officially and casually.
Work Cited
McCloud, Scott. Making Comics. Routledge, 2006.