TheImportanceofImmersiveCharacterandEnvironmentDesign
Many people today consider character design just one of many components of digital experiences. In some cases, it is even only considered for video games or comics.
However, character design is more than that, and the name says it all. It is DESIGN, a crucial element of a story that determines the narrative and experience of a viewer, reader, player, or user. It is meant to make interactions more familiar and help generate emotions and make immersion in the events easier.
The Importance of a Character
Character design is more than just a word; it encompasses everything related to design: the principles, the theory, and the execution. All that elevates things to a new level.
The created design must do more than merely appeal to the user: they must be able to identify with it, and beyond that, it must add value to the product. This is a significant challenge for any designer because we do not design for ourselves but to meet a set of requirements for both the product and the audience or end consumer.
One does not simply sit down, start scribbling, and immediately consider the result cool. Just like creating a consumer good, there are a number of variables to consider. Such as:
- Who is the end user?
- In what context will it be used?
- For what type of technology is the design being created?
You can create the biggest and most exciting experience, but if you do not invest the same time in creating the character that tells this story, it feels disjointed, rushed, and ultimately even mediocre.
The Importance of the Environment
The same applies to the design of the environment. The world in which the characters live is just as important as the characters themselves. This is the approach we also take at Demodern - the studio where I currently work as a 3D artist. Take, for example, our project "Sasu's Mystical Quest," an interactive gaming installation we developed for Royal Caribbean, where you control the character via an external balance board. Here, too, it was crucial to design not only the appropriate character design but also the dreamlike underwater worlds that shape the design of the various levels. Without these worlds, the game would not be nearly as intense.
Let's think further: What would Star Wars be without all the stories that exist in the expansive universe? With all these creatures and characters. Without the mesmerizing world(s) around them, the film would have also vanished into a galaxy far, far away. Classified as another story about people with extraordinary abilities.
Or what if "The Legend of Zelda" did not take place in "Hyrule" but on Earth? This game can be endlessly continued because, fundamentally, character and environment must be connected and thus drive the story forward as a whole.
As a product designer, I was taught that some of the many universal principles of design follow form, even function. Design is honest, it makes a product understandable, it is unobtrusive.
For these and many other reasons, one cannot approach character and environment design just on a whim or focus solely on aesthetics. It must be treated with the same (if not even more) dedication and attention to detail as any other important role in the overall experience.
The same now applies to the design of the world: What would all these characters be without a world that breathes life into them and fulfills their purpose? The relationship between both - the characters and the world - makes things interesting and brings the fun.
Enjoying the Creative Process
This is one of the reasons why I decided to change my career path and no longer focus on designing products like motorcycles, devices, and sports articles, but rather on video games and digital experiences.
It is a process, like any other project. There is an ideation phase, a conception phase, a prototyping phase, and a testing phase until you reach the final product; BUT, unlike ordinary consumer goods, imagination can run wild, like in the good old days of childhood. You can create worlds that do not exist in our reality, you can design creatures that no one else could ever imagine, you can defy the laws of physics, space, and time. The best part is that it all works and makes sense as long as you have a strong story and well-designed elements.
So, the next time you see a character in a movie, game, or book - remember that what you are superficially experiencing required a lot of hard work from multidisciplinary teams. Their ambitions lead to lovingly and dedicatedly placing a unique experience in your hands and filling you with the same passion. If a designer has then managed to make their audience fully immerse in these new characters and their worlds, they have achieved their goal. Enjoy!
- LEO