I wanted to talk a little about the thought process behind not giving the character 'bip' a face. It has a lot to do with Hello Kitty, more specifically the design of Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty is one of the world most well-known characters, despite there being very little to her design. Or so it may seem. Yes she has a simple, minimalist design, but this actually goes a long way towards her popularity. In this case, less is definitely more. The psychology behind the Hello Kitty design, and what has subsequently inspired the 'no face' attribute of bip, dictates that the less detail in a design, the easier it is for its audience to project their own feelings and identity onto it. To summarise, in the gaming world, fewer facial features or details could actually help a player to connect with the avatar on a deeper level. |
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23/11/2015 0 Comments Hello Kitty and Why 'bip' Has No Face.
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19/11/2015 0 Comments Character Design for GamesWhat is Character Design? Since characters are not just pulled out of nowhere by a magic wand, character designers are tasked with creating the visual concept of a new character, its traits and its background. The Process A well-designed character will be both well-defined and appealing, and therefore memorable and marketable. The character design process begins with research. In this stage, the designer must ask themselves how they might create a character that works for the game.
Let's take a look at this last question. What is the game's target audience? When designing the characters for the game 'Bip' (still in development), it was decided that the game would be marketed to both adults and children, and so it would be beneficial to have both art-driven and story-driven characters. [Creating story-driven characters will be covered in the post 'Character Development in Games'] Characters that are visually appealing to children and adults alike call for specific design considerations. For example, the aesthetics for the project 'Bip' are semi-realistic and somewhat stylised to avoid being too cartoony or too 'real'.
The proportions were designed to be childlike and its features are rounded. rather than angular, with the goal of creating a character that appears cute and innocent. The choice to use only two colours was made to achieve a minimal aesthetic, white was chosen to both mirror the cold, clinical environment of a robotics lab and to support the innocence and purity of the character itself. Red is used in this design to play on our basic psychological associations with this colour. Red is linked to warmth and excitement, it sparks an emotional reaction in us. However, red was also chosen here to represent our basic survival instincts, 'fight or flight' responses, and physical courage, all aspects of this character that are explored through the game's story Getting Feedback An important part of the design process is making sure you look for feedback from the most important people, the players. Your target audience especially. One of the reasons the studio decided to take early gameplay demos to exhibition and gaming events, was to identify factors of not only the game but also its characters that were most appealing to players, and aspects that could be improved, altered or scrapped completely. Reflecting on player feedback is extremely beneficial to the refinement of your designs and can help to shape the final details of your most important characters! Video games have immeasurable positive potential alongside to their entertainment value. Studies have consistently demonstrated that playing computer games can result in reduced reaction times, better hand-eye co-ordination and a rise in self-esteem for players. It is important to evaluate the extent that video game technology impacts childhood education. Since this type of technology has the ability to engage children in learning activities, there has been a sharp rise in the ‘edu-tainment’ industry. Evidence implies that essential skills may be reinforced by videogame technology, skills such as spatial awareness may improve greatly when playing video games. An article from PsychCentral discusses how video games that energize players and facilitate a positive mood could also enhance creativity (Nauert, 2008). The author also explains that research has found that players who were not highly energized and had a negative mood, registered the highest creativity, ““When you are highly aroused, the energy itself acts as a catalyst, and the happy mood acts as an encouragement. It is like being in a zone where you cannot be thrown off your game”. It is suggested that "a negative mood, especially when there is low arousal, brings a different kind of energy that makes a person more analytical, which is crucial to creativity as well." According to new research by Michigan State University, both boys and girls who play video games tend to be more creative. In a study of nearly 500 12 year olds, it was found that “the more kids played video games, the more creative they were in tasks such as drawing pictures and writing stories. In contrast, use of cell phones, the Internet and computers (other than for video games) was unrelated to creativity.”(Science Daily, 2011)Professor of Psychology, Linda Jackson, hopes that these findings will motivate game designers to identify the aspects of video game activity that are responsible for the creative effects. References: Science Daily (2011) Michigan State University. "Video game playing tied to creativity, research shows." [online] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102125355.htm Nauert, R. (2008) Video Games Can Aid Creativity. [online] http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/05/26/video-games-can-aid-creativity/2353.html |
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