Inspiring Examples of Good Character Design

It’s impossible to have a story without a character. This is the most important element that drives the plot forward, creates conflict and resolution. From literature to movies, cartoons, and branding, characters tell stories and become speakers of their authors, creators, and brands. This is why character creation is essential for a successful character to drive a great story and win the audience. Visual media has one main difference over text media and that is the benefit of good character design that the audiences can see.

This is why today we’ll look at some really good character design examples by creative artists and designers from all over the world.

Ready to get inspired? ✌️

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Our first example is of these amazing character designs for kid’s online channel TotoyKids that can easily rival the works of Pixar.

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Here we have a very adorable 80s sex symbol 3D character by Olivier Pautot.

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And a very cute nerdy broccoli with an epic afro rendered in Zbrush.

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This is a very cool female character design of a modern young girl walking her dog in the city.

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Three versions of the same character in a very modern detailed flat style. The character has a realistic body structure, however, the creator still keeps the rule for exaggerated upper body strength that we often see in cartoons.

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Here’s an example of a modern character design in a trendy flat style. That’s one very fashionable quirky teenager.

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When it comes to designing kids as characters, proportions are very important. There are certain guidelines when it comes to the head-body ratio and the size of the eyes in comparison to the nose and mouth. This little girl is an example of a well-designed kid character.

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Lovely anthropomorphic 3D mascot character of an elephant for a kid’s program.

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Expressions are also very important when you create your character as they make them interesting, relatable, and attractive. This Eskimo is pretty articulate and expressive when showing his annoyance, fear, anger, and confusion.

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The next design offers some amazing poses of a kitty. Cats are the kings of the Internet, of course, they get to be made into characters.

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Following is a lovely food delivery guy in all their glory, descending from the heavens to deliver food to the hungry quarantined people.

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This is some top character design example when it comes to playing around with shapes and proportions. We have a chaotic little unicorn that is fun and adorable, and also has a golden tooth.

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A memorable design of a pig butcher who doesn’t seem very friendly to humans. I’m not asking what the burgers in the kitchen are made of.

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This goofy punk character only looks scary. The goofy face and body proportions give them a very tough but sweet vibe.

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More trendy 3D character design, this time speakers of a recruitment agency. The worker, employer, and headhunter are looking pretty professional with their simple shapes and clean design.

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And last, here’s a really adorable character design of a T-Rex brand mascot ideal for presentations.

We hope you got inspired by these 16 amazing character design examples. If you’d like to see some more, why not check out the full article and enjoy all 100+ Really Good Character Design Examples Proving that Everything Can Become a Character.