Colour Theory & Shape Language

The next task was to learn about Colour Theory and Shape Language through character design. We were tasked with creating our own character which showed how we understand Colour Theory and Shape Language.

Approach

For my character design, I set out to create a character which appeared to be wealthy and also used a triangle as the main shape of their body, to suggest that they are a character which are not to be trusted. For a character to appear that they are wealthy I chose the colour purple to represent this. The reason being that in Colour Psychology, purple suggests that a character is of royalty and wealth. In the character design I also included the colours gold, black, green, red and blue. I believe each of these colours contributed to the wealthy aspect of the character, as well as the characters solid gold walking stick which also suggests they are wealthy.

Inspiration

For the appearance of the character, the main inspiration was drawn from a character in the video game Spartan: Total Warrior (Creative Assembly, 2005). The character ‘Aelius Sejanus’ wore subtle purple clothing on his body, and this gave me inspiration for my character design. However, the colour purple is much more prominent in my character design.

Skills Learned

Whilst creating this character, I had learned that different characters have different shapes as their body shapes. With each shape suggesting how a characters personality may be like. For example, a character with a square as their main shape may have a strong, and tough personality. Whereas, a character with a circle as their main body shape may have a bubbly personality, and the circle may suggest they are a soft and caring character. Moreover, a character with a triangle as their main shape could suggest that this character is not to be trusted, or they are an intimidating character. I also learned how Colour Psychology plays a part in the symbolism of a characters appearance. For example, a character with the primary colour as blue would suggest that this character can be trusted and caring. Conversely, a character with their primary colour as red would suggest that this character is dangerous and plays an evil part in the story.

Improvement

To improve this piece, I believe I could have added more shading to the character. On the characters torso, there are pockets which have been decreased in colour value. However, they are not shaded. I would include the shading on the characters hat, neck, arms and legs to portray a light source coming from a direction. Additionally, I would include more details onto the characters clothes. Such as, a pocket watch in one of their top pockets, more pockets on their trousers and laces on their boots.

References

Creative Assembly (2005) Spartan: Total Warrior [Video game]. Activision, Sega: England.

Below is my character design and silhouette for Colour Theory and Shape Language.