During the second weeks class we were split into groups to discuss ideas for a world that we design over the coming weeks. I was put into group 1 alongside Amber, Danielle, James and Jordan.
Firstly, we had to come up with 100 world ideas that we could design. Then we began to choose what our main idea was going to be. We narrowed it down to two ideas:
- An apocalyptic wasteland that can be traversed using mirrors as portals.
- A tea VS coffee mafia story
Our group tried to combine the two ideas but it just became too confusing so we decided to settle on the tea and coffee mafia.
Next, our group started to scribble down some character designs and plot ideas.
Group Work
For homework, we were tasked to create some character designs for our world and 12 thumbnails of locations around our world.
Location Thumbnails
Character Designs
Initial Sketches
The first thing I did when designing these characters was to quickly sketch them down on a page and try to create a personality for them by only using their expressions and a small bit of body language.
I selected my favourite designs and sketched them with varying body types and heights; I wanted them all to have unique silhouettes.
Group Shot
I like all of their designs but I feel like Suga and Green Tea’s clothing doesn’t fit the gangster/ mafia theme of the world. In the future I would research more into the clothing worn in gangster movies.
China White
Sweet old lady who used to work in the tea mafia when she was younger. Seems frail but is fully capable of beating up someone if threatened. She works as a bakery owner. Protagonist enjoys buying tray bakes from Ms. White and chatting.
Green Tea
Crazy stoner flower child who will do anything for sugar. He is a teacup who often goes to the casino to visit Suga to get his daily dosage. Easily annoyed but warms to new people quickly as long as they don’t question the amount of sugar that he takes. Seems a bit crazy due to him always being high.
Suga
A kind woman who works at the bar in the casino as an apprentice to Cold Brew, the bartender. She sells a bit of sugar on the side to some of the patrons of the casino as a way of gaining a bit of extra money. She tends to be outgoing and sassy towards people, always referring to people as ‘Sugar.’ She usually remains level headed but when angry she has the tendency to slam peoples heads into tables.
Espresso
A short man with an even shorter temper. He usually pretends to be a young child to sneak into restricted areas that other people of the coffee mafia can’t enter. He also uses his appearance for his own personal gains like picking fights with people and then pretending to be a child to get the person in trouble.
Clear Mug
A spy for the coffee mafia that can slip by anyone undetected as long as he removes all of his clothes. He is completely invisible until it begins to rain hot water which fills him with liquid making him easier to see, ruining his stealth. He doesn’t talk much and tends to keep to himself but makes others uncomfortable by his lack of clothes.
References
This is some of the images that I gathered from the internet that inspired the character designs and the locations used in the thumbnails. I wanted the characters to look like they had just stepped out of a film noir/gangster film.
