July 13, 2009

Character Design: Sifaka World Mascot

When 2A! started working on Sifaka World, we had to first start by thinking about how the characters would look. After all, it’s the great assortment of wildlife cartoon characters that really brings this MMO to life. Once we nailed the character style, we’d be able to design the rest of the world around it. So here is the very first character we tackled. He is a "Sifaka" named "Kintana" and he’s the official Sifaka World mascot.

Below are a few of the whacky designs I was playing around with. Of these, I really liked the top left and bottom right sketches.



Here are some of the various heads and faces I concocted. Starting from the top left, you can follow the progression to the final head on the bottom right. Sometimes you just have to keep sketching until you get something you’re happy with. Also, if I feel like I hit a road block, I jump around not only with colors, but also mediums (Flash, Sketchbook Pro, good old Pencil & Paper).



This next sheet is funny, because the client originally wanted more “realistic” proportions, which looks a bit whacky to me in hindsight. Luckily, we pitched them going with shorter, stubbier characters.



That brings us to the final mascot design below. I'm very happy with how this little guy turned out. He's definitely one of my favorite Sifaka World characters!



Don't forget to head over to www.sifakaworld.com to see this guy in action!


Copyright © Sifaka Productions, LLC


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