Character Design Bible

Maiko!
Character Design Bible
By

Alex Martin
UCA – Rochester – 2020/21
 Contents
Introduction 1
Influences 2
Characters 3
Concept Art 6
Gestures 10
Turnarounds 13
Props 16
Environment 17
Animation Layout 18
Storyboards 19
 Introduction
For this project we were tasked with creating a character/ characters based around a given
scenario and style. In my case I was given a Kaiju, Modern-Day Tokyo, Chibi Art Style (Friendly/
Fun Loving), and the scenario of ‘Party on, Kaiju!’ and ‘Big roar!’.

Not wanting to go down the traditional Kaiju route I opted for a more friendly and loveable Kaiju
character, which also worked in well with the given art style.

The narrative follows a young school girl sick of being told what to do by her father. By complete
accident, she awakens a Kaiju in a nearby forest with her violin and the pair instantly become
friends. The Kaiju loves to dance to her music, a little too much it seems as the pair make their
way through the city, a place not built to hold a giant creature.
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 Influences
My given art style is chibi. As this is something not too close to m own art style I had to find a
way to mesh the two together. I looked into original Kaiju designs and posters, as well as typical
chibi art pieces. Although the typical design is based on a acidic colour pallet, I decided to go for
more earthy tones to keep the character more friendly.

2
 Maiko (Kaiju)
Maiko is a loveable green creature from the outer lying forests of
Tokyo city. Although he is a Kaiju, Maiko is only young and his only
goal is to dance and play games. Maiko was given his nickname by
his best friend, Akari, who awoke him from a deep sleep after playing
an ancient song on her violin. Loud and with a great love of music,
Maiko can sometimes get a bit carried away and forget his enormous
size. He is incredibly clumsy and has been know to accidently crush
small buildings and cars, a good reason never to venture into the
city…

Maiko has a much softer a friendly appearance to make him seem

more loveable than the typical Kaiju

3
 Akari
Akari is the best friend of Maiko (whom she named
after her family pet cat). She is outgoing and vibrant,
although she excels at school she would rather be
anywhere else. Akari has a strong love of music,
especially the violin, however, there is lots of pressure
for her to succeed from her family, making it hard for
her to enjoy playing. After being grounded and stuck
at home, Akari came across an old piece of sheet music
which she practiced in the woods after sneaking away
from her family, only to discover a sleeping Kaiju…

Akira’s jacket in particular show’s her youth and joy,

using high saturation colours to show her personality
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 Dad
Akari’s father is a lawyer for Tokyo’s most prominent
law firm. He work’s long hours and find’s little time to
spend with his daughter. He has little love for his job
and the city and wishes he could spend his time with
Akira. He loves to listen to her play music and pushes
her to do better, sometimes too far. His recent late
work hours means he spends even less time with Akari
and his family agrees that he needs to make time to
have fun and not take everything so seriously…

Akari’s father design is low saturation and blue hues to

reflect the city and his low energy.

5
 In the early stages of design the kaiju took many different forms,
Early Kaiju Concepts all mashups of different creatures and animals which eventually
developed into something softer and cuter in keeping with the
chibi influence.

6
 Developed Kaiju Concepts

7
 Akari Concepts

8
 Dad Concepts

9
 Kaiju - Gesture Sheet

10
 Akari - Gesture Sheet

11
 Dad – Gesture Sheet

12
 Kaiju - Turnarounds

13
 Akari - Turnarounds

14
 Dad - Turnarounds

15
 Props
Akari’s Violin

16
 Environment Design
The location designs are a big contrast to the characters
themselves. Maiko the Kaiju is based off of earthy tones and
Japanese forests.

The city is the opposite, representing the

unfamiliar environment.

17
 Animation Layout

18
 Storyboard

Akari looks up to see a giant green creature emerge from the ground. Camera pans up from a low angle to see
the creature’s large antlers and huge eys.

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