Yu Lee - character design
On this project my task was to make a cartoon character out of an animal chosen by me.
I chose Ili pika after some research on the internet:
The Ili pika (Ochotona iliensis) is a species of mammal in the family Ochotonidae, endemic to northwest China. After its discovery in 1983, it was not documented again until 2014. Its population is declining due to largely unknown causes, and it is currently considered to be endangered, with approximately less than 1,000 left.
After I gathered enough information about Ili pika I chose the best characteristics to create a cartoon:
- it's a rare, endangered species
- it is from China -> Chinese
- it is mostly a diurnal species, but may exhibit nocturnal activity -> here I got the idea for the double personality ( one alive at day and a different one alive at night)
- likes to hide in dark spaces -> here I got the idea that Yu Lee could be a hacker that hides from people and works at night
- it has rusty-red spots on forehead
- it can also be called magic rabbit
Basically, Yu Lee is a young redheaded Chinese (rare) that has a shy personality and spends his daily life as a loner. Nonetheless, he hides a big secret that even he is not aware of: At night, he is a fearless professional hacker.
Here is the 2D illustration of Yu Lee:
- Yu Lee - 3D version - modelled and rendered in Autodesk Maya -
I also had to make a pixel art version of it, perfect for mobile games or any other digital application.
My last task was to make a logo out of the same animal. I thought about making a connection between the company and the animal so the final result is a logo made for a retro pick-up company. Nowadays the pick-ups are rare to find, the same as Ili pika which is an endangered species. The name of the company also has a word play between the machine and the animal. ( Ili pika - Ili pick-up)
Here's the logo:
Mexericano - character design
Another task that I had during university was to make a character design of one of my animation classmates. The character had to be made using Rick and Morty cartoon style along with the person's characteristics.
Here are some drawings made before the final result:
Hope you like it!
Thank you!
^^
