Good vs bad design

Good vs. bad character design: Tips and tricks

May 20, 2020

Professional industry artists Brent Noll and Maximus Pauson, of the popular YouTube channel BaM Animation break down good and bad character designs using the three fundamentals of clarity: silhouette, palette, and exaggeration. Characters that are clear in these three principles are easily recognizable in any art style.

BAM character design clarity

In the informative and entertaining video below, Brent and Maximus examine iconic characters and redraw user-submitted works to demonstrate how making a few simple tweaks to a character can make a big improvement in visual communication.

Learn how shape language, color language and exaggeration relate to character design and see how you can make improvements in your own characters. Need more help? Submit your own original art to BaM animation and perhaps they’ll feature it in an upcoming episode.

About BaM Animation

Brent Noll and Maximus Pauson are artists working in the television animation industry, Together they have worked at most of the major studios. And they want you to send them your own original art so they we can feature it on their show. Learn more on their YouTube channel, on Brent Noll’s website, or on Maximus Pauson’s website.

Related posts:

How to draw more diverse body types

How to draw more diverse body types

How to use Wacom pen pressure for photo retouching in Adobe Photoshop, with Colin Smith

How to use Wacom pen pressure for photo retouching in Adobe Photoshop, with Colin Smith

July 30, 2024: How to create a visual autobiography in Adobe Photoshop

July 30, 2024: How to create a visual autobiography in Adobe Photoshop

July 25, 2024: How to design interesting shapes and objects with Kirk Wallace

July 25, 2024: How to design interesting shapes and objects with Kirk Wallace

Connect with Wacom on social media

#TBT to when @doughism took us #backtoschool 🍎✏️🗒️
#wacom #madewithwacom #wacombacktoschool #digitalpainting #characterdesign
112 1
Let's break down the character design process with @_jocelynshort tomorrow during Wacom Creativity Camp! Jocelyn is a fantasy, sci-fi and horror genre artist working in comics, video games and films. It's gonna be a fun-filled session, so don't miss it! Sign up for camp through the link in the bio ☝️
#wacomcreativitycamp #wacomedu #wacomforeducation #digitalart #characterdesign #madewithwacom
76 0
We were so excited to talk with Tomotaka Shibayama, director of the anime film My Oni Girl, currently available on Netflix 🎬💫

Join us while we chat with Tomotaka Shibayama about the display he used during the production, Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 ✍️

#MyOniGirl #CintiqPro16
94 0
We hope you channel the power and energy in this beautiful @wenjun.lin creation ☁️🌬️⁣
#madewithwacom #Digital2D #Illustration #Anime #Manga #CharacterDesign⁣
583 2
@dokomi_expo was a BLAST ❤️ We are already missing the inspiring vibes from our Otaku community 💫

We really enjoyed meeting you and sharing thoughts at the event 😎

Now, here’s a question for the comments section: With what MANGA character will you swap jobs? 👇

#WacomAtDokomi #Domoki2024
168 2
Wacom Adventures with @lplucas 🥸☁️☁️☁️☁️⁣
Here are 3 ways to draw clouds as a pro artist in #ClipStudioPaint⁣
@clipstudioofficial @graphixly✌️⁣
#MadeWithWacom #DrawingTips #DigitalArt #illustration #artistsoninstagram #digitaldrawing #cloudart #WacomCreativityCamp
104119 185
Let's go "camping" with @lukeymcgarry this week at Wacom Creativity Camp! During this virtual campfire of sorts, Luke will walk us through his creative process, share art tips, talk about his favorite tools and shortcuts to make his comics, and tell us all about how to stay creative while also avoiding the sun this season. ☀️☀️☀️☀️
Join us July 11 at 4:30 PST. 
Sign up for camp through the link in bio ☝️
#wacomcreativitycamp #wacomedu #wacomforeducation #digitalart #freewebinar #madewithwacom
97 0
Learn to draw a manga page from scratch with @whytmanga during Wacom Creativity Camp on July 9th. Odunze will  show how to go from idea to execution, covering all necessary steps and a few special personal tips to save time and level up your game on Clip Studio Paint. 
Sign up for camp via the link in bio ☝️
#wacomcreativitycamp #wacomedu #wacomforeducation #digitalart #freewebinar #manga #madewithwacom
174 0
Artists when no one is watching. 🙈🥸⁣
Thank you @lplucas, for making us all feel seen. ⁣
#artistsofinstagram #artistlife
8886 141
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins
Error: Connected account for the user wacom does not have permission to use this feed type.