Do you sometimes feel like your characters look really similar to each other, or just don’t know how to make their designs pop a little more? Well, don’t worry, there’s a lot of ways to overcome this feeling, and in this blog post, I’ll share one of them with you!
In Japanese, there is a word that is “Gijinka,” which can be translated by “anthropomorphism.” In other words, you create a human character based on non-human beings, or even based on things, such as concepts and objects. You can also even add accessories to your character to emphasise the features of the things they are based on.
Actually, the Japanese term mostly refers to manga and anime—you may already have seen some “Pokémon Gijinka,” which depict Pokémon if they were human characters—, but the idea it conveys can be applied to anything. I know that the actual concept of a Gijinka can seem a little “weird” when you are not used to it, but I find that the idea behind it is kinda inspiring!
Here is a list of different things you can take as a reference to create unique characters, as well as some examples that I thought illustrated these really nicely!
Animals
One of the most common may be to create a character based on an animal. More than an animal with human features (standing on two legs, wearing clothes, talking…), it is a human with an animal’s features. Need an example that illustrates it pretty well? Cruelly de Vil! If you look at the colours used to create her design (black and white mostly), and her coat, it is obvious that though she is not a Dalmatian turned into a human—this is not a “Gijinka” strictly speaking—, her design is based on a Dalmatian. Also, we can note how the character is really thin and tall, just like the dog is.
You could also create a character based on a bird. Take an owl, for example—you could create a character wearing a big fur coat, they could also look severe, so you could give them a frown. Finally, most owls are nocturnal animals, so you could decide to represent this character only in scenes taking place at night as well. See where I’m going?
You can take every single element of an animal into account, and turn it into one of your character’s features.
Flowers and plants
Flowers and plants can also be a great source of inspiration when creating a character. A sunflower-based character could be a tall black girl wearing a yellow dress and smiling—this is what comes to my mind when I think of that flower.
Some flowers could also inspire shy-looking characters, maybe even a bit fragile, while some plants, like carnivorous ones, could, on the other hand, inspire a more creepy character that would be great as a villain! It is all up to you!
Mushrooms
It feels like mushrooms are super trending right now, with the cottagecore aesthetic mostly. I think mushrooms are really nice to create fantasy-inspired characters. Also, there are literally so many types of mushrooms that you could even create a whole collection of mushy-inspired characters, and they would all look different! Once again, all you have to do is to be creative!
Foods and drinks
This one is quite common too if you look at existing Gijinka. If you feel uninspired when creating a character, just think about your favourite dish and try to create your character using colours and other features of it! Spaghetti would look really good as long, blond hair, an avocado could inspire a strong-looking green-ish character, a pineapple could be a summer dress, and a cocktail with lots of colours could become a pretty mermaid!
Once again, there are infinite options, all you have to do is choose one—or even several—and be creative!
Weather
What would a rainy day look like if it were a character? And a clear night full of sky? How about a stormy weather? Would you rather represent a angry little boy in a messy bedroom, or a rockstar full of energy and playing the electric guitar?
This foggy morning character is definitely one of my favourites! You can find some other characters inspired by weather on dogwoodfinch’s Instagram account, that are all really cute and inspiring.
Places
This one may be a bit harder, but creating a character inspired by a place could also be a good idea. A pine forest could, for instance, inspire you an old witch wearing a dirty cape, or with lots of moss on her hat. She could use a tree branch to walk, too, and maybe mostly have earthly tones. Or, as shown above, it could also be a child who would look a bit “wild,” with messy hair, and taking care of the forest animals.
On the opposite side, a field of flowers could represent a young lady with long hair, a flower crown and maybe a colourful dress. Or a mountain could be a very muscular woman wearing an armour and protecting her dearest friends behind her shield.
You could also take a country, or a place such as a desert, and create a character using traditional outfits (a kimono, a sari, a turban…).
A painting
We all have paintings that we love, and that may even inspire us when creating art. But have you ever tried to turn some of these into characters?
Van Gogh’s Starry Night might be one of my absolute favourites. The colours are fantastic, and I absolutely love the setting of this scene. Creating a character based on the colour palette of this painting, and adding some details that we find on it (stars ont their clothes…) could be a really interesting exercise!
Also, this can be a nice way to share with other people pieces that they might not know—these traditional paintings might not be appealing to everyone in the first place, but this could then be a way to gain some interest in them, and to take this as an opportunity to learn new things as well!
Zodiac signs
This one is also quite popular. Turning Zodiac signs into human characters can be a good idea, and if you want to have an extra fun, you can even check some “character traits” that are related to each sign!
Gemini, for instance, will be represented as twins, but then it’s up to you if you want to make one of them the “evil twin,” or if you want to do them really similar. Aquarius is often represented as a mermaid, Leo is quite often a black woman, etc.
Mythical creatures
Last but not least for this post, and it kinda joins the first idea—being animals—, you can create a character inspired by creatures from legends, myths, folklores, etc. If you take any single culture into account, you have infinite possibilities when it comes to choosing a creature.
Those that may come to mind in the first place are dragons—which will be different depending on their origins too—, unicorns or the Phoenix, but there are so many others as well!
You can think about the Japanese folklore with the Yokai, the Jewish one with Golems, the Greek mythology (with the Centaurus, Minotaur, Gorgons…), the Egyptian mythology (Griffin, Sphinx…), and there are still so many others that you can use as inspiration! It’s all about curiosity, and creativity!
You can take some features of these creatures (their colour scheme, their elements, their backstory, etc), and use them as an inspiration to create your own character too!
And this leads us to the end of this post!
I hope I was able to give you some ideas and maybe some inspiration as well. There are still so many things that you can use to create unique characters, and the ones I’m talking about here are just a few options among so many others!
Once again, the idea here is not necessarily to turn the animal, plant or anything you choose into a human character, but mostly to use some features of it to create an interesting and original design. I think this can be a really fun exercise that can teach you a lot of things, and that can also help you work on your creativity, as this forces you to find the important elements of your subject and incorporate them into your design, but in a different way.
Hoping to see you soon on the creative journey!
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