Initial research: gathering books and ideas for character design

As I am greatly interested in drawing characters, I decided that my project could go down the route of character exploration of some sort. I started off by taking a few books out of the library, one such being Digital Character Design and Painting by Don Seegmiller, published in 2003 by Jenifer Niles.

One point raised straight from the get-go is that "Some of these characters [in games] are so strong that they actually become cultural icons." (page 4) Seegmiller uses Frankenstein's monster and Lara Croft as examples of iconic characters. He also states that "nowadays, there is less and less room for our imagination to create unique images within our heads when we are presented with such visually stunning creations. More and more characters are so well designed that the images and ideas they convey are relatively the same regardless of each viewer's background." (page 5) This idea of there being so many creative ideas already out there is something I struggle with constantly, in that I find it very difficult to challenge my own creativity to create something that is entirely unique. I see so many rehashed designs over and over on art websites, and it unnerves me because I wonder when it will get to a point where it becomes really difficult to create something new and unique. However, it is of course still possible to do so, yet it is sometimes hard to find and is somewhat rare in games, in my opinion. I find myself taking just as much inspiration, or perhaps even more, from film than games. Particularly finding the works of H. R. Giger and Guillermo Del Toro inspiring. 

I feel that one possible question I could explore is "how to make an effective, or even iconic, character design", as it is something I have never done. I do so much portrait work that I tend to forget to flesh out the characters that I do design, and on top of that they are always influenced to a rather large degree by existing characters, pulling pieces from other artworks or fashion and piecing them together to form my design. Whilst I know this is not entirely a bad thing, I also know it does not result in completely unique designs from me. I definitely need to broaden my designs, and one way I can do this is by practicing and pushing myself further and experiment no matter the outcome, as perhaps fear of putting in the time and not appreciating the outcome may be something that holds me back. 

"Most of us just assume that because we can draw a dragon or an elf, we are character designers. After all, we have been drawing monsters, villains, soldiers, and heroes for as long as we can remember. The sad fact is, however, that artists, even good ones, are not necessarily good character designers." (page 6) This poses the question, what makes a good character designer. I hope to find out the answer to this question so that I can strengthen my designs and add to my existing skills and knowledge. In the book Seegmiller also addresses "What is good character design? For that  matter, what is character design? The art of character design is no more and no less than creating someone or something that, taken in the context of its environment, will elicit a belief, reaction, or expectation from the audience about the physical makeup, disposition, and personality of the creation." So it seems that character design needs to have a relationship with the audience, it has to be believable to that audience and evoke emotion of some kind in them.

Things to consider as can be seen on pages 9-12:

How will the character be used? 
This affects the level of detail needed, e.g. if the character is the centre of focus they will require more detail than a background character.

How will the character be displayed?
Considering the platform which the character will be presented, e.g. TV or games.

How close or distant the camera will be to the character.
This will affect the level of detail necessary.

The size of the character in relation to others.

Will the character be animated?

How many angles will the character be viewed from?

Who does the character need to appeal to visually?
The design of the character needs to be appropriate for the intended audience e.g. a character aimed at adults will be different from one aimed at children.

Can the character stand on its own design if taken out of its environment?
If so this will suggest that it is a strong character design.

Is the character's silhouette or profile readable on its own? 
 Again, this will suggest that the character design is strong.

Working within the platform's constraints.
For example, there was a time flowing hair or clothing was not possible to render in real time. To simplify a design, "look for the most basic general shapes that make up the character. Use the basic shapes that remain as the basis of your simplification process.

How the character will animate.