The main objective of any company promoting its services and products on the market is to increase brand awareness. 3D character modeling for a company is the most effective and frequently used method for this.
The character complements the logo and color design of the brand, making it more recognizable. There are many examples where the creation of a 3D character allowed taking the brand to a new level, giving it the opportunity to gain a foothold in the market and increase customer loyalty.
Artland Design Studio accepts orders for the creation of 3D characters in realistic, cartoon and anime styles. We will also develop complex non-humanoid creatures with an asymmetric skeleton and complex anatomy, even an octopus-alien or an animated fun car for advertising. Appearance is limited only by your imagination.
We take into account where and for what purpose the model will be used. Therefore, you get a 100% suitable result. It is possible to order a model without sketches. Just describe the wishes for the appearance.
Animation of 3D characters and, in general, 3D design of characters is a complex and painstaking process that begins with the creation of the upper body – the head. Then the process gradually goes down, and at the initial stage, only a figurative body and abstract forms are drawn. The most difficult elements are limbs.
Sculpture modeling is used to create them – this is a real art direction that requires the necessary software. When creating a 3D model as an order, our specialists and designers perform projections with an incredibly large number of various small elements and also create as realistic images as possible in a three-dimensional projection.
Why 3D Character Design is important for your business?
Corporate heroes remain one of the most popular marketing tools. They help build or strengthen the relationship of the target audience with the brand.
If you are promoting a product for children, a friendly smiling creature as a company representative is a must. But the corporate hero as an element of corporate identity is needed not only for companies selling children’s products. For example, the corporate heroes of M&Ms are talking sweets, but their dialogues are likely to entertain adults as well.
Corporate heroes emphasize the main idea of the product, as well as customize the customer relationship with the company, bringing human qualities to branding. The advertising hero includes an emotional mechanism of influence.
This is not just an intermediary, but a moderator, initiator of communication between the product and the consumer, which makes the virtual world of advertising look like reality and brings it closer to the audience.
Examples of popular 3D Characters
An example of a successful character entry into the mind of a buyer is Santa Claus. The Coca-Cola Company, using drawings by the artist Heddon Sandblom, in 1931 presented the world of Santa in the image of his grandfather, dressed in red.
With it, the brand not only increased sales but also created in the minds of buyers a clear association of its drink with the New Year holidays. According to the book “Fast Food Nation,” Ronald MacDonald is the most recognizable among the fictional characters, excluding only Santa Claus.
The presence of a corporate hero is especially important if the product is considered difficult enough to understand or use. Insurance and financial services can seem like a rather confusing area in which there is no place for entertainment or cartoon characters.
MailChimp is a well-known email marketing tool that launched Freddie postman as a corporate hero. A monkey appears in the upper corner of the site to greet you and give useful tips.
The corporate hero here creates an emotional connection between the product user and the improvement in customer experience.
LinguaLeo became the first brand to decide through a character – a cute lion cub – to help people learn a foreign language. After all, new words are tangled jungles, and one cannot do without such a guide.
If it is serious, then even an adult client is much easier to make himself engaged (and it’s necessary to be engaged constantly), if a certain character constantly encourages, motivates and communicates with him.
Bibendum. The Michelin tire man is more than a hundred years old.
This character is ready to help the motorist, wherever he is! He is actively struggling with the troubles on the road, cares about the environment and worries about driving safety.
The examples above show that 3D characters are used for commercial purposes. But this is not the only area in which the use of a branded character is possible.
3Dcharacter design is not limited to the field of advertising, games, and films. 3D modeling and visualization are necessary for medicine, science, in the manufacture of products or their packaging, as well as in the creation of prototype products and volumetric animation.
3D Character design is required when an assessment of the features of the product is needed before it is created in its original size, material, and configuration.
3D Characters are also used in:
- sports
- culture
- social projects and in many other fields
Sports and cultural events can also use branded characters to attract public attention. For example, we can see this at the European football championships, as well as at the Olympics. For each of these activities, special characters are developed. Corporate identity of such events is perfectly combined with the look of the chosen heroes.
Why 3D Character Design is important in Games
It’s no secret that most modern computer games use 3D objects and characters. All of them are created as a result of the long and painstaking work of many specialists: programmers, artists, designers, art directors, and 3D-modelers. 3D modelers visualize and animate any three-dimensional objects in the digital space and are directly involved in the creation of characters for any game or movie.
Any character development for video games begins with an idea and concept.
In modern industry, the creation of concept-art, that is of a visual representation of a design, for example, for use in video games or animation, plays a huge role.
Currently, they are very closely related to the development of computer technology. Character is a fictional animated face, each character has a certain character, mood, unique appearance. In 3D modeling, characters are divided into two main groups: animation and static.
The difference between an animated character and a static character lies in the special construction of the character, thanks to which the work of animators will be facilitated. Usually, static characters have higher detail. 3D modeling of characters is the process of creating a virtual three-dimensional character model using special software.
3D-animation also allows you to revive, breathe the soul into 3D-models of characters.
The most significant advantages of 3D-characters are:
- realistic: using the 3D-model, you can achieve any level of detail;
- animation: the character is easy to control – he will perform any actions;
- ease of operation: programs allow you to change the model with a few clicks;
- visualization: three-dimensional computer model looks more impressive.
How to create a 3D character?
You can understand what features a character should have for successful use in both commercial and social advertising, as well as in gaming and in all other fields, after analyzing projects implemented by other brands. On the basis of the research, a corporate character is being developed.
- Challenge empathy with the target audience
First of all, the character should appeal to the people targeted by the advertisement. It should cause sympathy in the viewer so that a positive relationship arises that will provoke a desire to buy goods. - Uniqueness, the ability to stand out from the crowd
The second important condition that must be taken into account when it comes to creating 3D-models of characters is an extraordinary approach and memorability. The design of the character must be implemented in such a way that it causes a heated discussion in the network, the participants of which discuss how successful this video is. - The right-associative range
Working with any product, it is important to remember about creating an association. An excellent example of how this technique is used is M&M’s chocolate candy dots campaign. The main characters of the commercials released to promote this brand are two characters, Red and Yellow. They are presented in the form of large dots, also having a sweet shell and containing chocolate inside. On this subject, the characters often joke in their videos, which creates an excellent association in the eyes of the buyer.
We have brought only the basic qualities that are used when you need to create a 3D anime character. Depending on the information that should be conveyed to the viewer, other techniques, images, and solutions can also be used in the commercials: music, memorable phrases, and others.
Stages of 3D Character Design
The first three-dimensional advertising character was made in the 1960s by the agency Leo Burnett: Pillsbury Doughboy (Pillsbury Man) was developed for the Pillsbury company, which produces flour semi-finished products. Each brand has its own history, and for the development of the story and the plot, characters are needed who will become participants in the story and will create it.
Many people remember Uncle Ben’s signature character. The good-natured grandfather with dark skin and gray hair was pleasant to us smiling from the label of ketchup and instant rice. He remembered not because it was a successful marketing move of the mid-90s, but because it was one of the first advertisements that appeared on our TV.
Three-dimensional computer graphics has become an integral part of the majority of modern industries. Virtually every media product (presentation, video, animated video, computer game, film project, etc.) is created using the capabilities of three-dimensional graphics. Often, the main personages in such media products are characters.
They can be people, animals, plants, various creatures, appliances (for example, robots), and sometimes even objects that are not alive in the real world (for example, furniture, household appliances or electronic equipment).
Three-dimensional graphics allows you to breathe life into each of them thanks to the capabilities of three-dimensional animation. But before the animator makes the object “come to life”, it must be invented and made.
The development of a 3D character is a fascinating and interesting process that includes the following steps.
- Creating a corporate character
With the help of the technical assignment, the customer and the contractor fix the main technical points of their cooperation, and also discuss the idea of the project, the cost, and terms.
- Making a 3D character: analysis
To understand what solutions are already used in the market, the contractor collects information and analyzes projects implemented by other companies. This makes it possible to identify the target audience. The primary task in the development of a company character is to correctly identify the target audience.
At this stage, it is necessary to create a portrait of the consumer. Think about what qualities he has, what he expects from the products or services you offer. Before you start working on the visualization of the image of the advertising hero, you need to determine what kind it will be. The corporate character must comply with the concept of positioning, the unique selling proposition of the brand.
- Selection of references
The goal of the stage is a technical analysis of color solutions, textures, and shapes of objects used in competitors’ projects. It is used to find something unusual and extraordinary.
- Creation of concepts
After the steps described above, before creating a 3D anime character, our artist starts drawing several concepts. In the future, they will allow the customer to make a choice in favor of the most suitable. The concepts are sketches, in general terms, showing the character’s image.
- Corporate character and its adjustment
The concept chosen by the customer is being finalized: changes are made to it, transforming the character’s image so that it completely suits the client and meets the expectations of the target audience. Based on this concept, 3D characters are made to order (more precisely, their three-dimensional models).
- Visualization of a 3D character.
The final step in creating a character for a company is visualization – the imposition of color, textures, and lighting on the three-dimensional model of the corporate character. After that, the customer who is interested in 3D-characters to order receives images that are ready for use.