How to Create Memorable Characters

Five tips for designing unique protagonists for your stories

Sociedad Fantasma (@sociedadfantasma) is an animation and illustration studio, comprising Carlos Rupit, Gabriel Pichardo and Lizeth Rodríguez. They create wonderful stories through illustration and animation and have worked with clients such as Netflix, Gatorade, Google, and Nike.

Their characters are one of the main pillars in each of their stories; they bring great substance to the plots and make the worlds they create all the more magical. While they’ve designed so many different characters, they all share characteristics that make them stand out. Here, Sociedad Fantasma shares their secret to creating memorable characters.

Sociedad Fantasma has identified five key qualities that make an animated character a success:

1) Paranormal: Taking your character away from the mundane, whisking them away from day-to-day life always makes them more interesting. Don’t try to replicate normality. Break down this barrier to better connect with people.

2) Deep: Each character should have their reasons for existing–they come from a certain place; they have their own tastes. These are things that maybe you won’t see in the final animation, but they help when designing the character.

3) Planned: You should know what you’re going to animate, what you’re going to do, and what you’re expecting of your character inside out. Recognize your limits so you can work out where you can take your character.

4) Replicable: A character is similar to a brand. It should be convincing, specific, and memorable. You can create them using basic shapes so that you remember them, so much so that you can draw them from memory.

5) Relatability: Develop your characters to have strong personalities, individuality, and relatability. Think of Gokú’s hair or Finn the Human’s hat–they are iconic features that draw attention.

Sociedad Fantasma teaches the course, Animated Micro-Stories with After Effects, in which you will discover key tips for good storytelling, and creating 2D characters and animation with After Effects’. They also teach, Design of Animated Stickers for Social Networks, in which you’ll learn to create your own animated stickers in Adobe Animate.

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