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- Squares and rectangles. Squares and rectangles are among the most common geometric shapes that we are familiar with. Rectangles and squares indicate familiarity, comfort, security, and a sense of peace.
- Triangles. While squares and rectangles suggest a sense of stillness and calm, triangle shapes are dynamic in nature. In shape psychology, they are used to indicate adventure, intensity, or getting somewhere.
- Circles, ovals, and ellipses. The roundness of circles, ovals, and ellipses implies softness, flexibility, motion, and fluidity. These geometric shapes point to the idea of being on the move or that something is hard to pin down.
- Pentagons, hexagons, and octagons. There are plenty of shapes with more than four sides, but pentagons, hexagons, and octagons are among the most popular.
In this article, we explored theories of shape psychology, symbolic meanings of common shapes, techniques for visual hierarchy and flow, principles of harmony and tension, and real-world examples of using shapes for impact.
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Aug 29, 2024 · The psychology of shapes informs designers how different shapes influence human emotion. By using recognizable, familiar, and intuitive shapes, designers can create better user experiences and improve usability in their designs.
- Understanding Shape Language in Character Design
- What Is Shape Psychology
- What Are Different Types of Shapes in Design?
- How Do Geometric Shapes Affect The Psychology of The Characters?
- Impact of Shape Theory in Characters’ Personality Types
- Character Design Shapes in Games, What Is Beautiful Is Good!
- How Are Shape Characters Different in Some situations?
- How About Brand Characters?
- A Case Study About Shape Characters in Dream Farm Studios
- Most Common Questions About Shape Language
Shape Language is a concept used in art and 3D animationto communicate meaning based on shapes we are familiar with. When used in character design, shapes can tell a story, show personality, and illicit an emotional response in the viewer without using any words. David Colman, an Emmy winning character planner found in his studies that: Some design...
Another term for shape theory. Here, we’re mostly talking about the psychological impact of different geometrical shapes that correspond to a specific feeling. For example, the character “Anger” in Inside-Out is a rectangular type figure, which complements the short-tempered personality type of that character. Before we talk about shapes in charact...
Basically, there are 3 types of shapes that are usually used in the mainstream design: 1. Organic shapes: think about all the free-flowing and non-symmetrical shapes in nature; clouds, planets, earth, they’re all randomly formed and we call them organic. 2. Abstract shapes:when you combine the two other types of shapes without any specific goal or ...
shape language Circle
You probably have seen some chubby faces and wondered: “Isn’t that cute?” Well, there’s a reason for that. Circles and ovals are mostly used for friendly and outgoing faces. You can experiment with putting circular shapes in different parts of a character’s body, clothes, and hair to show the same warm feeling.
Shape language Square
Have you ever thought about the reason why square-faced people look more confident and inflexible? That’s because square-like shapes relate to straight vertical and horizontal lines that communicate strength, stability, and confidence. Squares can both be large and daunting or comforting and clumsy. They often depict steadfast characters who are dependable and are commonly used for superheroes.
Shape language Triangle
And finally, the evil shape! Triangles are the most dynamic of the three shapes we have mentioned so far. Bad guys and villains are often based upon dominant triangular concepts, as they appear malicious, sinister, and communicate with the most aggression. It is the circle’s most opposing shape and is often used for antagonists.
Up (2009) One of the main characters of Up, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, is the grumpy Carl: A stubborn old man who wants to stay put and has a generally solid and static manner that is much revealed in his square-like shape. Charles Muntz – the antagonist – has a much more angular concept as seen for example in his head, shoes, and cane. T...
By using shape language techniques and principles, we define the personality traits of a game character. The subtle details of the character’s face, for example, scars and pimples, make up the good and the evil characters in the world of video games. Take a look at the following image where two game characters face shapes are compared next to each ...
One might think that all characters in storyboard animationare made up of basic shapes like circles, squares, and triangles, but there are situations where we can mix all these shapes to create a character. Besides, circles, squares, and triangles don’t always mean one thing. There might be times when shapes are used to disguise the purpose or func...
As you saw previously, there are some universal rules you need to follow to make characters appealing. Likewise, in the world of advertising, the same rules apply to brand characters. If the character is not high quality in terms of design principles, then we shouldn’t expect our brand character to have a desirable marketing output and ROI. Learn m...
At our studio, we come across a lot of character design projects, some of which are already designed and need some tweaks and adjustments to get better recognition. Below is one example of a project in which the character shape language is not designed suitably for children. It’s a rule of thumb to use less triangular, square, and rough angles in t...
Now that you know everything about the most basic shapes in character design, let’s get to some related questions that people usually ask about this topic:
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Jul 6, 2021 · Shape psychology is defined as the influence a figure has on the viewer’s perception. It’s a lot like color psychology. This scientific study guides graphic designers and brands in selecting a figure to incorporate in their work. It helps reveal what shape will best embody the concept they’re going for.
Conveying character's personality is a crucial part of its design. Learn how shape, variance and size help artists create believable and breathing designs.
Sep 25, 2020 · Shapes have associations that can be used by a designer to set the mood and visualize a backstory. For example, shapes can be applied to typefaces, cartoon characters, compositions and logos. Triangles can be perceived as being edgy, defiant, powerful and having a purpose.
