Stylizing in Animation/Illustration:
Learning Character Development and Design by Mary Jane Begin
Archetypes:
Hero
Villain
Caretaker
Innocent
Ruler
Sage
Trickster
These are character tropes that can have influence on designs of characters. For example; a hero character would have a cleaner, symmetric design, whereas villains can appear more rough and disproportionate. These design stereotypes can be combined or even expanded upon to further incorporate the character's personality.
Motion:
Developing motion in characters from the beginning of design work towards the final animation style requires multiple studies revolving around your character form and personality. The illusion of of movement with design work can help you grasp how the character will eventually move when animating.
Carlos Grangel's work on Dreamwork's Spirit is a perfect example as he creates his studies based on real life reference to grasp the realistic movement of his subject. He would create simple sketches outlining the movement of the character whilst also doing detailed studies to get grasp of the character's structure. Once these designs are down he would then merge human emotion onto the design, creating a series of expression sketches.
Characters in sequence:
The key to a recognizable character is a consistent design throughout your sequences. This can be categorized by the character's colour palette and form. Creating a series of sketches of the character from multiple angles will give you more understanding of the character. After finalizing the design you must also establish how they would fit in their environment so their place in their world in also consistent.
Mary explains this best with her illustrations for the book "Little Mouse's Painting".
"For the main character, Little Mouse, I had to maintain her proportions and costume from scene to scene. No matter how large or small she appeared, so that the child reader would recognize her."
