21-Draw-Illustrators-Guidebook-vol-2-ebook-(2021)

SIMPLIFICATION AND EXAGGERATION
Stylization can be broken down into two things: simplification
and exaggeration.
SIMPLIFICATION: WHAT IS IT AND
WHY USE IT?
Simplification means to take something
complex and break it down into more
basic or general parts. Simplifying an
idea into its most basic and pure form
makes that idea more memorable
and impactful. There’s a famous quote
that reads, “If you can’t explain it to a
six-year-old, you don’t understand it
yourself,” which is usually attributed to
Einstein. If you want your characters to
have an impact, you need to understand
the underlying theme or purpose of
their role in the story and be able to
communicate it effectively.
EXAGGERATION: WHAT IS IT AND
WHY USE IT?
To exaggerate means to emphasize or
call attention to specific details. You
could, for example, give a character
unusually large eyes to make them seem
in awe of the world around them. Or
make a character’s mouth exaggeratedly
small to suggest that the character is
soft spoken or shy. Creating a squareshaped
character that has the same
width and height can make a character
seem immovable or unopposable. There
are countless ways to exaggerate parts
of your character’s design.
To be an effective designer, you need to know how to use all the
tools available to you. Let’s look at a couple of different ways to use
stylization to say specific things about a character.
FUNDAMENTALS OF CHARACTER DESIGN
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