Body Shape and language research Soft Shapes

Basics Shapes are a universal language throughout Humanity. Emotional response to shapes is such a basic part of the human experience, though cultures sometimes influence how shapes are preserved it is often only a minor influence. Circles are friendly, they have no sharp points and don’t have any sharp points that can poke you. Many young main characters are based on circles as they are appealing relatable to look at. They fall very comfortably into the underdog category, that is, they appear soft and illicit a sympathetic/empathetic response.

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Cuteness and potential Round things are cute, we associate round characters with babies. They also represent potential, Round things can moulded into other shapes. For example a young naive character may start as a rounded design but as the story progresses they are formed into another shape. The lion king is a prime example, While Simba is young he is round but as an adult he has formed into a character based on squares. This transformation almost never happens the other way around. Characters that have potential to grow are often more relatable and likeable. Sturdy characters offer less room for the audience to relate to them.

Silhouette and identification The silhouette is extremely important for the Design of a character. The audience must be able to recognise the character from silhouette alone. It can become confusing if there are more than one character that look too similar. Elsa and Anna’s silhouette are very similar. The designers make them identifiable through their colours. Though distinctive silhouette is very important Round characters do have a tendency to look same-y, they possess fewer defining edges than a sharp shaped characters.

Emotions and Personality Soft shaped characters will often be written with “softer” emotions. A rounder character may be more meek and naive, giving the impression that they are young and must be protected. Often these characters illicit a strong emotional response from the audience when something bad happens to them. That being said, not all round characters are weak willed. A large rounded character can be a imposing patriarch character, though they may appear or be approachable they still demonstrate the strength one may expect from a square character, the difference being strength and stability are the core aspects of a square character where as those attributes are a minor part of a rounded character.

Femininity and masculinity Feminine characters are typically, but not exclusively designed with more rounded shapes. The stereotypical feminine shapes, I.E. “Hourglass”, “apple”, “Orange” are all variants of the a circle. Masculine round body shapes are less diverse, it is rare that they are designed any other way than the “orange” shape. Rounded masculine characters are often either a strong figure or a joker. Their size is either that of authority or is mocked. However Rounded feminine characters can exhibit a wide range of emotions, though stereotypically the “Hourglass” would be vein, the “Apple” is strong and the “Orange” is shy and timid.

Size Size is a important factor when it comes to the preserved strength of a character. A small square character will still looks sturdy compared to a small rounded character. Where as a large round character can be very imposing. For example the Genie from Alladin is a soft rounded character but at times can be very imposing, where as the sultan from the same film is always small and never comes of as imposing. Alternately the monarch character Seen in the image to the right, is very imposing due to his size Regardless of his rounded figure.

Face Shape The face is almost its own entity. The shape of features can be (subjectively) more of an influence on the character’s personality than the body shape. For example, a round body with square facial features is imposing, where as a round character with a round face is welcoming.

Links Khan Academy – Shapes https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/pixar/storytelling/visual-language/v/video2 Intro to round shapes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbtoO6zFJ3o Secondary Shapes and Combining https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQXLrAG5IWk Pinterest board of face and body shapes https://www.pinterest.co.uk/toonsmith/character-design-body-and-face-shapes/?lp=true 20 Top Character design Tips http://www.creativebloq.com/character-design/tips-5132643 Creative Character Design Book https://books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=1136129812