A Visual Development Project
Like all of my projects, the heart of WILD is the characters. These three kids are where the story started for me, and now they will of you for you as well! Let’s meet them shall we?
Meet your Characters!
SAMM
Everything from her strong “ boxy” jawline to her triangular silhouette, is pointing to her inner strength. Samm is a tomboy, so her choice of clothing is very gender neutral. Her outfit is also heavily influenced by 90’s PNW fashion, and she wears a knitted beanie that belonged to her late father.
Tenacious, and full of childlike wonder, Samm is the headstrong “leader” of our Bigfoot obsessed Trio. Her love for the local legend, comes from the campfire stories that her dad told her when she was young. Bigfoot became a bonding topic for Samm and her Dad, and he promised to someday take her to find him. The fall after her father passed from cancer, Samm and her friends set out to find Bigfoot in honor of her dad.
AUGGIE
Auggie is a lovable, and loyal friend to Samm. His character design is meant to highlight his softness. Every edge on him is smoothed, and his self-presentation and body language shows he is a bit unsure of himself, and the world around him. His clothing nods to his inability to figure himself out. He's both trying to be cool (with the single ear-piercing, faded box-cut, off brand Jordans, and off brand Nike shorts) but still wears his “Tech is cool shirt” and carries his backpack with him everywhere. Auggie also shares the curiosity for the existence of Bigfoot, but he’s a little unsure about the journey ahead.
LENE
Lene is another long time friend of Samm. She holds the group together, and is the balance between Samm’s hard-headedness, and Auggie’s softness. Her design is also meant to be soft, but in a protective way. She is bigger than both Samm and Auggie, and stands as a nice contrast to the other two. She has a kind, and awkward teenage face, and hasn’t quite learned how to correctly tame her beautiful curly red hair. Lene is ready to go on the adventure, and protect Auggie, if she needs to.
THE FOOT FAMILY
When designing my Bigfoot, I loved the idea of giving him a family. Most of the time Bigfoot is only portrayed as a big hairy dude, so creating a little fur ball, a scrawny emo teenage Bigfoot, and a curvy Bigfoot was super fun. Check out the sketches at the bottom for some more explorations!
THE KIDS AND MR. FOOT
This was the first full piece I created for this project. The intent was to explore the overall mood and feel of the project through color and stylistic choices. I wanted the piece to have an intriguing, but uneasy feel to it. In the two color comps to the left, I felt that the color in the top piece delivered the mood I was going for.
Eulysses B. Foot
This is one of my first sketchbook pages for this project. I was exploring how I wanted MY Bigfoot to look. In the past, Bigfoot has been portrayed as both docile and aggressive. In pop culture we’ve seen the Sasquatch in Harry and the Hendersons , Missing Link, and even his cousin the Yeti, in the movie Smallfoot. In all of these versions, we have never seen a “civilized Bigfoot.” When I had the idea that Bigfoot worked a 9 to 5 that he didn’t like, and lived a similar life to that of Tim from Last Man Standing, I laughed and kept drawing. When I can make myself laugh in the middle of a project, I know something is going in the right direction.
Playing with shape was super fun when designing Bigfoot. I leaned heavily into the basics with mostly squares and triangles, to keep Eulysses looking strong like a Bigfoot.
MANY FOOTS
I thoroughly enjoyed exploring other members of the Bigfoot community. Here are just some examples of character exploration for town of bigfoot!
FUN FACT : My classmates helped me decide that the plural of Bigfoot is Bigfoot. Rather than Bigfoots or Bigfeet. What do you think?
EXPLORING THEIR WORLD
The Foot Family Home is based off of the different styles of homes here in the PNW. The biggest inspirations are a Northwestern Cabin, and Mid-Century Modern home.