Choosing a Character

Step 1:

The first step to this challenge is to choose a Character that this new game will be about. You can use an existing character from a video game series -or- make up a new video game with a Character that does not have her/his own game yet.

If you choose to make up a new video game series, the Character can come from a: Book, Short Story, Poem, Movie, Commercial, Cartoon, Song or Food (Cereal or Snack).

The Layout & The Title

Step 2:

After choosing a character, you will have to decide "What is your game about?" Is it a sequel in an existing series (Super Mario Brothers 1, 2, 3...) or a "brand new" game?

Next you have to plan and design what the cover is going to look like (this is also known as the cover's composition). Where will the main Character be on the cover, what will they be doing? What is going to take place behind them (the background)? What will the game be called (the title)?

You can do this step in you head or if it helps, sketch it out in a very rough form to see what it may look like before drawing the real design.

Drawing the Character

Step 3:

Now that you decided on a Character and a layout, you will have to draw her/him. Some of you will already know how to do this. You might need a picture (you can Google Search the Character) to look at to help you with some specific details (For example: you chose "Sonic the Hedgehog." You might need an example picture to see how long his spiky fur is on his head -and- the shape of his red sneakers).

Some of you will want help drawing the Character. You can use YouTube to do this. Search: "How to draw _____." In the "_____" blank space, type the Characters name that you want help with (for example: How to draw Scooby Doo).

The nice thing about "How to videos," you can draw along with the artist and pause the video when you need more time. This helps a lot of beginners feel more confident when drawing a Character for the first time.

Another tip: you could even try very specific searches like: How to draw Scooby Doo running, How to draw Sonic jumping.

The Background

Step 4:

After you draw the main Character(s) [you can have more than one main character if you like], you can lightly sketch out the rest of your cover. Make sure the video game cover includes: The Background and The Title. Sketch these out as lightly as possible, that way if you want to make some changes, you will be able to.

You may need some examples of background items for the scene and lettering styles for the title. You can use Google Search and YouTube for help with both of these. You can also use the skills that we practiced during the school year; we practiced both background techniques (size, scale and location) and lettering techniques (bubble lettering, dynamic letters, line thickness).

Details and Color

Step 5:

The final steps to this challenge is to add as many fine details to the design as you can -and- adding color (color is optional - using any materials that you have available to you).

Some students prefer to keep their designs black and white; they use ink pens or fine point Sharpies/markers to go over the lines and add some value (shading and line thickness). Some students shade (light to dark) various zones using just their pencil to do this. Other students prefer full color and some of those students, use a combination of all the above.