Influence of Art Style in Games on Animation Students’ Character Design

Video games, as widely accessible interactive media, present visual art that evokes emotions. Many animation students engage with video games as a hobby, potentially influencing their academic design work. This study examines the influence of video game art styles on character design, a core component of animation courses. This qualitative case study usedan open-ended online questionnaire distributed to 50 second-year animation major students enrolled in the 2023 academic year. The questionnaire contained 2 sections focusing on the students’ game experience and character design process. Identifying game art styles, categorized into 6: realistic, hyper-realistic, stylized, simplified, graphic, and fantastic style. Additionally, student was classifying as habitual, selective or diverse player based on their gaming experience. The students’ character designs were analyzed through 3 key elements: aesthetic, context understanding, and creativity. Of the 31 responses received, 20 provided valid data for analysis. Findings revealed that only 3 students' character design processes a direct influence from gaming art styles, suggesting a limited influence of art style on students' character design

Key Words: Game art styles, Character design, Creative influence