Ladybug, Frog, House and DUCK! Designs

Gary Wilkinson

I'm at the start of developing a character for a new book and was looking for first impressions. For a little bit of background the character is a ladybug, who is smart, down to earth, young (but not too young). There isn't a great deal of her personality shown, so a lot will be based on what character design looks good for around an 8 year old reader.

Ladybugs smb.jpg

Nyrryl Cadiz

@Gary-Wilkinson this is a tough pick. Maybe 4 or 8?

LauraA

I rather like 4 as well. She has arms and legs so she can do human things, but she's also round and ladybug-ish enough. I like how the wings look sort of like a backpack. Plus I love those standing up pigtails! I think she would appeal to an 8-year old. Good luck!

Heather Boyd

@Gary-Wilkinson I am thinking the bugs with longer legs will suit your 8 year old reader better so 4, 8, 9, 10. Other than that I like 1 and 7. But out of the 4 older ones I like 8, 10.

kylebeaudette

5! So good! I'm designing a ladybug right now too, gonna be hard to not think of these beauties

Jacy13

@Gary-Wilkinson I think it comes down between 8 and 9 for me.

Lorna H

@Gary-Wilkinson - these are such gorgeous little ladybugs and all so different. Well done creating so many alternatives. My personal favourite was number 2 just from the fact it’s adorable but I did totally appreciate the good point @Heather-Boyd made that older kids may prefer an older looking bug. I liked bug 9 of the older looking ones from the point of view of her silhouette. Sorry if that’s unhelpful as we seem to all like different ones, I think that must be because they’re all awesome

Jeremy Ross

Cool designs @Gary-Wilkinson, I like 9 for the age market you described.

idid

They are so adorable! I love 2 most, because of its round shape, and personality reflected through this design, it also looks a bit unusual. It also fits well with your other works, since it is HUGGABLE!

3 and 4 look a bit like snails, since it has large body vs. small shell. Maybe it is just because you havent put color in there. As a person who loves organic shapes, 8, 9, 10 are cute but not for me. They should be appealing to many others people still. Nice job

Lize

I really like 4 or 5 for that description. 1, 2 and 3 seem to young to me, and 9 and 10 too old. 8 is fun, but a bit too human to clearly be a ladybug in my eyes. I feel expressive poses with 6 and 7 could get challenging.

K.Flagg

I like 8 and 9. I think 8 is very cute but the glasses on 9 automatically make her look smart. Glasses are a good way to automatically convey smart in a simple image. Maybe combine the two?

Matthew Oberdier

@Gary-Wilkinson #9 all day

Giuliana Pappalardo

I agree with the others, 4 suits the description. I fell in love with 5 and 7 tho

Gabby Correia

Love all your designs Gary! May favorites are 4 and 7

deborah Haagenson

My favorite is 7, but if you need it to look more human I also like 8. All of them are very cute!

Mara Price

@Gary-Wilkinson Hi I like 7 and 10. They are so expressive!
You could teach a character design class!

Asyas_illos

@Gary-Wilkinson wow they are all impressive! But I really like 4 and 9 the best! Good work!

Griffin McPherson

7 strikes me s the best design but I saw someone mention that it would be challenging for poses. You could convey a lot of "gesture" in the face though. I think it’s still a viable option. 4 or 8 would be good alternatives if you want to work with poses more but 8 should have more human like eyes to feel more relatable I think.

NessIllustration

@Gary-Wilkinson Wow these are all so cute, and such nice designs! My personal favorite is 7 but it looks too young for your target audience. 9 and 10 are better for an 8 year old target audience! 4 is also great but I think it's still a bit young, maybe more appropriate for a 6 year old.

Jeremiahbrown

@Gary Wilkinson For what it's worth my 8 year old likes 2, 6, and 7 (personally I really like 2). I love your profile image by the way.