My favorite example of vehicle design is from Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5. In the show itself, it is stated that the character's vehicles are tailored to their personalities and preferences, giving each a unique feel and function. Each vehicle fulfills a different role and is useful in different scenarios. I freaking loved that show as a kid.
As a car nerd myself, I can respect your opinions about supercars. I always liked more affordable performance cars with more distinct identities, like the Mazda Miata, Mini Cooper, Volvo 240, and older pony cars. But as a writer and as someone who wants to get into automotive design, I really enjoyed this video!
Thanks for watching everyone! This video was due out yesterday at our normal time, but you can thank my Internet Service Provider for having less than 3MBPs upload speeds. If you could comment or do those typical engagement things to help counteract the Saturday morning death slot release time, I would greatly appreciate it!
Really interesting points, and that is the most friend-shaped truck I've seen, super neat! I've always loved Akira Toriyama's vehicle designs and their rounded shapes; especially the quirky Dragon Ball ones, they have such a distinct aesthetic.
@@CharacterDesignForge It’s still going to this day, more so than some of the other cult classic car themed shows like Motorcity, given the collectible nature of the Hot Wheels brand.
@@CharacterDesignForge It’s a pretty uncommon topic that I finally see discussed. The aforementioned Motorcity, a cult classic Disney cartoon that aired for ONE season like Acceleracers, might be up your alley when it comes to vehicle designs that represent the characters.
Akira Toriyama, especially in his earlier works, has some of my favorite car and motorcycle designs. They're always so rounded and chunky but still feel practical, and I love that sensibility and balance. Unrelated but "catcalling a Lamborghini" had me on the floor dhdhfhdh
The Busy World of Richard Scarry has a variety of quirky and whimsical vehicles. Nothing like seeing a worm driving an apple-car to set the tone 🙂. On a different note, it's interesting to see that star ships are often designed to look aerodynamic for visual appeal, even though there's no air in space (eg: Star Destroyers).
TBF, i like cars, but not specifically the flashy supercars. i like those that was designed to go fast, like, owning one and they tell you're a real car lover and not just a big show-off. Dodge Viper, for instance, is one with a lot to tell. Biggest engine in a production sports car, no sorts of safety electronic devices, only doors, tyres, steering wheel, pedals, and windshield. this was never a fast car compared to the likes of supercars (specifically nowadays, this thing was beating porsches and corvettes in every conceivable ways), but it was one for the absolute thrills of driving, and any slight mistakes would make the car punishes you for it. And for the bare mechanic of the Viper, it was assumed to be first assembled in a barn. And i'm surprised that you worked with race cars back then. would be such a dream for me. Also, i got into the acceleracers series quite some times ago. apparently, Mattel has decided to kill off the project since it did not have enough fund for both the toys and the show (as it also owns some more brands like Barbie). This fate would also ties to Hot Wheels Battle Force 5, which also stars Vert Wheeler as the protagonist of the show, which was killed off in 2 seasons.
Just finished the video. "Masterpiece" comes to mind. As someone that actually really loves cars, I 1000% agree with your opinion that the "underdog", imperfect cars are way more interesting than perfect, flashy supercars. If you go on Instagram for example, you'll see the usual Lambos and Ferraris and Porsches everywhere on accounts dedicated to cars. It's actually common for really dedicated car fans to enjoy older and/or more typical or "underpowered" cars over the same 20 or so supercars reposted constantly. Congrats Brookes, you're far more qualified to be a car enthusiast than most "car guys" 😂♥
The perfect, idyllic even, car model for me personally? Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. Its fuel system is eco friendly, and the design is so indisputably aerodynamic. Aside from a few aesthetic changes, this model has stayed relatively the same since its conception in 1979. As it should. No changes needed. Perfect car. 10/10
Looking forward to this. A characters or communities mode of transport can say alot about the vibe of them or the setting as a whole. Theres also many incredibly iconic car designs that i personally associate alot of nostalgia with like the one many know our VW beetle herby or more me specific the shelby cobra that i always used to use in a ps1 racing game on looks alone
This is great, makes a lot of sense and something I always had a struggle with is making sense of car design and fitting cars or vehicles in my stories.
Kept wondering if you were going to mention Firefly, since the whole show is named after the specific ship. XD Really interesting video, I don't think about vehicles often! I'm working on medieval fantasy style stuff but even boats and carts can have personality!
Maybe if I’d put them in the thumbnail 😆 Thanks! I wish it could have done well. My ISP wouldnt let me get it out on time yesterday so it had to go up in the death slot.
character design + vehicle design = Transformers character design :) but seriously, i think that a Transformers character's vehicle form has to match their personality, in a way
I wholeheartedly agree, with transformers, you're designing 2 core subjects at once, the character and their vehicle mode. They don't just have/drive their vehicle they ARE the vehicles, they TRANSFORM into them, something which is lost on some TF artists (Notably half the fan artists and some offical TF artists) So it pains me whenever I see a "transformer" design that has virtually little to no vehicle mode parts on the design or it's hidden away like they're ashamed of it for some reason.
There's also another solution to character vehicle combo design, and that's a sentient vehicle, that is the kind you see in Pixar's Cars. A literal living vehicle with a face.
I love me some interesting vehicle designs! (Speaking of which, I'm surprised you didn't mention Metal Slug. Imo the eponymous tank is peak character design fir vehicles)
Usually I don't really know what to say when people say they're surprised I didnt talk about what they thought I would- in this case though, I generally am not too keen to show off uber military type stuff like Metal Slug in my videos- I do agree on the appeal of their designs, though!
@@CharacterDesignForge That's a fair point, yeah. Guess my surprise was more because it's one of the things I see most often in discussions on the subject. Definitely not meant to be a criticism, though, I loved seing more fresh examples!
I'm a pretty big fan of cars, and while super cars from the likes of Lamborghini and McLaren are definitely cool, my favorite cars are Japanese tuners from the 80's to the 2000's. They're still sporty looking but in contrast to more high end cars they are a lot more subtle in their styling, and often feel like blank canvases to be painted on, which fits the culture of those cars extremely well since they are very popular candidates for customization and modifications from performance parts to body kits and aero. It helps that brands like Toyota and Honda are known for their reliability, so they might not be the flashiest cars off the lot, but they can take a lot of use and abuse, or they can handle modifications to beef them up without too much fuss. I feel like those kinds of cars embody potential: they're humble sports cars meant to be affordable alternatives to more expensive out-of-the-box speed machines, but they can become something extraordinary based on how the owner wants to personalize their car. In that sense, a modified tuner car is an extension of the owner's personality. It's completely personal and unique. Also if it wasn't obvious by my love for Japanese cars, some of my favorite depictions of cars in animated media are from Initial D.
I own a little blue, convertible smart car, and I love her. When I first got her I would dream either that I accidentally dove/dropped her into deep water or that I could pick her up and carry her places. I can;t drive her in the snow because her clearance is too low but she has insanely high gas mileage. My car is best car. And while my car CAN go on the freeway I do not. That's terrifying. Over glorified roll cages don't need to be doing 75+ in crazy land traffic. Especially when the roll age is designed to come apart because.... convertible. The sheer amount of Character my car has next to all the family sedans is ridiculous. Bonus points for the grill being just mouth shaped enough to look either like she's smiling or grimacing, depending on lighting conditions!
I definitely find vehicle design a little dull, I've only found a few ways to liven it up. I do like Akira Toriyama's (DBZ creator) style to them, even though he doesn't use them in his usual work you can tell he like drawing them, he has fun loose style to them just adding some character to a lifeless object helps a lot.
Shout out to the cars in Gurren Lagann. In this world cars are only invented after the discovery of mechs, so they have little mech legs instead of wheels.
I want to design a plane for a character whom is an aviator. Guess by my profile image it shouldn't be hard to figure out for whom. I want it to be a fighter plane but I am on the fence if I should aim for something based on a more traditional fighter plane or a design like say a small plane modified in to a sort of fighter.
@@CharacterDesignForge Well it’s up to the manufacturer, because I am no mechanic or engineer dabbling in Astro physics.🤪 but I see what you are saying
I mostly draw characters, and like, you need to use anatomy to make the physics of a character believable. I try to avoid studying anatomy, because i have a friend who likes anatomy and realism a lot, and the way she draws her character designs, its like little sticks she copies and pastes together to form a pose, and it looks so stiff and i don’t want to make that. So my question, is what are the only necessary things artists need to know about anatomy, without making drawing/pose stiff, inflexible and not natural Things that apply to any character design, for example sonic, normal humans, kung fu panda etc.
So anatomy is very valuable to study, but in order for it to not look stiff, it needs to be supplemented with gesture! I talk about it on this channel all the time. :)
Another Acceleracers fan??????? Letsgooooooo It's always interesting to see how diferent media aproaches vehicle design, obviously HotWheels has it down already But diferent shows and games, like the Mach5 in Speed Racer (not to even mention the 2009 movie designs, those are amazing) Or how race games handle their vehicles, from Mario Kart, Crash Team Racing, to games like F-Zero And even the livery on cars are their own set of character design and give that much more personality to otherwise performance machines. Also, I'd like to recomend a show with very interesting vehicle design Oban Star Racer Really good mid-2000 series
Oh hey, grab a Biko plush before it's too late! www.makeship.com/products/biko-plush
Even as a character design artist, I can really see the love put into the designs for cars. I feel like they can be their own characters
My favorite example of vehicle design is from Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5. In the show itself, it is stated that the character's vehicles are tailored to their personalities and preferences, giving each a unique feel and function. Each vehicle fulfills a different role and is useful in different scenarios.
I freaking loved that show as a kid.
As a car nerd myself, I can respect your opinions about supercars. I always liked more affordable performance cars with more distinct identities, like the Mazda Miata, Mini Cooper, Volvo 240, and older pony cars. But as a writer and as someone who wants to get into automotive design, I really enjoyed this video!
Thanks for watching everyone! This video was due out yesterday at our normal time, but you can thank my Internet Service Provider for having less than 3MBPs upload speeds. If you could comment or do those typical engagement things to help counteract the Saturday morning death slot release time, I would greatly appreciate it!
OMG YES car design is super underrated in the art community tbh
Really interesting points, and that is the most friend-shaped truck I've seen, super neat! I've always loved Akira Toriyama's vehicle designs and their rounded shapes; especially the quirky Dragon Ball ones, they have such a distinct aesthetic.
Ooh, Toriyama vehicles are great too!
I never saw many episodes, but I was always a big fan of the creature-based vehicles of the Zoids series. All the moving parts fascinated me.
Ooh, definitely!
4:58 Dude, there’s an entire fandom on TH-cam and Reddit.
There are customs, theories, reviews, and more!
I have no doubt 😆
@@CharacterDesignForge It’s still going to this day, more so than some of the other cult classic car themed shows like Motorcity, given the collectible nature of the Hot Wheels brand.
@@wakspacific6928 great! What’d you think of the video?
@@CharacterDesignForge It’s a pretty uncommon topic that I finally see discussed.
The aforementioned Motorcity, a cult classic Disney cartoon that aired for ONE season like Acceleracers, might be up your alley when it comes to vehicle designs that represent the characters.
Akira Toriyama, especially in his earlier works, has some of my favorite car and motorcycle designs. They're always so rounded and chunky but still feel practical, and I love that sensibility and balance.
Unrelated but "catcalling a Lamborghini" had me on the floor dhdhfhdh
The Busy World of Richard Scarry has a variety of quirky and whimsical vehicles. Nothing like seeing a worm driving an apple-car to set the tone 🙂. On a different note, it's interesting to see that star ships are often designed to look aerodynamic for visual appeal, even though there's no air in space (eg: Star Destroyers).
A lot of Sci-Fi spacecraft have to double as aircraft.
I always have a soft spot for small and squashed cars I find them really cute
I still think Truck-kun is a great vehicle with character. Always so good at "transporting" protagonists to their destiny. ;)
😆 i was unfamiliar with this, thank you
TBF, i like cars, but not specifically the flashy supercars. i like those that was designed to go fast, like, owning one and they tell you're a real car lover and not just a big show-off. Dodge Viper, for instance, is one with a lot to tell. Biggest engine in a production sports car, no sorts of safety electronic devices, only doors, tyres, steering wheel, pedals, and windshield. this was never a fast car compared to the likes of supercars (specifically nowadays, this thing was beating porsches and corvettes in every conceivable ways), but it was one for the absolute thrills of driving, and any slight mistakes would make the car punishes you for it. And for the bare mechanic of the Viper, it was assumed to be first assembled in a barn.
And i'm surprised that you worked with race cars back then. would be such a dream for me.
Also, i got into the acceleracers series quite some times ago. apparently, Mattel has decided to kill off the project since it did not have enough fund for both the toys and the show (as it also owns some more brands like Barbie). This fate would also ties to Hot Wheels Battle Force 5, which also stars Vert Wheeler as the protagonist of the show, which was killed off in 2 seasons.
Finally someone else who remembers the Hot Wheels shows lmao. Those cars also did a great job of portraying their respective owners.
Just finished the video. "Masterpiece" comes to mind. As someone that actually really loves cars, I 1000% agree with your opinion that the "underdog", imperfect cars are way more interesting than perfect, flashy supercars. If you go on Instagram for example, you'll see the usual Lambos and Ferraris and Porsches everywhere on accounts dedicated to cars. It's actually common for really dedicated car fans to enjoy older and/or more typical or "underpowered" cars over the same 20 or so supercars reposted constantly. Congrats Brookes, you're far more qualified to be a car enthusiast than most "car guys" 😂♥
Hehe thank you so much!
@@CharacterDesignForge np dude! Keep up the awesome work I love your channel!!
Just realized roller skates are just cars for our feet.
The perfect, idyllic even, car model for me personally? Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. Its fuel system is eco friendly, and the design is so indisputably aerodynamic. Aside from a few aesthetic changes, this model has stayed relatively the same since its conception in 1979. As it should. No changes needed. Perfect car. 10/10
When its got eyes on the front 11/10
@@CharacterDesignForge Oh, most definitely!
Looking forward to this.
A characters or communities mode of transport can say alot about the vibe of them or the setting as a whole.
Theres also many incredibly iconic car designs that i personally associate alot of nostalgia with like the one many know our VW beetle herby or more me specific the shelby cobra that i always used to use in a ps1 racing game on looks alone
My favorite vehicle designs are ones that look a mix of modern and futuristic, whether it be cars, planes, etc.
This is great, makes a lot of sense and something I always had a struggle with is making sense of car design and fitting cars or vehicles in my stories.
*sets stones in a circle, lights some candles* may the algorithm bless this video
Rolling around at the speed of sound! Got places to go, gotta follow my rainbow!
The nostalgia!
Kept wondering if you were going to mention Firefly, since the whole show is named after the specific ship. XD Really interesting video, I don't think about vehicles often! I'm working on medieval fantasy style stuff but even boats and carts can have personality!
I also do not like cars. But i LOVE the character design examples you put in.
Excited!
This might be one of the most engaging videos of yours I've watched -- might it be the three design video cliches?
Maybe if I’d put them in the thumbnail 😆 Thanks! I wish it could have done well. My ISP wouldnt let me get it out on time yesterday so it had to go up in the death slot.
character design + vehicle design = Transformers character design :)
but seriously, i think that a Transformers character's vehicle form has to match their personality, in a way
I wholeheartedly agree, with transformers, you're designing 2 core subjects at once, the character and their vehicle mode. They don't just have/drive their vehicle they ARE the vehicles, they TRANSFORM into them, something which is lost on some TF artists (Notably half the fan artists and some offical TF artists)
So it pains me whenever I see a "transformer" design that has virtually little to no vehicle mode parts on the design or it's hidden away like they're ashamed of it for some reason.
There's also another solution to character vehicle combo design, and that's a sentient vehicle, that is the kind you see in Pixar's Cars. A literal living vehicle with a face.
The Bionicles movie ended with a tease to a sequel and I’ve been thinking about it ever since…
Which one?
This gonna be good!
Oh yeah!
I love me some interesting vehicle designs! (Speaking of which, I'm surprised you didn't mention Metal Slug. Imo the eponymous tank is peak character design fir vehicles)
Usually I don't really know what to say when people say they're surprised I didnt talk about what they thought I would- in this case though, I generally am not too keen to show off uber military type stuff like Metal Slug in my videos- I do agree on the appeal of their designs, though!
@@CharacterDesignForge That's a fair point, yeah. Guess my surprise was more because it's one of the things I see most often in discussions on the subject. Definitely not meant to be a criticism, though, I loved seing more fresh examples!
TYSM º^U^º I'm obsessed with making camper van houses at the moment; ur a big help!
I'm a pretty big fan of cars, and while super cars from the likes of Lamborghini and McLaren are definitely cool, my favorite cars are Japanese tuners from the 80's to the 2000's. They're still sporty looking but in contrast to more high end cars they are a lot more subtle in their styling, and often feel like blank canvases to be painted on, which fits the culture of those cars extremely well since they are very popular candidates for customization and modifications from performance parts to body kits and aero. It helps that brands like Toyota and Honda are known for their reliability, so they might not be the flashiest cars off the lot, but they can take a lot of use and abuse, or they can handle modifications to beef them up without too much fuss. I feel like those kinds of cars embody potential: they're humble sports cars meant to be affordable alternatives to more expensive out-of-the-box speed machines, but they can become something extraordinary based on how the owner wants to personalize their car. In that sense, a modified tuner car is an extension of the owner's personality. It's completely personal and unique.
Also if it wasn't obvious by my love for Japanese cars, some of my favorite depictions of cars in animated media are from Initial D.
Nice!
I own a little blue, convertible smart car, and I love her. When I first got her I would dream either that I accidentally dove/dropped her into deep water or that I could pick her up and carry her places. I can;t drive her in the snow because her clearance is too low but she has insanely high gas mileage.
My car is best car.
And while my car CAN go on the freeway I do not. That's terrifying. Over glorified roll cages don't need to be doing 75+ in crazy land traffic. Especially when the roll age is designed to come apart because.... convertible.
The sheer amount of Character my car has next to all the family sedans is ridiculous. Bonus points for the grill being just mouth shaped enough to look either like she's smiling or grimacing, depending on lighting conditions!
😂 love it!
Well Brooks, now that I’ve found you lets go find our third acceleracers fan
I definitely find vehicle design a little dull, I've only found a few ways to liven it up. I do like Akira Toriyama's (DBZ creator) style to them, even though he doesn't use them in his usual work you can tell he like drawing them, he has fun loose style to them just adding some character to a lifeless object helps a lot.
Agreed- It's really interesting how you can tell how an artist enjoys a subject matter by the way they draw it!
POSITIVE INTERACTION
Shout out to the cars in Gurren Lagann. In this world cars are only invented after the discovery of mechs, so they have little mech legs instead of wheels.
I want to design a plane for a character whom is an aviator. Guess by my profile image it shouldn't be hard to figure out for whom. I want it to be a fighter plane but I am on the fence if I should aim for something based on a more traditional fighter plane or a design like say a small plane modified in to a sort of fighter.
This video came out right when i started doing a vehicle concept lol thanks :)
Glad I could help!
Going speed of sound, or light? Maybe a vehicle that can create worm holes.
up to you to decide!
@@CharacterDesignForge Well it’s up to the manufacturer, because I am no mechanic or engineer dabbling in Astro physics.🤪 but I see what you are saying
akira toriyam also draw some really cool cars filled with character
someone else was saying that in these comments, definitely agree!
lol is there a redemption arc for the sleek vehicles?
I’m a bigger fan of square body trucks, tractors, and tanks, than I am a fan of cars. I just like the more practical, utilitarian vehicles.
For sure, I think that’s what I realized working through this vid!
Always exactly the stuff I need😂
Christ, the sneaky Tai reference... Lmao
I mostly draw characters, and like, you need to use anatomy to make the physics of a character believable. I try to avoid studying anatomy, because i have a friend who likes anatomy and realism a lot, and the way she draws her character designs, its like little sticks she copies and pastes together to form a pose, and it looks so stiff and i don’t want to make that.
So my question, is what are the only necessary things artists need to know about anatomy, without making drawing/pose stiff, inflexible and not natural
Things that apply to any character design, for example sonic, normal humans, kung fu panda etc.
So anatomy is very valuable to study, but in order for it to not look stiff, it needs to be supplemented with gesture! I talk about it on this channel all the time. :)
I hope you play F-Zero, because that would work perfectly for this video concept. Also, because it's neglected 😢Captain Falcon, my beloved.
Heck yeah!
Another Acceleracers fan??????? Letsgooooooo
It's always interesting to see how diferent media aproaches vehicle design, obviously HotWheels has it down already
But diferent shows and games, like the Mach5 in Speed Racer (not to even mention the 2009 movie designs, those are amazing)
Or how race games handle their vehicles, from Mario Kart, Crash Team Racing, to games like F-Zero
And even the livery on cars are their own set of character design and give that much more personality to otherwise performance machines.
Also, I'd like to recomend a show with very interesting vehicle design
Oban Star Racer
Really good mid-2000 series
Will have to check it out, thanks!
How did you learn blender? You make it look easy
I’ve been working in 3D for a loooooong time 😆 but speeding up footage helps too for making things look easy I think!
heck yea
Here's a comment for the algorithm! (Usually I'm too shy to comment... ^^') Always love your vidoes, Brookes, they really help me out!!
Thanks so much!!
Ah no problem!! :D
good video
Really great video! I still hate cars… but awesome video!
I don't like cars either, but somehow I'm good at drawing them.
CARacter Design Forge
I will not tolerate this Rubble slander
wait who's rubble?
Oh it's the little guy! I said I was out of my depth with that one- does he ever get in the firetruck?
@@CharacterDesignForge I don't know; I'm just as out of the loop on Paw Patrol as you are.
Cars are like kids in my opinion. I love mine to death, but the rest if them... meh.
Why does it look like your design is smiling🙂
Happiest car ever
Its funny because the bumper definitely looks like a smile now that I look at it as the mouth, while the grill is in anxiety
【ｐｒｏｍｏｓｍ】 😓
Hmm? What does this mean