ZBrush as a Character Design Tool - ZBrush Creature Design: Creating Dynamic Concept Imagery for Film and Games - page 20

Shape Language
When I talk about shape language I am referring to how the shapes of a character relate when broken
down into their simplest forms. It can also be called shape relationships. Most characters can be resolved to
spheres, ovoids, boxes, or cylinders. Look at these shapes and observe how they are stacked in space. Are
the proportions between them appealing? Do the relative sizes change or are they consistent? It is usually
best to try for variation ( Figure 1-19 ) .
The concept of shape language is often found in graphic design. By “shape language” I mean the type of
shapes you use and how they relate to one another. For example, are you using predominately ovoid shapes
and are they contrasted with a more rectangular shape? This represents a use of contrast in your shape lan-
guage. Alternately, you could compose a creature of predominantly a single kind of shape. The image in
Figure 1-20 , for example, represents an alien head composed entirely of ovoid forms. This approach can be
a bit dull because there is no sense of contrast or tension beyond the variation in size and rotation of the
ovoid shapes. Adding contrasting angled shapes creates a different and interesting shape relationship. You
have contrast between the ovoid forms and the angular forms ( Figure 1-21 ). You can see this in practice in
Figure 1-22 .
Figure 1-19: Basic shape relationships and interlocking of forms in a character