When a piece of content or advertising is going to research, where it will become an animated piece, then Three Blind Mice will often be asked to help with the development of the characters.

Developing the characters is a crucial part of every story. Details are important for creating a good visual picture of the personality, as well as the role the character plays in any narrative. A strong narrative will develop characters to help the audience feel like they know them.

We are usually creating a character from scratch, so the more the client can tell us about them at the brief, the more credible they will be. The process tends to break down into three stages;

Firstly, we ask one (or maybe more) of our artists to draw sheets of very quick concept drawings, full of very rough ideas of how the character may look. We then review these with the client and narrow down our options, allowing us to pick one route to develop.

Secondly, the chosen artist refines the sketches of our defined character, working out particular characteristics and showing details of the face, views of the back and sides, as well as the front. Again, this will be reviewed with the client and any comments taken on board.

Lastly, we go to colour and produce a definitive series of colour images that show the character in its finished state.

If the character is to go through to a finished animation or illustration stage, Three Blind Mice is fortunate enough to be able to call upon the services of our sister company, jelly, who has a magnificent roster of character illustrators and animators. In this case, as a team we are able to carry the project through from concept to final delivery, post research, if required – job done!