As my postgraduate studies gradually come to an end, thinking about my future plans has become an important matter for me. This blog will document my recent industry involvement and the honors I have received. It will also analyze the potential career opportunities in relation to the current internet landscape, as well as how these experiences contribute to strengthening my personal portfolio.
In January this year, I took part in the “Dream Illustration Festival” character design competition held by the Chinese server of Sky: Children of the Light, and won the “Dream Light” award. This was my first time trying to submit a character design to a big game company’s competition. It was also an important step for me to better understand what the industry needs and what kind of designs players like.
Sky: Children of the Light is a social adventure game developed by the independent game company thatgamecompany. Its art style and emotional expression are unique and creative, which has made it very popular among players. The game’s publisher in mainland China is NetEase Games, one of the leading game companies in the country, known for its strong influence in the industry.
The “Dream Illustration Festival” was a character and costume design event co-hosted by TGC and NetEase. This kind of large-scale creative activity, organized by major companies and open to the player community, not only highlights the artistic side of character design, but also tested my ability to match the game’s visual style and understand what players like.
So I took part in this event in January 2025. The theme was “Chinese style,” and I needed to create my design based on the game’s existing art style. I had many ideas, such as paper-cutting, pandas…. But in the end, I decided to go with a less common cultural direction — the traditional style of one of China’s ethnic minorities: Tibetan style
First I did a lot of research, including Tibetan culture and clothing, the themes chosen by other participants, and the art style preferences of Sky: Children of the Light. I also collected many reference images to support my design process.
During the official competition period, like other participants, I chose to share my work on different social media platforms to gain more visibility. At the same time, I created several illustrations and animations of the character’s outfit to make it look more complete. This also helped me gain support and appreciation from many people.
After putting in a lot of effort, I finally earned the “Dream Light” award. While celebrating this honor, I also reflected on my near-future career plans and added this achievement to my resume. This experience was a test of my skills in character design, online promotion, and aesthetic sense, and I gained a lot of growth from it.
By taking part in the Dream Illustration Festival, I improved my ability to show a character’s personality and worldview using simple visuals. I also learned more about what styles and needs are popular in the industry right now. When putting together my portfolio and planning my career, I began paying more attention to how to make characters interesting through visual stories and how to use animation to make them feel alive.
Besides animation jobs, I’m also very interested in character design work. In my free time, I practice designing characters and take commission work online. So I have about four years of experience in character design, plus experience from competitions. I really like character design, so it’s an important choice when I think about my career.
In recent years, with the growth of the internet and the rise of mobile entertainment, young users have become the main group in internet and gaming. They expect characters to be relatable, unique, and culturally meaningful. Characters need to have qualities like “shareability,” “storytelling,” and “interactivity” from the start. Many game companies need character designers, and animation as a way to show characters in action, plays an important role in making characters feel alive to the audience. Animation can also be the next step in the development of character design.
In the future, I hope to keep developing in character animation or character design, especially exploring how to express “storytelling characters” in indie games or animated films. I plan to keep taking part in industry competitions and events. I also manage several social media platforms to help prepare for future job applications.
Reference
- 《Creative Character Design for Games and Animation》,Jenny Harder, CRC Press, 2022