11 Character Design Challenges You Can Do Right Now!

Why take on Character Design Challenges?

Design challenges are an excellent way to develop new character designs without diving into the deep end of creating an entirely new character. You’ve worked hard to develop a great character design or two for your existing library, not every design opportunity needs to be a new character, though. Of course, they can be if you wish, but these character design challenges revolve around taking your existing OCs and putting a spin on them. It can be incredibly enlightening to experiment with a design you’re comfortable with.

Best of all, these challenges can incorporate many fundamental character design principles, such as shape, color, and posing. You can even tailor these design challenges to play into these principles. Exploring how your existing characters might look with dramatic changes helps flesh out your gallery on your character profile, too.

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Design Challenges

These 11 design challenges are meant to be applied to your existing OCs, but you can easily adjust them to your needs if you’re looking for new ideas. Most of these challenges can result in exciting alternate-universe versions of existing characters and might even spark an idea or two for stories. Remember that if you plan on spinning off these designs into something brand new, be sure to build great profiles to accompany the results.

And, like with our previous challenges post, we encourage you to share your creations with CharacterHub on social media.

11. JRPG Your Character Design Challenge

One game genre that has been quite distinct is the JRPG genre. Big swords, spikey hair, and an unusual number of belts are all tropes associated with the genre and make for a fun design challenge. Think back to your favorite PlayStation RPGs while considering those character design elements and apply them to your character.

For example, the aesthetics of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games provide plenty of inspiration for tackling such a design challenge. Or you can lean into more obscure JRPGs as well. The challenge is simple enough - try to draw your character evoking the style of a JRPG character.

For additional fun, don’t forget to give a little information about their class and abilities. Lean into the design inspiration and see if you can reflect those gameplay elements into your character’s appearance. You can always add those stats and attacks to your character’s profile on CharacterHub as well.

Rules

For this challenge, you need to do two things to get the most out of it:

1. Redesign your existing OC to play on JRPG design tropes.
2. Develop a game-style listing of stats, including special abilities and equipment, and include them in your character’s art gallery.

10. Spirit Animal or Fursona Character Design Challenge

Drawing parallels between humans and animals is something that has gone on for eons; as long as someone notices characteristics that remind one of an animal, the connection will be made. Leaning into this idea, you can challenge yourself to adapt your character design into a spirit animal form or even go full fursona. How might your character appear as a furry?

What animal best represents your character and why? What physical traits are exaggerated or subtly reflect the character traits of the animal? Use this design challenge to draw such an animal form that evokes your character. It’s a great chance to see how much of a character’s design and personality comes through, even in an animal form, be they anthropomorphic or fully feral.

Rules

The rules on this challenge are based on the route you wish to take, you can either:

1. Redesign an existing OC in animal form (non-anthropomorphic); or…
2. Redesign an existing OC in a furry (anthropomorphic) form.

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9. Date Night Character Design Challenge

How well does your character clean up? Do they seem like the sort who tries to make a good impression on a date? This character design challenge can be exciting because it is a rare opportunity to see characters physically express themselves in confidence and vulnerability. Do they seem comfortable in their date night clothes? Or do they stick to something a little more casual?

Drawing characters in outfits for relatively mundane events can be a great way to see how well your character’s traits shine through. Is your scruffy character still recognizable in a nice shirt with their hair combed? Or, do they come off as almost another person entirely? You may be surprised what happens when you adapt your character designs to wear date night fashions.

Rules

The rules of this design challenge are as follows:

1. Draw your existing OC in fashionable date attire.
2. Share the art and a brief dating profile paragraph about them as a social post on CharacterHub.

8. Age Progression/Regression Character Design Challenge

For many character creators we tend to have a primary age range our characters occupy when we design them. Usually, they often stay close to the same age they were designed around for quite a while. This is especially true of our more neglected OCs that have yet to develop further. What happens when we challenge ourselves to change things up and draw them as younger and older?

Sure, many creators have designed their characters around the idea that they age and will draw them at multiple ages. However, for those of us who have a character we haven’t done that with, this is a fun exercise. For example, it can lead to interesting character development options: does your character age fairly well, or do they shrivel up like a prune? And what about their youth? Did they go through a particularly dramatic growing-up process? Use this activity for some character concept art.

Rules

Your challenge this time features two options:

1. Draw your OC in a younger form, with their favorite toy; or…
2. Draw your OC in their older form, engaging in their favorite activity.

As always, sharing the results on CharacterHub is recommended. Don’t be afraid to flex your character design skills!

7. Alignment Swap Character Design Challenge

While not all of us consider character in terms of alignment, it can be a lot of fun to think about. Of course, we also aren’t limiting ourselves to simple concepts of good and evil. Consider the classic D&D alignment system. What would a chaotic neutral version of your OC even look like?

Where would you place your character, based on their current design? Now, consider placing them elsewhere on the chart. How might their look differ? Does their appearance come down to their countenance, or does their new alignment suggest an entirely new background with new features and fashion? Does your setting have distinct forces for good, evil, and in-between? What if your character is now part of a different organization? Does your character side with the light? If so, how might they appear when they embrace the darkness?

How exactly do you show the change of a character’s alignment in their design? That is the fun part of this character design challenge.

Rules

This is more of an abstract character design challenge with a lot of flexibility. For this challenge, you need to:

1. Illustrate your OC in a scenario that shows off their nature as based on their alignment.
2. Write a CharacterHub social post, in character, with their recollections of that scenario.

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6. Streamer Character Design Challenge

Picture this: Your OC is between adventures and they need something to do besides train. Why not turn to streaming? In this design challenge, imagine your OC has taken to pursuing online clout. They may be gaming on Twitch, making YouTube videos, or dancing on TikTok. How would your OC look living the streamer lifestyle?

This character design challenge can be pretty fun for characters from historical and fantasy settings, as you likely need to adapt them into modern fashion. Any opportunity to draw a character in new outfits is a great one. So, consider how your OC may entertain their fans, and revisit their look on those terms. There are some laughs to be had here, especially if your design can pack some references and in-jokes.

Rules

For this challenge, you have two tasks resulting in a two-panel comic.

1. Draw your OC in streamer mode, complete with their stream overlay and a displayed chat.
2. Draw your OC dealing with a troll in the chat.

Be sure to share your comic on CharacterHub as well!

5. Alternate Timeline Character Design Challenge

This design challenge takes you back to an important development in a character’s life. Imagine a key moment, such as meeting a mentor, getting with their true love, or a near miss of a dangerous experience. What happens when things go a different way for them and a new timeline is created? How might they change?

The fun of this challenge is to play with extremes and consider the lasting repercussions of that character’s experience. In particular, how does this different life lived change how they appear? It’s even wilder for characters who have died: what if they never did? What becomes of them? There is plenty of potential in this character design challenge, especially when you work out the character design process based on the inflection point.

Rules

This challenge will require drawing your OC twice.

1. Draw your OC from the alternate timeline.
2. Draw your OC from their original timeline, reacting to their alternate self.

4. Alternate Universe Character Design Challenge

Another fun character design challenge that revolves around rethinking the world surrounding the character is to consider the question of “what if?” For example, what if the character hails from a universe where they are reptilian? Or, what if there is a reality where they have orc ancestry? The sky is the limit here, so go as weird as you wish.

You can even use this as an opportunity to explore how your OC might appear in your favorite fandoms. For example, perhaps you love Star Trek. Have you ever wondered what uniform your character would wear? Or, maybe you’re a huge fan of Interview With a Vampire. How might your character appear as a 19th-century vampire?

The beauty of the alternate universe character design challenge is that you can explore how your character remains true in any setting or go the other way, emphasizing what changes about them.

Rules

This challenge is a relatively simple one.

1. Draw your OC in their alternate universe form.
2. Share the art in a social post with three (3) details about how they are different in this other universe.

3. Superhero Costume Design Challenge

This design challenge can be a lot of fun with a little randomness attached to it. For example, you can borrow a random choice among these 131 powers we covered in a previous article. With the power chosen, design an outfit for your character to highlight their powerset. What would be your approach to costume design in a superhero context?

Or, you could go the supervillain route. It really is up to you and what you wish to design. For example, do you want to play into your existing character’s personality, or do you want to do things a little differently? You can always be more selective with your power choice as well. For example, pick a power that emphasizes your character’s personality, and then do the same with the costume.

Rules

This might be the toughest of the challenges, despite it being number three on the countdown.

1. Gather your concept art in addition to your polished costume design and upload them into a social post.
2. Write a description of your thought process regarding your costume design for the character, including information on how you chose their power set.

2. Monstrosity Character Design Challenge

Take a walk on the wild side of character design with this challenge. What sort of monstrous characteristics would your character most likely exhibit? Would they be a werewolf, vampire, or an ogre? Is there a cultural connection between their monster form and their background? How might you turn a character into a monster and how does that affect their design?

The trick to this character design challenge is to retain an element of the OC’s original design, even in its monstrous form. Does that mean their eyes are the same? Or perhaps they retain a similar body shape, only with some added features like fur, horns, and claws? Of course, you can always go to extremes and exaggerate, or play with contrast against their original design. The results may even be worthy of a new character reference sheet.

Rules

This challenge can be a very fun one. It can be a little more involved compared to others on the list, however.

1. Include a moody drawing of your monstrous OC in a CharacterHub social post.
2. Write a flash fiction of 250 words describing an encounter with them.

1. Outfit Swap Character Design Challenge

Many of us have more than one character. Have you ever wondered what one character may look like in the outfit of another character? This character design challenge can be a lot of fun, in addition to being collaborative. For example, you can organize a character outfit swap with another creator and see what happens. Or you can just stick with your own array of original characters as well.

When it comes to outfit swaps, you can take them in any number of directions. For example, you can treat them as cosplay of public domain characters. Or, perhaps you want to take an outfit on one character of one gender and rework the outfit for a different gender. It’s an especially fun design challenge when adapting iconic outfits from movies and comics as well.

Rules

Our last challenge tasks you with sharing some thoughts and a little praise of a character who is not your OC!

1. Include the character swap outfit in a social post.
2. Write the reasons why you chose that outfit and why you like that character. If they are a character found on CharacterHub, don’t forget to tag their creator!

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Even More Design Challenges Await on CharacterHub!

Even with these challenges to keep you busy, you may be looking for more to do. Thankfully, CharacterHub has weekly challenges of all kinds to help you explore your original characters and help them reach their creative potential. Be sure to check out the event listings to see what your options are. There’s always something exciting.

Remember to share your creations as well! CharacterHub’s wonderful social features and flexible gallery system allow you to share your work, from attention-getting blog posts to challenge galleries on character profile pages.