AiCo - Character's face design
Curiosity Robotics approached me with a need to create - quite literally - the face of their company. With an almost fully developed and designed product, they were only missing the final touch: the face of their flagship product, AiCo. AiCo is an AI-powered little robot designed to teach very young toddlers a second language through games, dance, and simple tasks. It achieves this by sensing the child's actions and behavior and responding in an intuitive manner. However, AiCo was missing a crucial component for effective communication - its face.
I had a rectangular screen at the front of the head to work with, and my mission was to design a character that appears human on one hand but make sense in a robot's body, on the other. It needed to be cute, wise, attentive and also capable of conveying a wide range of distinct expressions to naturally engage with young children, while remaining simple to animate.
The initial sketches focused on two main aspects:
How to address the challenge posed by the hard, rectangular frame of the screen and how the facial illustration could seamlessly blend with the surrounding plastic.
keeping simplicity while also enabling expressive versatility and crafting a character that is both unique and intriguing.
The hairline, as well as the contours of the cheeks and chin area, served as the foundation for a subtle, dark frame that seamlessly integrated with the surrounding plastic.
The eyes and mouth were identified as pivotal features responsible for conveying the majority of the character's expressions. In addition, I incorporated certain graphic elements inspired by Chibi and Manga illustrations.
Here is the expression sheet, displaying 11 distinct and universally recognizable facial expressions that are easy to interpret.
To fulfill my role in the project, I created a set of guidelines to empower the animator to bring my illustrations to life through motion. These guidelines defined the character's behavior and were crucial for both myself and the Curiosity Robotics team. The next two pages encapsulate the essence of these guidelines.
