I've been working on developing a character to help tell a story for a presentation I'm preparing for work. Here are a few things I've tried and learned along the journey

Image generator model used Dall-E with Microsoft Designer

Foundational prompt

I wanted a 3D character that could convey a wide range of emotions while also allowing me to exaggerate those emotions.

3D cartoon of a guy with an angry face black hair and a white oversize
t-shirt on a pastel light colour background in the style of Disney
Pixar high resolution,front view, ultra-realistic'

Breakdown of prompt

• Emotion
• Outfit
• Background colour
• Camera perspective
• Character art style

Playing with emotions

Through my experiments, I noticed that directly correlated emotional prompts yielded consistently accurate results. The AI effectively captured the specific emotions, making this method reliable for creating characters with clear emotional expression

Trying to create metaphorical emotions has been mostly hit or miss. I'm not sure if this limitation exists because of the training data available on these emotions, which are more prevalent in animated series.

Playing with Outfit

The prompt-to-expectation ratio was higher for simple outfits like t-shirts. However, as the prompts became more complex with detailed outfits, achieving the desired results became more challenging. Adding more nuance in the outfit descriptions while prompting can help in obtaining the desired outcome.

Playing with Perspecitive

Apart front front angle all other angles again hit and miss

Adding objects

Adding objects to the character has generally worked well, as long as the objects were simple. I believe this limitation is due to the higher abstraction of the English language and its interpretation.

Closing Thoughts

• Higher Abstraction : Since English is used for communication, the specificity of your descriptions is based on the rules and interpretations of the language.
• Speed : The ability of AI to generate "spark joy" character images in mere moments continues to amaze. This rapid creation process opens up new possibilities for efficient character design.
• Use Cases: Creating a consistent character design is something I still haven't been able to achieve, which is essential in the digital product design world. I've primarily been using these characters in presentations to add warmth and emotion, as well as for marketing and a few personal projects.