Learning from Masterful Character Silhouette Designs

Just like a good logo, signature designs facilitate immediate recognition of characters and gives them an unmistakably unique look. Think Superman's cape, Tintin's upright tuft of hair, the zigzag pattern on Charlie Brown's shirt, Lisa Simpson's star-shaped head. The literary equivalent comes in the personal slogan, such as "What's up, Doc?" or "Elementary, my dear Watson." In Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud presents one of my favorite and most iconic signature designs by reproducing Mickey Mouse's ears and head with just two dimes and a quarter. So if we're trying to improve on our character designs, we should all be grateful to Bob Flynn's latest blog post "Cartoon Silhouettes." Bob Flynn, a contributor to the group blog Creative Juices, shows us a layout of 37 silhouettes of famous cartoon characters, and proves the effectiveness and power of masterful signature designs. It's too good to miss -- go there and see if you can recognize them all!