Character Design can be broken down into two main types: Realistic or Stylized. Realistic would be trying to mimic reality whereas stylized would be caricatures or parodies of reality. Disney's Mickey Mouse would be a stylized character. Stylized characters can be just as simple as a box, where to make it come alive you need to show that it has weight, volume, and a personality.

Creating a good animated character is always a challenge. The character has to be visually appealing and have a personality. There are a few things to keep in mind when designing your characters. When animating in 2D, keep in mind that the character you create is not too complex because it has to be easy enough to reproduce. When animating in 3D (ie. computer-generated animation), the character that you create can be from the simplest to the most complex because you only have to create it once, but keep in mind the computer hardware requirements for animating very complex characters.

To create a well designed character here are some steps to follow: