Contact person: Rig-Ready Animated Character Design

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Location: New Delhi, India

Budget: Recommended by industry experts

Time to start: As soon as possible

Project description:
"Project Overview
We are developing an Indian animated satire series inspired by the speed and cutout aesthetic. We need character designs that are simple, modular, and ready for animation rigs — not just pretty drawings. The designs must support fast weekly production cycles and remain visually consistent across multiple characters.

About the Style
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1. Geometric Simplicity
• Characters are made of basic shapes → circles, rectangles, ovals.
• Few details = easy to rig and animate (mouth swap, blink, arm flap).
• Anyone can recognize a South Park character instantly, even in silhouette.

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2. Flat Cutout Aesthetic
• Mimics paper cut animation
• Flat colors, no gradients, minimal shading.
• This keeps rendering and compositing light, so the team can push episodes out in short days

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3. Modular Rigging
• Characters are built in separate pieces: head, arms, body, legs, eyes, mouth phonemes.
• Swap, flip, stretch — instead of redrawing.
• One rig can be reused for hundreds of episodes with minor costume tweaks.

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4. Bold Consistent Outlines
• Thick black outlines around everything → unifies characters + backgrounds.
• No matter how many assets are added, the world feels cohesive.

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5. Scale and Proportions
• Everyone has the same “stubby body + big head” formula.
• Makes group shots easy: characters fit together naturally, no resizing headaches.

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6. Expression Through Mouth/Voice, Not Animation
• Comedy comes from dialogue + timing, not fancy animation.
• Mouth flaps + eye blinks + tiny gestures = enough to sell the gag.

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7. Instant Recognizability
• Colors are coded to characters: eg Halwai is a character red/blue, Ambi = red/blue hat, Anda = green/orange.
• Outfits rarely change → makes merch easy and keeps pipeline lean.
• Viewers recognize characters instantly, which is gold for branding.



What We Need
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1. Cartoon Style
• Simple, geometric shapes (big heads, stubby bodies).
• Flat colors, no gradients, minimal shading.
• Bold, consistent outlines (uniform line thickness).
• Satirical yet expressive — funny even in still frames.

2. Rig-Ready Assets
• Deliver layered PSD/AI files (not merged).
• Modular breakdown for:
• Head, torso, arms, legs, hair, accessories, hand
• Separate facial features (eyes, brows, mouths).
• Consistent proportions across all characters.

3. Expressions (per character)

Must include 8 core expressions:
1. Neutral (default)
2. Happy (smile)
3. Angry (yelling, brows down)
4. Sad (frown/teary)
5. Shocked / surprised (wide eyes, open mouth)
6. Smirk / mischievous
7. Crying / whiny
8. Confused

4. Phoneme (Mouth Shapes) for Lip-Sync

8 mouth shapes:
1. Closed mouth (M, B, P)
2. Open wide (Aa)
3. Open narrow (Eh)
4. O-shape (O, U)
5. Teeth showing (S, Z)
6. Lower lip bite (F, V)
7. Tongue visible (L, D, Th)
8. Smile talking (optional but useful for comedy)

5. Turnarounds
• Front
• ¾ View
• Side (profile)
• (Optional: Back view for group shots)

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Deliverables (Per Character)
• Rig-ready layered PSD/AI file (head, body, limbs, expressions, phonemes).
• Expression sheet (8 expressions).
• Phoneme sheet (8 mouth shapes).
• Turnaround sheet (front, ¾, side).
• Color palette reference (hex codes).
• Export preview sheets (PNG/JPEG for quick reference).

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Ideal Freelancer Profile
• Experience in character design for 2D cutout/rig animation (Toon Boom Harmony, After Effects, etc).
• Understanding of fast-turnaround animation pipelines (explainer videos, animated series).
• Strong skills in keeping designs simple, bold, and expressive.
• Previous work in satire, comedy, or cartoon-style content preferred.

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To shortlist, we request a sample sheet for one character (Halwai):
• One base design (front).
• 3 expressions (neutral, happy, angry).
• 3 phoneme shapes (closed, Aa, O).
• Layered PSD/AI." (client-provided description)