| Internet Safety Series |
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| This is a concept for an animated series that looks at internet safety. Aimed at kids 6-10, this would be an updated version that looks at today’s internet and technology and how to navigate it. Topics such as safety, health, media literacy, and tech literacy would be explored in a fun but realistic way. |
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| The idea of creating a series that revolves around internet safety comes from a few places. Some being general goings on in online spaces, some stemming from my own personal experiences. It feels like there’s been a lack of teaching it in the past few years, as well as updating what is internet safety and how we talk about it. Thinking back to when I taught about internet safety, there’s still stuff that holds up, like not sharing your personal information with strangers. But a lot has changed since then, and we need to reflect that in our teachings and attitudes. |
| I was really inspired by internet culture. Things like memes, reaction images, and Twitch emotes can be seen as one source of inspiration within these designs. In the very early iterations, I imagined the concept to have a mixed media art style similar to The Amazing World Of Gumball. Some other inspirations include Jack Stauber’s Peppermint, the TV show Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, the video game A Short Hike, and Garret Animates online animated series Chirpmail. |
| I personally see internet safety as being split into 4 groups: safety, health, media literacy, and tech literacy. All these categories can and do overlap (Example: Privacy online is both a safety concern, but it’s also important on a tech literacy level to understand how your information is collected.) |
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| Process |
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1 / 8
Notes that I made about what this hypothetical show would be about, and what exactly I would be designing for. This was important to do before designing the actual characters, because it needed to be established the character's purpose.
2 / 8
The character designs went through many iterations. Squig’s design went through the most iterations before I landed on the current design. Some of these iterations include a robot, a gas cloud, and a small dinosaur. One of the iterations of Pepito’s character was used as a design for his older brother, as seen in the images above.
3 / 8
Some silhouettes
4 / 8
The first drafts of the character designs, in colour.
5 / 8
Here are a few sketches that were made to show off various emotions, and the characters' personalities and interests a bit. Pepito is an avid gamer, Bebe is an art kid, and Squig loves watching movies and TV shows.
6 / 8
Some value studies. Models labeled as "Current" used the first iteration of colours for these designs.
7 / 8
The lineup when I first drew it versus in it's second iteration. When I originally drew this lineup, I wanted to showcase different styles as the idea of a mixed media art style was still apart of this concept. I was told that the lineup should be cohesive, so I redrew the characters to fit a single style. I also fixed some issues with Squig's pose.
8 / 8
I eventually revised the lineup a third time because I realized that Squig was the only character without any clothes. Here is one of the possible colour palettes I explored with this character's revised design.
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