Pixar - Character Designer

Written By Erin Pellegrino

A COLLABORATION BETWEEN ART & TECHNOLOGY

 

At Pixar, our goal is to make great films with great people.  We are proud of our tradition of creative and technical excellence and are always looking for talented people to enrich our work and our community. We believe it’s important for our studio to reflect the diversity of the society we live in and the worldwide audiences for whom we make our films.  

Responsible for interpreting themes, concepts, and story ideas into character designs. Design and illustrate characters from the original concept through to finished production drawings. Creates specifications to guide subsequent development of computerized three-dimensional characters. Ability to articulate creative ideas, problem solve and provide visual insight for the technical team. Good draftsmanship, strong concept illustration skills, visual research skills and experience in costume design. Skilled in character pose, facial expressions, and character turnarounds. Ability to collaborate and incorporate art direction from the Art Director and Production Designer and the skill to execute Director's comments and translate abstract concepts into visual forms per the Director's vision.

 

 

 

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Art Skills

    • Ability to execute the Director's vision; to contribute solutions to visual problems and understand the film's overall aesthetic and implement this in the design and model packaging

    • Ability to collaborate and incorporate art direction from the Art Director and Production Designer

    • Strong character concept illustration skills

    • Strong visual research skills with experience in costume design.

    • Designs must meet both esthetic and technical criteria

 

  • Technical Skills

    • Communicate the design through drawings to the technical team and animators

    • Work with the technical crew to work out challenges

 

  • Team Skills

    • Flexibility to roll with schedule changes and priority shifts

    • Ability to complete work on time

    • Need to have excellent communication skills; knowing when to ask for help and/or direction

    • Ability to work independently, manage time and be punctual

    • Need to have an overall working disposition of an enthusiastic team player and be able to work well with others

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Previous Character Designer experience for a full length animated feature film

  • Must have a sample flatwork portfolio displaying strength in art or animation - while demonstrating versatility, excellent perspective and strong design skills (i.e., character line art examples, expression sheets, turnarounds of characters)

 

SKILLS:

  • Knowledge of story-telling visual treatment

  • Sound ability to draw, including both perspective and technical drawing or animation drawing

  • Ability to work collaboratively

  • Must be open to direction and able to embrace change

  • Knowledge of Photoshop and/or Illustrator preferred

  • Also helpful:

    • Animation experience

    • Life drawings (human & animal)

    • Color Work

    • Sculpting experience

Erin Pellegrino
Erin Pellegrino is currently a Masters of Architecture II Candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Described by her professors as a “maker and a thinker with a strong emotive dimension to her work”, Erin Pellegrino is interested in the human qualities of architecture. Previously, she graduated from Cornell University’s Bachelor of Architecture in 2014 where her design excellence was recognized with the Charles Goodwin Sands Memorial Medal for her thesis on architecture and perfume. In spring 2013, she was nominated to represent Cornell University’s Bachelor of Architecture program for the AIANYS student work competition. She has also been awarded both the Seipp Prize and York Prize. Erin has worked for a range of firms and institutions, as a designer at FXFOWLE, a Studio Coach at NuVu Studio in Cambridge, as a Teaching Associate at Cornell University, and as a shop assistant at both the Cornell University and Harvard University fabrication shops. Recently she was awared the Paul M. Heffernan Travel Fellowship, to travel and realize a mountaineering shelter in the Julian Alps. She was also awarded first prize in Redesigning Detroit, a competition for the redesign of a vacant city block in Detroit, Michigan. This was a result of a collaboration with Davide Marchetti, a Roman architect and visiting critic at Cornell University’s Cornell in Rome program. In the summer of 2011, Erin traveled to South Africa as a part of a Design + Build team to construct an early education crèche in Johannesburg. Other projects include a collaboration with Jake Rudin on a renovation of a Richard Meier home in Ithaca, NY, which was awarded a Historic Ithaca Preservation Award as well as construction of a Ceremonial Japanese Tea House in Danby, NY.
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