Creature Design : Fantastic Beasts and How to Make Them

Duration: 3 Weeks

Submission Format:

• Documented on the portfolio site (submit your link)
• Must include:
  • Sketchfab link
  • Final rendered image (posed)
  • Texture map(s) showing your UV layout image
  • Micro-environment (at minimum, a simple base, but advanced students should expand on this)
  • Rigging & Pose (the creature must be posed asymmetrically to break symmetry)
  • Process documentation (As much as you feel appropriate)

Objective:

Design and sculpt a unique creature that integrates signature traits, a strong sensory design, micro-environment storytelling, and a meaningful pose. Choose from one of the following categories:

Option 1: Create a New Pokémon

• Must fit within the Pokémon universe with a specific typing (Fire, Water, Psychic, etc.).
• Incorporate typing colors and a small, harmonious color palette.
• Must have clear powers/abilities that align with its type.
• Follow the simplified Pokémon design language (clean shapes, stylized details, readable silhouette).
• Example: A Steel/Fairy Pokémon based on an old wind-up music box, playing eerie lullabies to hypnotize foes.

Option 2: Create a Hybrid Creature (Avatar: The Last Airbender Style)

• Combine two real-world animals into a seamless, believable hybrid.
• The creature should make biological sense—ask: How does it move? What does it eat? How does it defend itself?
• Maintain cultural and environmental grounding, just as Avatar’s hybrid animals are naturally integrated into their world.
• Example: A Pangoshark (Pangolin + Shark), an armored water predator with curling scales for defense and high-speed aquatic movement.

Option 3: Create a Spirit of a Natural or Artificial Phenomenon