Tag Archives: conceptualization

brief history: atti-dude & mimushi

to understand mimushi, you would first have to understand the history of its creation as a fictitious character · and to do that we have to retrace to the steps of when atti-dude was created ·

the idea for atti-dude was born at some point in march of 2005, out of a realization that certain things are better drawn than done · and so I began to look for the right illustrator to develop this personification of interior emotion ·

atti-dude character design 1

One of the first sketches done by illustrator Victor Jurado

about a year later, the concept of atti-dude, was devised as follows:

atti-dude (referred to as atti): (12 years old) – he represents life’s intricacies – our external anguish and daily stress ·

atti is an angry boy who carries a constant angry attitude & mean mood in life · he is a negative character with a kind heart, who is living his pre-teen years (age 12), and is constantly confused about the world he lives in; his micro sphere · his parents are always traveling and thus, he is constantly alone and has to take care of himself · he really doesn’t understand why he has to be alone · he has no brothers and sisters and both of his parents are an “only child”, just like him · he despises school and cannot wait to get out, because the only thing in the world he really enjoys is being with his younger friend mimushi · he’s neither a vituperator nor a violent kid, he’s just angry at the world · he can be very sarcastic and witty ·

victor jurado, an excellent colombian illustrator, had the right idea about atti-dude’s mischievous nature, but we thought it didn’t look like a kid, but rather a neanderthal · he was too aggressive for the character that we wanted at this stage, and after several attempts, it still looked like a punk caveman who had eaten a troll ·

On the next post, I will expand on how pacman23 helped me improve the design and idea behind atti-dude ·

history of a character

mimushi is an evolved character with multiple personalities and an interesting history · it was a figment of imagination that stemmed from the idea that atti-dude, a pre-teen kid with a constant angry persona, needed a sidekick that would calm his ranting ways down · hence mimushi was born directly into a 3-year-old category in the form of a sumo wrestler with a multiple personality ·

the interaction between the characters is such that although atti wants to be the leader, mimushi always ends up leading the pack through his simple ways ·  they are yin and yang, and through their interaction comes the amicable side to life as its more recurring and constant negative ways of life are revealed by atti and crushed in a simple way by mimushi ·