A recipe for character design!
You will need:
A cup of ideas
A pinch of inspiration
Half a cup of proportions
A sheet of paper or an art program
A ruler or grid
3 tablespoons of character traits
5 teaspoons of shape language
1 teaspoon of silhouette
To prep, remember what sort of person your character is. Are they soft, friendly? Rough, evil?
Open up a clean canvas. Draw straight horizontal lines for the top of the character and the bottom.
Draw shape ideas. What works best? Circles? Triangles?
Give your character a 3/4 front facing view first.
Add more horizontal lines, where important features line up. (The bottom of the chin, the tips of the fingers. The knees. The length of skirt or pants.
If working digitally, copy and paste and erase the inside, to draw a back 3/4 view. Tracing paper for a traditional drawing will work. Repeat with facing forward and back.
The final view is in profile.
Pay attention to where parts line up. Keep shapes and sizes consistent.
Five poses makes the final product. Profile and 3/4 views may be mirrored to fill in the gaps.
Take a break and come back to check for errors. Have another artist take a look for inconsistencies.
Congrats!