A 2D picture used in a game — characters, enemies, coins, and objects are all sprites
Character Design
The process of creating what a game character looks like
Silhouette
The outline shape of a character — good characters have a unique shape you can recognise even as a shadow
Pixel Art
A style of art made with tiny coloured squares (like Minecraft textures)
A sprite is any 2D picture in a game. The player character is a sprite. Enemies are sprites. Coins are sprites. Trees are sprites!
Think of famous game characters. They all have a unique look: Mario — Red hat, blue overalls, moustache Pikachu — Yellow, pointy ears, red cheeks Creeper (Minecraft) — Green, square, sad face Among Us character — Bean shape, one colour, visor
Good character design uses 3 things:
1. A simple shape (circle, square, triangle)
2. Bold colours (2-3 main colours)
3. One special feature (a hat, wings, a weapon, glowing eyes)
Talk to your partner: Describe your favourite game character in 3 words. Can your partner guess who it is?
I know what a sprite is and can describe 3 things that make a good character design.
2 Plan Your Characters
Before we open Canva, let's plan what we will make. You need 3 sprites:
Sprite 1: Your Hero — This is the character the player controls.
My Hero
e.g. A blue robot with glowing eyes, or a cat wearing a cape
Sprite 2: An Enemy — This is something that tries to stop the player.
My Enemy
e.g. A red spiky ball, or a ghost with angry eyes
Name: _____ Shape: _____ Colours: _____ Special feature: _____
Sprite 3: A Collectible — This is something good the player picks up (coin, gem, star, food).
My Collectible
e.g. A gold coin, a glowing crystal, a pizza slice
Name: _____ Shape: _____ Colours: _____
Stuck on ideas? Think of your favourite game genre from last lesson. A platformer needs a jumping hero. A puzzle game needs collectible pieces. An adventure needs a brave explorer!
I have planned all 3 sprites: a hero, an enemy, and a collectible.
3 Build Your Hero in Canva
Open canva.com and log in with your school Google account (you did this last lesson).
Create a new design:
Step 1: Click Create a design (top-right) → Click Custom size → Type 500 x 500 px → Click Create new design.
A small blank square appears. This is the perfect size for one sprite.
Set the background colour:
Step 2: Click the white canvas → Click the coloured square at the top-left → Choose a light colour so your character stands out (light grey or light blue works well).
Your canvas now has a coloured background.
Build the body using shapes:
Step 3: On the left sidebar, click Elements. In the search bar, type circle.
You will see lots of circle shapes. Click a plain, solid circle to add it to your canvas.
Step 4:Resize the circle by dragging the corner handles. This will be the head of your character. Move it to the top-centre of the canvas.
You now have a circle (head) on your canvas.
Step 5: Search for rectangle in Elements. Add a rectangle below the circle. This is the body.
Your character now has a head and body!
Step 6:Change colours: Click on a shape → Click the coloured square at the top-left → Choose your character's colour.
Your shapes now have the colours you planned.
Add details: Search for shapes or elements to add eyes, a mouth, arms, legs, or your special feature (hat, cape, weapon, etc.).
Tip: Search for things like eyes, star, crown, sword, or wings in the Elements search bar.
Add as many details as you like to make your hero unique!
Stuck? Show this page to your teacher or SLSO. They can help you find and resize elements in Canva.
Name your design: Click the title at the top and rename it to L04 - Hero - [Your Name].
My hero sprite has a body made of shapes, at least 2 colours, and one special feature.
4 Build Your Enemy and Collectible
Now create 2 more designs — one for your enemy and one for your collectible. Use the same steps:
Enemy sprite:
1. Click Create a design → Custom size → 500 x 500 px
2. Use shapes to build your enemy (maybe use red or dark colours to show danger)
3. Add angry eyes or spikes to make it look scary
4. Rename it: L04 - Enemy - [Your Name]
Collectible sprite:
1. Click Create a design → Custom size → 300 x 300 px (smaller — collectibles are small!)
2. Use shapes to build your collectible (maybe a circle for a coin, a diamond shape for a gem)
3. Use bright colours like gold, green, or blue to show it is something good
4. Rename it: L04 - Collectible - [Your Name]
Show all 3 sprites to your partner. Ask them: "Can you tell which one is the hero, which is the enemy, and which is the collectible?" If they can, your designs are clear!
I have created 3 separate sprites: a hero, an enemy, and a collectible. All 3 are saved in my Canva account.
5 Download Your Sprites (Optional)
You can download your sprites as picture files. This is useful if you want to use them later.
Step 1: Open one of your sprite designs. Click Share (top-right corner).
A menu will appear.
Step 2: Click Download. Make sure it says PNG as the file type. Click Download again.
The picture will be saved to your computer's Downloads folder.