Character Design – Complete Guide by Marc Brunet

Marc Brunet Character Design – Complete Guide is a self-paced video course taught by Marc Brunet, a former senior artist at Blizzard Entertainment and the founder of Cubebrush. It walks through the whole process of designing a character: setting a goal, building a visual library, gathering references, using a set of design tools, brainstorming ideas and finishing the final designs. The course runs to more than four hours across five lessons, with bonus assignments. It is sold as an instant download on Cubebrush for $45.

The course is packaged from the Character Design class in Marc's full ART School programme, where it sits in Term 5. That makes it a practical way to study one focused topic without buying the whole curriculum. It is labelled for beginners, but the page notes it works for artists of any level, because the method applies whether you are designing your first character or your hundredth.

What You Will Learn

The course teaches a repeatable method for designing characters rather than a single drawing style. Topics include:

• What character design is and what a design needs to communicate
• How to define a clear goal before you start drawing
• Building a visual library and using references well
• A toolbox of design principles you can apply to any character
• Brainstorming techniques for generating many ideas
• Choosing the strongest ideas and pushing them further
• Finalising and presenting finished designs
• Practising the method with bonus assignments

Who Is Marc Brunet Character Design For?

The short answer: anyone who wants to design characters with intent rather than by luck. It suits illustration students, hobbyists who draw characters for fun, and artists who want to move towards concept art for games, animation or comics. Because it focuses on thinking and process, it also helps experienced artists who can draw well but find their designs feel generic.

It is less suited to someone who has never drawn before. The course assumes you can sketch figures reasonably, so if anatomy is still a struggle, Marc's anatomy material is a better place to start. It is also not a software tutorial, so expect design thinking rather than Photoshop tips.

Course Structure

The course is a single chapter of five lessons that move from planning to finished work:

• 1. Overview: an introduction to character design and what the course covers
• 2. Goal, Visual Library and References: defining the brief and collecting material
• 3. Design Toolbox: the principles that make a design read clearly
• 4. Brainstorming: generating and developing ideas
• 5. Finalizing the Designs: taking the best ideas through to finished characters

The download contains six files totalling 5.2 GB, including the assignments as JPG images. Because it is a self-paced pack, you can work through it in order or revisit one lesson, such as brainstorming, when starting a new project.

Price and Access

Marc Brunet Character Design – Complete Guide costs $45 for the basic licence, paid once, as an instant download in MP4 format from Cubebrush, which describes itself as an AI-free marketplace. If you already own the complete ART School pack, this class is included. Marc also offers to refund the pack if you later upgrade to the full 10-term ART School; the page asks you to send him a private message. ART School also includes private weekly streams, which this pack does not.

About the Instructor

Marc Brunet has more than 20 years in the industry and held senior roles at Blizzard Entertainment. He founded Cubebrush, has worked for Wacom, Clip Studio Paint and ImagineFX, and left his industry job to build his ART School programme.

Things to Consider

• Time: the videos run just over four hours, but the assignments will take longer if you do them properly.
• Downloads: the pack is 5.2 GB, so allow for storage space and a stable connection.
• Prerequisites: basic figure drawing helps; the design lessons assume you can sketch a body with some confidence.
• Feedback: the pack does not include personal critique, so share your designs with peers or an art community.
• Next steps: the Animal & Creature Drawing guide pairs well with this course, as both come from the same ART School term.
• Upgrade path: if you think you will want the full programme, note the refund offer when upgrading to ART School.

How to Get the Most From It

Pick a real brief, such as a hero for a short story or a game, and follow each lesson with that brief in mind. Fill several pages during brainstorming before choosing a direction. Keep your visual library in a folder you can reuse, and repeat the assignments a few weeks later to see how your designs improve.

Start the Course

Interested in learning with Marc Brunet?

Start Character Design – Complete Guide

For the full syllabus and pricing, visit the official Marc Brunet website.

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Last verified: November 12, 2026