Character Design · Illustration · Concept Art
MonksAsylum
Six monks, six personalities - designing a full character roster for a fictional
NFT game, from reference to final render.
CLIENT
Bliss Network
ROLE
Character Designer
Toolkit
Figma • Procreate
DELIVERABLES
Character concepts, final renders
Background
A Fictional Game, Six Monks, One Brief
In 2022, Bliss Network brought me on to design the character roster for Monks Asylum, a fictional NFT game. The brief was simple to state and hard to execute well: six monk characters, each built from a single keyword - Wise, Wild, Crazy, Lazy, Fighting, Angry and each needed to read as an instantly distinct personality, not a palette-swapped version of the last one.
My Role
I owned character design end to end — from early reference research through personality development to final rendered art, working directly with the scriptwriting and creative direction team to keep six very different characters feeling like they belonged in the same world.
01
Translating a single keyword into a full character concept
02
Researching real-world anatomy and behaviour to ground fantastical designs
03
Developing two visual directions per character before committing to a final
04
Writing personality traits that shaped posture, expression, and silhouette
05
Keeping six distinct characters visually consistent as a single roster
06
Revising designs against script and art-direction feedback
Research
Anatomy, Style, Mood
Reference work came before a single sketch. Where a character called for an animal trait on a human frame — the Wild Monk's wolf-like features, for instance — I researched the real animal's facial structure and posture first, so the final design felt grounded rather than arbitrary. Style and mood references followed the same discipline: understanding the tone of the game world before deciding how any one monk should look inside it.
Process
From Thumbnail to Final Render
Every character moved through the same four stages, regardless of how different the final designs turned out to be.
Breaking the character down into its simplest base shapes before any detail existed.
Thumbnail
Constructing rough anatomy and body landmarks over the thumbnail, focusing on weight and silhouette.
Anatomy
Adding the specifics that make a character recognisable: nose shape, ear shape, hair, clothing, and distinguishing features.
Detail
Finishing in full colour with shadow and highlight work, bringing each character to a finished, three-dimensional look.
Render
The Characters
Six Keywords, Six Distinct Personalities
Each monk began as a single word and grew into a full character — personality traits shaped as much of the final design as anatomy did.
01
Warrior Monk
Loyal · Strong · Agile · Smart
Faith as weapon and armour - a fighter defined less by strength than by conviction, built to feel like devotion made physical.
02
Wild Monk
Vengeful · Mischievous · Lightning-powered · Monster tamer
A lightning beast wrapped in monk's robes — bulky, electric, built to move fast and hit hard, with a short fluffy tail as the one soft detail against an otherwise ferocious design.
03
Wild Monk
Vengeful · Mischievous · Lightning-powered · Monster tamer
A lightning beast wrapped in monk's robes — bulky, electric, built to move fast and hit hard, with a short fluffy tail as the one soft detail against an otherwise ferocious design.
4.1
Sloth Monk
Stubborn · Clumsy · Lazy · Sleepy head · Smoker · Calm
A lazy, red head warrior who has a secret identity. Known for her special abilities to slay her demonic enemies, she's also a heavy smoker and hot headed in nature.
4.2
Sloth Monk
Mischievous · Clumsy · Lazy · Cheerful
Laid-back until it matters - a carefree, athletic fighter whose calm exterior undersells how capable she actually is in a real conflict.
05
Notorious Monk
Noble · Brave · Quick · Playful
Modern, quick, and impossible to predict - a maniac in the best possible sense, all backflips and momentum, with motives nobody else in the roster fully understands.
06
Angry Monk
Short-tempered · Rebellious · Self-governed
Rebellious and unwilling to be managed - controlled by nothing but his own instincts, honest to a fault, and always one provocation from losing his temper entirely.
07
Wise Monk
Wise · Observant · Open-minded · Reflective
The roster's quiet counterweight - observant, reflective, and genuinely curious, built to read as the character who's already thought three moves ahead of everyone else.
Reflection
What This Project Sharpened
Designing six characters from six single words taught me how much weight a personality trait can carry before a single line is drawn - posture, expression, and even color choices started from character, not the other way around.