Cartoon Character Prompt: Design Sheet From Your Brief

Prompt

Act as a cartoon character designer for animation and picture books who turns a written brief into a clear design spec and ChatGPT image prompts that keep the character consistent across poses.

Inputs:
- Who the character is: species or type, age, personality, and their story role: [CharacterBrief]
- Visual style in plain words, such as thick outlines, flat colors, rounded shapes, 2D: [StyleNotes]
- Colors to use, as names or hex codes: [Palette]
- Signature details that must always appear, such as a scarf or a missing tooth: [SignatureDetails]
- Audience and where the character will be used: [UseCase]
- Poses or scenes needed after the sheet: [PoseList]

Generate:
1. A shape and proportion spec for the cartoon character: main shape language, head to body ratio, eye style, silhouette notes, and why it fits CharacterBrief.
2. A color spec mapping each part of the character to a color in Palette.
3. One character sheet image prompt: front, three quarter, side, and back views on a plain background, plus four expressions (happy, surprised, sad, determined), with all SignatureDetails visible.
4. A consistency lock paragraph to repeat at the end of every later prompt.
5. One image prompt per item in PoseList that reuses the lock and only changes pose, expression, and background.
6. A check list to review each image: SignatureDetails present and on the correct side, colors match Palette, proportions match step 1.

Rules:
- The character must be original. Do not name existing cartoon characters, studios, or artists; describe the style instead.
- No text on the image unless UseCase asks for a name label.

Instructions

Use this in ChatGPT with image generation. Describe your own original character, replace every [bracket], and generate the sheet first, then single poses. Do not ask for existing cartoon characters or a named studio's style; describe the look instead.

Generated Output

This image was generated using the prompt above.

Cartoon Character Prompt: Design Sheet From Your Brief - Result

Examples

Example Input

CharacterBrief: Pip, a young hedgehog (about 7 in story years) who delivers mail on a tiny bicycle in a forest village. Curious, a little clumsy, never gives up. Main character of a picture book for ages 4 to 7.
StyleNotes: 2D cartoon, thick soft outlines, flat colors with light shading, very rounded shapes, big expressive eyes, no realistic textures.
Palette: Warm brown spines (#8B5A2B), cream face and belly (#F3E3C3), red scarf (#D64541), mustard mail bag (#E1A73B), dark brown eyes and nose (#3B2416).
SignatureDetails: Red scarf always tied on his left side, mustard mail bag across his body from his left shoulder to his right hip.
UseCase: Picture book pages and a plush toy reference later.
PoseList: Riding the bicycle downhill, holding a letter up proudly, tripping over a root.

Example Output

1. SHAPE AND PROPORTION SPEC
Shape language: circles and soft teardrops only, no sharp angles, so Pip reads as friendly and safe for ages 4 to 7. Head to body ratio about 1:1 (a big head for a young character). Eyes large and oval with one white highlight each, set wide. Spines drawn as a full, soft, shaggy mane around the head and back, not single sharp spikes. Silhouette: round body, short legs, the scarf tail and the bag strap break the outline so he reads clearly even as a black shape.

2. COLOR SPEC
Spines: #8B5A2B. Face, belly, hands, feet: #F3E3C3. Scarf: #D64541. Mail bag and strap: #E1A73B. Eyes and nose: #3B2416. Outlines: a darker shade of each fill, never pure black.

3. CHARACTER SHEET PROMPT
"Character design sheet of an original cartoon hedgehog named Pip on a plain white background. 2D cartoon style with thick soft outlines, flat colors and light shading, very rounded shapes, big expressive oval eyes. Show front view, three quarter view, side view, and back view in a row, then a second row of four head expressions: happy, surprised, sad, determined. Warm brown soft shaggy spines (#8B5A2B) in a full mane, cream face and belly (#F3E3C3), red scarf (#D64541) tied on his left side, mustard mail bag (#E1A73B) worn across his body from his left shoulder to his right hip, dark brown eyes and nose (#3B2416). Same proportions in every view. No text."

4. CONSISTENCY LOCK
"Same original hedgehog Pip as the character sheet: head to body ratio about 1:1, a full shaggy mane of soft warm brown spines, cream face and belly, red scarf knotted on his left side, mustard mail bag from his left shoulder to his right hip, big oval dark brown eyes, thick soft outlines, flat colors."

5. POSE PROMPTS
Downhill ride: "Pip riding a tiny green bicycle down a forest path, leaning forward with a huge grin, scarf tail flying behind him, leaves swirling, picture book page composition with space at the top for text. [lock]"
Proud letter: "Pip standing on a tree stump holding a letter above his head with both hands, chest out, eyes closed in a proud smile, soft morning light in the forest village. [lock]"
Tripping: "Pip tripping over a tree root mid fall, letters spilling from his mail bag, surprised face with wide eyes, one foot in the air, comedic but not hurt. [lock]"

6. CHECK LIST
Scarf knot on his left side in every image. Bag strap from his left shoulder to the bag at his right hip. Full shaggy mane, no single spine sticking up. Colors match the hex codes. Head about the same size as the body. No text or extra characters added by mistake.