Zhejiang University

Sketchar: Supporting Character Design and Illustration Prototyping Using Generative AI

Sketchar functions as a generative AI-driven prototyping platform designed to resolve persistent communication barriers between game designers and illustrators.

• Sketchar, a generative AI tool using ChatGPT and DALL-E, enables game designers to create visual character prototypes, significantly improving collaboration scores on the Creativity Support Index compared to traditional sketching-only workflows.
• Designers without professional artistic backgrounds reported higher satisfaction and perceived the tool as more expressive and worthwhile than those with formal art training, who tended to be more critical of the output quality.
• The tool addresses common industry friction points by allowing designers to articulate complex character concepts and personality traits that are otherwise difficult to communicate to illustrators, reducing potential misinterpretations.