Bella and the cat in front of the garden gate, from the animatic

Case study 03/03Michael Wührer2025Nintendo Switch

Bella Umbrellaand the Mysterious Garden

Character design and animation for a Nintendo Switch game.

Character design · Animation2025 · 03

Client
Michael Wührer
Platform
Nintendo Switch · Unity
Role
Character design, animation, storyboard, animatic
Status
The game is in development
01

Fitting the look

The game already had its style and a first version of Bella. The redesign kept that style and made her easier to read from above.

The briefThe concept I was given to work from: Bella and the cat as first drawn for the game, colours included.

The original Bella, from the front: brown pigtails, pink sweater, cyan skirtThe original Bella flying with her umbrella, the cat running belowThe original cat, from the front
Original concept, by the client
Bella in line, as the game had her
AThe Bella the game had
Bella in line, with bigger ponytails
BBigger ponytails
Bella in the existing colours: pink sweater, cyan skirt
NowExisting colours
Bella in the proposed colours: red sweater, brown skirt
NextProposed colours

A / BBigger ponytails, so she reads from above.

ColourThe existing colours next to a proposal.

FinalThe game’s pink and blue, softened. Blonde hair, yellow boots to match the umbrella.

Bella, frontBella, sideBella, back
BellaFront, side, back
The cat, frontThe cat, sideThe cat, back
The catFront, side, back

Bella

  1. Outline#2F0000
  2. Hair#F9D335
  3. Skin#FDD3CB
  4. Sweater#D8458F
  5. Collar#F4E1E5
  6. Skirt#5E92BC

Cat

  1. Fur#D0762A
  2. Cream#FDCFB2
  3. Collar#CB1E68
  4. Tag#60B8E1
  5. Amber#F0D646
02

Bella

Select, win, lose and fly. Sketches first, then one pose in colour.

  1. ABella, Select: sketch A
  2. BBella, Select: sketch B
  3. CBella, Select: sketch C
  4. DBella, Select: sketch D
Sketches: four takes
Bella, Select: final pose

Character select: hand on hip, umbrella at her side. Four attitudes sketched, one coloured.

03

The cat

A new character, made to stand next to Bella. Rounder and softer than the first sketches, with bigger eyes.

The cat in colour, one paw up, the ネコ tag on its collar

“I pushed the details a bit more, added larger eyes and made the design more rounded and soft.”

Note on the design sheet

The tag on the collar reads ネコ: neko, “cat” in Japanese.

The cat sitting, in line
Idle, sitting instead of standing?
The cat standing, in line
AStanding
The cat standing, with more realistic proportions
BA bit more realistic proportions
Pose studies in line: walking with eyes shut, asleep curled up, playing on its back with a butterfly
Pose variations, to find out how it moves
  1. AThe cat, Select: sketch A
  2. BThe cat, Select: sketch B
  3. CThe cat, Select: sketch C
  4. DThe cat, Select: sketch D
Sketches: four takes
The cat, Select: final pose

Select: chest out, tag forward, ready to go.

04

Built for the engine

Bella drawn at 2048 px, the cat at 1024 px, so Unity can scale them down without losing detail. Line art exported separately where possible.

Bella as exported for the game, 512 by 512 px
Bella
The cat as exported for the game, 256 by 256 px
The cat
Bella
drawn at 2048 px, 512 px in game
The cat
drawn at 1024 px, 256 px in game
Canvas
1:1, so every frame lines up
Directions
four: up, down, left, right
Format
PNG frames, transparent background
Line art
exported separately where possible
Engine
Unity
05

Animation, four ways

Bella: idle, take off, fly, land. Cat: idle, walk, jump. Four directions each, frame by frame. Try it: the d-pad turns, the buttons act.

Bella · Idle · S

  • ✚ / ←↑→↓ turn
  • A Take off
  • B Land
  • X Switch to the cat
  • Idle, rough: construction lines in colour, to keep the volumes
  • Flight, rough: timing in pencil, over the game’s pillars
  • The cat tested on the game grid, jumping its obstacles
  • Bella flying from pillar to pillar, all directions
06

Storyboard to animatic

The intro: nine panels in pencil, then a 20-second animatic with a timing sheet for Unity. Click a panel to jump there.

01 Bella and the cat walk towards the garden. A big wall with a door stands in front of them.

Michael Wührer · 2025

Ready for their game.

Both characters delivered for Unity, every pose and animation at full size, plus the intro animatic.