Written by Darren Keating.
As an Art Director, designing characters for a show means balancing fresh, exciting ideas with audience appeal. For Vegesaurs, this process comes with its own unique set of flavourful challenges.
The world of Vegesaurs is a playful blend of realism and fantasy. It’s bright, vibrant, and chewable, while still rooted in the iconic traits of dinosaurs. Each design brings these elements together to create characters that are imaginative, dynamic, and full of charm.
Where the Process Begins
Every new Vegesaur starts in the writers’ room with the show’s creators, Nick O’Sullivan and Gary Eck, and the writing team. As they brainstorm new scripts, they think about what exciting Vegesaurs could join Ginger and the Baby Pea-Rexes on their next adventure.
Take, for example, the magnificent Asparagusaur, introduced in the episode “The Following Forest”. In this story, Ginger and the Baby Pea Rexes are running from the mischievous Bananaraptors, and try to hide behind what they believe is a giant tree—only to discover it’s actually a Vegesaur!
The Design Brief
The initial design brief for this character was clear: create a character as tall and thin as a tree but also able to move quickly and blend into the forest. On top of that, the design has to be inspired by its vegetable namesake—an asparagus in this case. Quite the challenge! And this process repeats for every new Vegesaur!
At the script stage, Nick O’Sullivan often sketches rough ideas for what he envisions. Nick, as both a creator and a talented artist, uses his experience in animation to bring these early concepts to life.
Once the initial idea is ready, it’s time to refine the design. At this point, I collaborate with our series directors, Cindy Scharka and David Webster, to discuss what could be enhanced. For the Asparagusaur, we decided its legs should resemble tree trunks to make the “tree disguise” more convincing—an essential story point.
Diving into the Details
From there, I dive into references. I study different types of dinosaurs to match Nick’s sketches and look closely at asparagus for details like texture, colour, and structure. Reference images are crucial for concept design—they provide inspiration, ensure consistency, and help the team make informed decisions.
With these references, I begin drawing new versions of the character, ensuring it feels like part of the Vegesaurs world while remaining consistent with the show’s established style. This includes drawings from multiple angles, close-ups of the face, and size comparisons with Ginger, the show’s hero.
But this is just the starting point! From here, the design undergoes several rounds of discussion with the entire Vegesaurs team. We refine details like the Asparagusaur’s face, colours, how it animates, and its relationship to Ginger—all to ensure it fits the story perfectly.
One significant change during this process was reducing the number of legs from four to two. This adjustment made the Asparagusaur look even more tree-like, strengthening its silhouette.
From Drawing to Digital
Once the design is finalised, it’s handed off to the talented team at Vishus Productions in India, who model and texture the character in 3D. My drawings include detailed notes about colour, texture, movement, and functionality—everything from how the character blinks to how its body moves. I also provide pose sheets to guide how the Asparagusaur reacts and moves in animation.
The Vishus team does an incredible job bringing the characters to life, creating models that look edible, vibrant, and full of personality. Typically, we go through five or six iterations of a model before landing on the final version approved by the Vegesaurs team.
Bringing the Vegesaurs to Life
Once the model is complete, the character is ready to run, jump, and play in the magical world of Unreal Engine, where it comes to life on screen. Seeing these characters evolve from initial sketches to fully animated Vegesaurs is one of the most rewarding parts of the process.
This journey—from the Asparagusaur to fan favourites like the Broccolisaurus and Pea-Rex—is what makes Vegesaurs such a joy to work on. It’s always a thrill to see these deliciously creative creatures leap off the page and into the world of Vegesaurs!
