Week 12 final character

Inspiration so far

The miner in the yellow hat is the most complete design so far . Although the idea was based on the average blue collar man his stance is to upright top be convincing  His puffed chest and sculpted arms suggest he is in much better shape then the average. This also little's the characters persona and gives him less relate-able characteristics.  The character looks more aggressive then confidant and his beard and chest are largely exaggerated in thickness.

The second character has a more casual but confidant stance. His proportions give him a tough but mobile look, and give him a pleasant and relate-able vibe. Props or signifires  that are of  basket ball nature need to be incorporated to tie to the sport. The character has an out of proportion upper body from swinging the pick axe all his life, but has a fairy youthful appearance. Experimentation with weathering or aging could make for the  character to in compass more believable appearances of a working man.
The lack of the helmet in the design also brings the character to be closer to the average man.

The silhouettes beneath the characters could also be interesting directions to take the illustration. Although the one holding the lamp isn't in an overly confident pose and looks more as through he is seeking or being cautious.The more heroic looking pose would work with the characters proportions, but may display unnecessary or unwanted brand associations, with destruction or being better then everyone else (maybe seen as ironic).
The hand spinning the ball is a clever way to incorporate sport association , but is only seen in other teams logos, as well as a ball dribbling. Shooting maybe an option to explore, or holding out of the ball as an offering or call to join the fan base or get behind the team.  

Ball holding positions

Calm, relaxed, sitting down doesn't show confidence or determination. 

agility, skill

Explosiveness, power

hard to show expressions or features from this angle , but it would be original.

In game stance, suggests movement, that the character is mobile. 

casual, relaxed

ball is in focus but not whole focus. Ball is an offering.

Confident, calm , phressh.

Suggests the ball is at the heart of the character /team, balk is the focus instead of the theme of mining. 

presenting ball as an offering

presenting ball 

Add caption

Leg positions, because an image should look right from both directions

face exploration

Face exploration, faces inspired by existing Characters.

Final head design from the side, with an aggressive expression.. 

Silhouette development.

Final Character from side,front, and back

Character expression, happy, angry, surprised/concerned, tired/ yawming

Rational

I wanted the character to represent a blue collar man.  This is to allow the average Nuggets fan to see part of them self’s within the design allowing them to emotionally invest in the persona of the brand. The character has a large upper body exaggeratedly out of proportion with his legs as a result of him swinging a pick axe and working hard as a working class man. The character is large but rounded to show he has strength but doesn’t have any defined muscles to reflect the physic of most physical labourers. His narrow length also give him an athletic look. The pick axe on his shoulder shows he is a miner reflecting the theme already existing within the Nuggets franchise. The character is also wearing a basketball uniform to reflect and tie in to the sport. He is bearded as it is a common association with mining, and the cold region of Denver and mountain men. However, he has rather well presented hair on the top of his head to show he isn’t of any extremes, but rather a reflection of the average man.