Edukate
Edukate is a Malaysian e-learning platform dedicated to enhancing primary education through innovative digital tools. Established in 2005 by Edukate Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the platform offers interactive multimedia lessons, assessments, and educational games aligned with the national syllabus for students in Standards 1 to 6. Edukate's technology has been utilized by over 25 million users globally, including prestigious institutions like Harvard and Oxford. The platform features dual-language support in English and Malay for Math and Science subjects. To motivate learners, Edukate introduced the Reward4Learning program, awarding points and monthly cash prizes to top-performing students, thereby fostering a fun and engaging learning environment.
The Brief
I was commissioned to design a female character to serve as Edukate’s digital brand ambassador. She needed to appear young—but not inexperienced—striking a balance between friendly approachability and professional credibility. The character would guide and engage users across the Edukate website, helping to communicate educational content in an accessible yet authoritative way. I was asked to ensure her personality came through in every detail—from her art style and attire to her poses and facial expressions. The goal was to embody Edukate’s core values: clarity, confidence, and care in a modern, student-friendly learning environment.
The Solution
My solution was to create a 3D character that struck a balance between stylized charm and professional realism—a midpoint between Disney animation and photo-realism. I designed her to be expressive, confident, and approachable, aligning with Edukate’s brand values. To maximize usability, I produced a suite of high-resolution 4K renders featuring a range of poses and facial expressions. These were delivered with transparent backgrounds, allowing the client to seamlessly integrate the character across various digital and print materials. The final design successfully embodied the brief: a young, credible, and engaging brand ambassador ready to educate and connect with Edukate’s audience.
Concepting
I began the creative process with sketches, exploring a variety of character concepts that could strike the right balance between being engaging and appropriately serious. I focused on refining the character’s overall design, experimenting with different hairstyles, facial expressions, and poses that would convey warmth, confidence, and approachability. This early stage was essential for capturing the right tone—someone youthful and friendly, yet clearly professional—before translating the sketches into a polished 3D model for final development.
3D Development
Once the concept was approved by the client, I moved into the 3D development phase. I began with a base mesh from Daz 3D and then customized the character using a combination of industry-standard tools. Clothing was designed and simulated in Marvelous Designer for realistic draping, while Ornatrix was used to craft detailed, natural-looking hair. The character was rigged in Character Creator, then assembled, posed, and rendered in 3DS Max using V-Ray to achieve high-quality, professional results.
Character Details
The character model was built using a full PBR (Physically Based Rendering) workflow to ensure realistic surface interaction with light and materials. High-resolution 4K texture maps were created for key channels including Normal, Displacement, Specular, and Roughness, allowing for fine detail and depth across skin, clothing, and accessories. Final renders were produced at 4K resolution using V-Ray, delivering crisp, high-fidelity images with lifelike textures and subtle lighting effects—ideal for use across Edukate’s professional-grade digital platforms.
Gallery
The final pose gallery for Kate, Edukate’s brand ambassador, features a wide range of expressive and functional poses tailored for different educational and communicative scenarios. Each pose includes carefully chosen props such as a chair, whiteboard marker, and pointing stick, helping to reinforce her role as a confident and engaging guide. All final images were rendered at high resolution with transparent backgrounds, allowing the client maximum flexibility to seamlessly composite and integrate Kate into various layouts and digital content as needed.
Alternate Looks
Before finalizing the character design, I explored a variety of visual styles to ensure the right tone and appeal. This included experimenting with different hairstyles, outfits, and even accessories like glasses. Each variation was carefully evaluated to find the perfect balance of approachability, professionalism, and relatability for Edukate’s target audience. Some of these can be seen below.
Output
Character Designs
My Role
Art Director
Graphic Designer
Character Designer
Technical Artist
Deployed
Website
Mobile App
Social Media
Skills
3D Modelling
3D Texturing
UVW Mapping
Lighting
Rendering
Rigging
Cloth Simulation
Compositing
Drawing
Software
3DS Max
Vray
Substance Painter
ZBrush
Marvelous Designer
Character Creator
After Effects
Photoshop
Illustrator
Duration
6 weeks
