# CalArts Style (Rounded Cartoon Character Design)

> A pejorative, disputed label for the rounded character design of 2010s American TV animation: big heads, dot or sliver eyes, thin limbs, soft uniform outlines and flat candy colours. Renzetti calls it meaningless name-calling; Muto calls it oversimplifying and vague. It lumps very different shows together and is partly a fan-culture proxy. Visual traits are an editorial synthesis, not from the cited article.

- Period: 2010–present
- Where: North America, Global / networked
- Origin: United States. A contested label for the character look of 2010s American TV cartoons on Cartoon Network and Disney Channel, such as Adventure Time (Pendleton Ward), Gravity Falls (Alex Hirsch), Regular Show (J.G. Quintel), We Bare Bears (Daniel Chong) and Amphibia (Matt Braly), many made by California Institute of the Arts alumni. Not every work cited under the label is by a CalArts graduate: Steven Universe (Rebecca Sugar), Luca and Turning Red are listed as non-CalArts works, while Over the Garden Wall and Inside Job are listed as CalArts-made yet look very different. The term reportedly circulated in the animation industry from the early 1990s and spread outside it largely through John Kricfalusi; his 2010 blog post (now deleted) was about Brad Bird's The Iron Giant and young animators copying surface traits of late-1950s to 1970s Disney films, not the rounded look later called by the name. Wikipedia does not say who coined the term. Baker-Whitelaw (Daily Dot) wrote that fans mostly deride the label when a show is seen as promoting progressive 'Tumblr culture'. Renzetti said it is applied so broadly it is meaningless as criticism and amounts to name-calling; Muto said it oversimplifies animation design and is too vague.
- Branch: Digital native
- Also known as: CalArts look, Cal Arts style
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/calarts-style/

## How it works

- Build characters from soft primitives: a large round head on a small body with thin, simple limbs.
- Reduce faces to dot or sliver eyes and a flexible bean-shaped mouth that carries the acting.
- Draw every figure with one uniform, soft outline and fill it with flat colour.
- Set characters against simplified flat or painterly backgrounds that stay quieter than the figures.
- Choose pastel-to-candy palettes and keep shapes simple enough to be redrawn consistently by a whole crew.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (characteristic)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (characteristic)
- [Sequential narrative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/sequential-narrative/) (characteristic)
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (occasional)
- [Rounded sans](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rounded-sans/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining)
- [Pastel](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pastel/) (characteristic)
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (characteristic)
- [Analogous harmony](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/analogous-harmony/) (occasional)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Rounded & pill](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rounded-and-pill/) (defining)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (characteristic)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (characteristic)
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (defining)
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (characteristic)
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Flat vector illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-vector-illustration/) (defining)
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (defining)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Motion & broadcast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/motion-and-broadcast/) (defining)
- [App & OS interface](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/app-and-os-interface/) (occasional)
- [Web & CSS](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/web-and-css/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (defining)
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (characteristic)
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (characteristic)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (occasional)

Avoids: Naturalistic depiction, Angular & zigzag, Chrome & 3D render, Gloss & highlights, Straight photography, 3D render, Horror vacui, Abundant decoration, Dark ground

Palette: #fdf3e1, #2b2a3a, #f7a8c4, #ffd35c, #6fd3c4, #7aa7f0

Typefaces: Hand-drawn show-title lettering, Rounded sans-serifs, Custom brush and marker lettering

Known for: Adventure Time (Pendleton Ward, premiered 2010); Gravity Falls (Alex Hirsch); Regular Show (J.G. Quintel); Steven Universe (Rebecca Sugar); We Bare Bears (Daniel Chong); Amphibia (Matt Braly)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Flash Vector Cartoon (Newgrounds-Era Web Animation)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/flash-cartoon.md) (1997–2020)
- Influenced by: [Corporate Memphis](https://stylogeny.com/styles/corporate-memphis.md) (2017–present)
- Influenced by: [Chat Reaction-Sticker Cartooning (LINE)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/line-reaction-sticker.md) (2011–present)
- Influenced by: [UPA & Cartoon Modern](https://stylogeny.com/styles/upa-cartoon-modern.md) (1944–1960)
- Alike in its design choices: [Rubber-Hose Revival (Cartoon Mascot Graphics)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/rubber-hose-revival.md) (2017–present), 73% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Cobi and Mariscal's Barcelona '92 Mascot Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/barcelona-92-identity.md) (1987–1992), 71% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Yuru-chara (Japanese Local Mascot Design)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/yuru-chara.md) (2000–present), 71% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Natural Wine Label Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/natural-wine-label.md) (2007–present), 68% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [French Post-War Visual-Gag Poster (Savignac, Villemot, Morvan)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/french-gag-poster.md) (1948–1979), 63% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Zagreb School of Animated Film](https://stylogeny.com/styles/zagreb-animation.md) (1954–1980), 61% alike

## Sources

- Wikipedia, CalArts style (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalArts_style), for the term's history, Kricfalusi's 2010 post, the Renzetti and Muto objections, the Baker-Whitelaw (Daily Dot) critique and the CalArts / non-CalArts show lists; it describes no visual traits
- Wikipedia, Adventure Time (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_Time), Amphibia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibia_(TV_series)) and Steven Universe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Universe), for premiere dates, networks and creators
- Visual traits and the palette are an editorial synthesis from the shows themselves; the palette is illustrative, not sampled from any show

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “CalArts Style (Rounded Cartoon Character Design)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/calarts-style/