Abstract

Worldbuilding in 2D animation is the process of designing a comprehensive universe that provides context and meaning for a story. This is achieved by creating a consistent visual language through three main pillars: shape, color, and environment. Shape language uses basic geometric forms to communicate the personality of characters and the nature of their world.1 Circles suggest safety and friendliness, squares imply stability and strength, and triangles convey danger or dynamism.2

Color theory is then applied to establish the story’s emotional tone.3 Animators use color palettes to create mood, guide the audience’s attention, and provide narrative cues.4 Warm colors can signify energy or comfort, while cool colors might evoke calmness or sadness.5 Finally, environmental storytelling uses the background and prop design to imply history, culture, and plot details without dialogue.6 A cluttered room, a decaying building, or a repeated cultural symbol can all reveal crucial information about the world and the characters who inhabit it.7 These elements combine to create an immersive, believable, and coherent animated universe.

Keywords

Worldbuilding, Animation, Shape Language, Color Theory, Environmental Storytelling

In 2D animation, the world is more than a backdrop; it is a character in itself.8 Worldbuilding is the design of a universe’s underlying rules, history, and logic. For animators, this framework must be communicated visually. A well-designed world provides context for the plot, informs character actions, and makes the narrative feel cohesive.9 This is primarily achieved through a consistent visual language built from shape, color, and environmental storytelling.

The first word: Shape language

The foundation of a visual language is shape.10 Shape language is the concept that basic geometric forms communicate specific ideas and emotions to a viewer instinctively. Animators use this to define the rules of their world and the personalities within it.

  • Circles and Rounds: These shapes lack sharp corners and are associated with softness, safety, innocence, and friendliness.11 Heroes, friendly creatures, and safe environments are often built from circles and ovals.12
  • Squares and Rectangles: These are stable, structural shapes.13 They communicate strength, reliability, stability, and sometimes stubbornness or inflexibility. A dependable hero or a fortress-like building would be based on squares.14
  • Triangles and Sharp Angles: Points and sharp angles convey danger, speed, and dynamism.15 Villains, weapons, and threatening locations often use a triangular design to make an audience feel uneasy.

A consistent world applies this logic universally. In a world where the “good” kingdom is built from soft, round shapes, the sudden appearance of a “bad” army defined by sharp, triangular armor immediately communicates conflict.

Setting the mood: Color theory

Color is used to establish the emotional tone of the world.16 Animators create a “color script,” a plan for how color will be used from scene to scene to support the narrative.17 Warm colors (reds, oranges, yellows) can evoke energy, passion, or comfort, while cool colors (blues, greens, purples) can create feelings of calm, sadness, or mystery.

A world’s core palette defines its atmosphere. A post-apocalyptic world might use a desaturated palette of grays and muted browns to show a loss of life and hope.18 A magical fantasy world might use vibrant, saturated colors to communicate energy and wonder. Color is also used for narrative cues.19 A scene can be flushed with red to signal danger, or a specific character’s signature color can appear in the environment to show their influence.20

Silent stories: Environmental storytelling

Environmental storytelling is the art of using a location’s design to imply a narrative.21 Instead of explaining a world’s history through dialogue, animators “show” it by embedding clues in the background.

This technique treats the environment as a reflection of its inhabitants. A character’s room can tell their story: Is it organized or chaotic? Filled with books or weapons? A city’s design can tell its history: Are the buildings new and uniform, suggesting a new or authoritarian society? Or are they built on top of older ruins, implying a long and complex past? Details like graffiti, worn pathways, or statues of forgotten heroes all add layers of history and context.22

Together, these visual tools allow animators to build a 2D universe that feels deep, logical, and alive, enabling the audience to become immersed in the world and the story it tells.