Characterized Design Battle Winners!

Watermarkers Tess Monash and Mat Brady have won the Cut & Paste Characterized Live Battle in front of a packed crowd at the Auckland Telecom Atrium.

Characterized is a live character design battle where three teams of two artists create artwork in real time. Their computer screens are broadcast onto huge projector screens so the audience can watch in real time. The event was run by New York-based Cut & Paste, which hosts digital design competitions around the world.

The challenge was to create a pair of original characters in a state of 'communion' over three tightly timed rounds. Tess and Mat won over the crowd with their one-armed banjo lovin' characters named Walter and Hubert.

In the first two 10-minutes rounds, the teams had to create black and white sketches of their first and second characters. In the third, 15-minute round, they had to pull it all together in one scene to visually portray how their characters communicated.

"It was really crazy to draw in front of a massive crowd,” Tess says “It was an awesome night. Great people, great music, great art. Heaps of fun!"

Mat found the competition had his complete attention. "So focused! As soon as they said 'Three, two, one, go!' you only saw the screen," he says.

Telecom was the main sponsor of the March 13 event, with the top prize being two Samsung Galaxy Note 3s, with the runner up winning a pair of Spotify headphones.