Animator needed — recurring 45–60 sec intro character for YouTube channel (ongoing work)

The Compound Effect: Animated Host Character, Animator Brief Reference image attached separately, please review alongside this brief. # 1. Project overview The Compound Effect is a YouTube channel covering business and finance stories, Ponzi schemes, tech unicorn collapses, insider trading cases, market crashes, and similar. We're introducing a recurring animated host character who opens each video with a short, direct-to-camera explanation of the core concept the episode is built around, for example "what is a Ponzi scheme" or "what is short selling." # 2. This is ongoing work, not a one-off job Please scope your quote with this in mind. Once the character design and rig are finalised, we expect to come back regularly, likely every video, with a new script for the character to deliver, reusing the same design, rig and gesture library each time. The quality and reusability of the initial build matters more here than it would for a single illustration, since this character becomes the channel's ongoing visual identity, not a one-time asset. If you'd prefer a standing/retainer arrangement rather than quoting each future clip individually, let us know, we're open to either. # 3. Character role and screen time - Appears at the start of each video for approximately one minute- Delivers a direct, punchy explanation of the episode's core concept before the main video content and editing take over- Recurring across every episode, so the design needs to hold up and stay visually consistent over dozens of future uses, not just look good once # 4. Character concept and personality Archetype: a confident 1980s/90s Wall Street finance executive. Composed, self-assured, dryly amused rather than warm or eager to please, a man who has seen every version of this story before and finds it mildly entertaining to explain it to you. Cool and unbothered rather than friendly or cartoonish. # 5. Visual reference and style direction We'd like you to design an original character similar to the attached reference image, not a direct trace or copy of it. Treat it as strong mood and style direction rather than a fixed spec, you have creative latitude within this brief. Elements to carry through from the reference: - Flat vector, cel-shaded illustration style: solid colour blocks, clean bold outlines, no gradients or painterly rendering anywhere, including backgrounds- 1980s/90s Wall Street archetype: slicked-back dark hair, light blue dress shirt with sleeves rolled to the forearm, red braces, a bold patterned silk tie loosened at the collar, gold watch- Seated behind a large executive desk in a high-back red leather chair, New York skyline visible through floor-to-ceiling windows behind him at dusk- Colour palette: navy, burgundy, gold and cream throughout- Expression: a confident, subdued half-smile rather than an open, friendly grin Two things to keep in mind on originality, both matter for legal/commercial reasons, not just aesthetics: - The character's face should be an original design within this archetype. It should not resemble any specific real person or existing fictional character, we want a generic confident-executive archetype, not a likeness of anyone in particular- No real-world brand names, logos, or publication names should appear on any props, papers or documents in the scene (for example, no real newspaper mastheads). Any incidental text or branding in the background should be invented or abstracted # 6. Technical and animation requirements - Rig-ready: separated, layered assets for head, mouth shapes (for lip-sync, basic phoneme set), eyes (for blinking), eyebrows/brow (for expression), arms and hands, and torso, rather than a single flat illustration- Hands should be designed so they can be posed independently rather than locked together, to support a reusable gesture library across future episodes, pointing, open palm, resting flat, raised mid-explanation, and similar- Desk, chair and background elements should be separate layers/assets from the character so they can be reused or adjusted independently- Happy to defer to your preferred rigging pipeline (Character Animator, Rive, After Effects puppet rig, or your own workflow), just flag which you'll be using so we know what to expect on the technical handoff # 7. Initial deliverables - Character model sheet/turnaround (front, three-quarter, side)- Rigged puppet file- One approximately one-minute animated scene of the character explaining a specific concept, first concept: what is a Ponzi scheme, script/voiceover to be supplied separately- A small library of gesture and expression variants for reuse across future episodes (for example neutral talking, emphatic point, shrug, confident smirk) # 8. Ongoing deliverables, once the character and rig are locked A new approximately one-minute animated clip per future episode, matched to a supplied script/voiceover, reusing the established character design, rig and gesture library rather than rebuilding from scratch each time. # 9. Format and specs - Resolution: 1920x1080 minimum- Frame rate: [confirm with editor's pipeline, typically 24 or 30fps]- Transparent/alpha background where applicable, so the editor can composite over other footage- File handoff: rendered video file per episode for the editor, source rig files retained by you for reuse on future episodes # 10. Timeline and revisions - target date for the first character design round]- number of revision rounds included in the initial design phase]- expected turnaround per future episode once the rig is built] # 11. Budget - Character design and rig build, one-off: - First animated scene, approximately one minute: - Ongoing per-episode animation rate: