Open Peeps, the splash
open peeps
illustration
A hand-drawn library to build people
Open Peeps
People, some assembly required.
A hand-drawn illustration library where you mix and match heads, hair, faces, and poses to build a person.
Open Peeps works like a construction kit. Snap a head onto a body, swap the hair, change the expression, add a moustache if the moment calls for one. Every piece hand-drawn, every combination a new little person.
I drew it wobbly on purpose. The shaky line is the whole point... it makes the characters feel made by a hand, not a machine. Then I put it out for free, CC0, no strings.
Same kit, a room full of strangers
The kit
Draw the parts first
Before you can mix anything you need the pieces. Heads, hairstyles, expressions, poses, accessories... a whole wardrobe drawn as separate parts so they'd slot together cleanly. Line them up and you can see the system: swap one thing, get a different person.
The moustaches
At some point I fell down the moustache hole. There are, uh, several studies. I kept drawing them because a face changes completely with the right whiskers, and honestly it was just fun to make.
The mixing
One system, endless people
The magic isn't any single drawing, it's the combinations. Every head can meet every body, every hair, every face. That's how a handful of parts turns into a crowd, and how a designer with zero illustration skills can still build exactly the character they need.
Keep digging
Thirty-something faces
open peeps
illustration
The parts laid out
open peeps
process
Five peeps, one scene
open peeps
illustration
Mix-N-Match, literally
open peeps
illustration
Everyone gets a mustache
open peeps
animation
Seven people, pink background
open peeps
illustration
Open Peeps became one of the most-used illustration libraries on the internet. Free was the right call. Un abrazote to everyone who built a person with it.
Next up
Open Doodles →
Free sketchy people for your slides and souls.