Character Design Advice Corner

[Doubtcent]

I believe all of us have faced this dilemma before. Once we have gotten through the thick of it, learning basic anatomy and perspective, we want to start creating characters and a story based around them. But sometimes, that can be the most difficult thing to do, especially if we want to make them interesting.

From clothing design, facial expressions, and character building, what are tips you can give to budding or existing artists to improve their characters?

[ghostnxs]

Use different shapes for the head that's about all I can think of to make characters interesting, most of my designs just come without thinking.

[SpavVy]

Try to make a good balance with the colors you are using for your character's palliate.
A good example here is one of Vivziepop's characters from Zoophobia (Link)
I think it was really smart to add in a more sandy color to the front part of his body because it really helps his adorable face pop out more and compliments the vivid red and the dark brown.

[ToonDoctor]

Every drawing can be reduced to a geometric shape. Create turn arounds of your characters and basic facial expressions.

[Luminosophy]

This may sound weird but I like to imagine what my characters would look like if they existed as real people. I have a general idea that is unique to them like skin colour, hair colour, etc. Then I study images of people, models, less known celebs etc on google to find certain features that match the feel of the characters. Once I understand what they look like realistically, I turn those features back into stylistic symbols. I found it helped in avoiding same face syndrome.

For clothing design, I follow lots of modern and historical fashion blogs. It's as simple as taking bits and pieces of inspiration from multiple sources and combining them into something new. I'm of the personal opinion that fantasy costumes for serious stories shouldn't look like they came right out of an anime MMO. It's rare to find an entire ensemble that perfectly matches in style and pattern. People wear different boots, gloves, hats and dresses because these are all bought and made seperately.

[KSlinger]

Here are some resources using two of my characters. It's just basic stuff I can think of off the top of my head, but I'll add more if people request anything or things occur to me.

[Luie]

Sameface.

Facial expressions are like personalities. They should have different patterns and visual cues almost completely unique to that character. All expressions have the same patterns (such as lip corners stretched upward in smiles) which many starting comic artists don't have a good understanding of. This can not only make expressions hard to read, but it can also make expressions look the same on every face. Each expression has a different pattern, and each pattern has its own unique limits. For example, characteristics for a genuine smile involve the entire face, including the eyes, eyebrows, and lips. Changing a single facial feature gives you an entirely different kind of smile. Everyone's genuine smile has its own limits, such as how far the lips stretch, how much the eyes squint, etc. Drawing also allows us to push facial structures for even more prominent expressions. Different facial structures/features (such as nose size, lip shape, eyes) also have different looks when paired with expression patterns. There are a lot of animated shows and movies with sameface, but this is far less noticeable because there is sound and movement. In a comic, we are only given snippets of visual information. Making characters look and feel as unique as possible is critical the having an interesting one.

Sameframe.

The same is true for body movement. It's little stuff like this that I feel a lot of people overlook when designing a character. A good way to test this out is to swap a character's outfit, hair, or a single facial feature with another character and see how different they look at a glance. If you feel like you've made an entirely different character, you succeeded. Next swap one character's mannerism, default (or common) expression, movement, or word flow with another character. This should be a little more subtle as things like this are hard to convey in a comic anyway, but the more it stands out, the better.

The other thing is that character designs need to be based off the character's personality, not the other way around. Adding a personality to your character's idea first will help you create a more solid design, especially with body language. Big bulky meaty guys with their chests out and their arms flexed to the side don't appear to have sheepish personalities. They can still be the same size, but they somehow need to visually convey the most prominent aspect of their personality. Maybe the big sheepish guy is ripped, but he stands like a hunched, awkward boulder and tends to fidget with his hands.

Using these things in some combination is enormously important. This limits the need for characters to tell their personalities and opens the doors for them to show it instead. They don't all need to be used, but one thing to definitely focus on when designing a unique character is default (or common) mood, default body gesture, facial structure, and mannerisms.

Think of Elmo and Zoe from Sesame Street. They have very similar body structures but they look and move around differently. The only thing that moves is their mouths and yet even with just that, their expressions are always different. Even if their voices were muted and their speech was typed, their word patterns are different. Their personalities are different and interesting. Their appearances are vessels designed to express their personalities.

Tl:DR I sounds stupid let's just watch sesame street.

Lol I didn't say Zoe says.

[joannekwan]

Ooh yes, definitely please avoid sameface, unless the comic is comedy or is done in a chibi/cute style. It's hard to take something seriously when everyone looks the same. And I've noticed more people acquiring this certain style of doing faces? And they look the same across artists? I'm not gonna drop names here, but it irks me a little when I see it.

Anyway, a good starting point is to draw a bunch of differently shaped cheeks, jawlines, chins, eyes, ears, noses, mouths, and eyebrows to get a library of features. Then just mix and match. And for families, create a smaller pool of features and mix and match those.
If you already have existing characters and want to see how similar/different they are, strip off their hair/facial hair and clothes and compare. Like how I've done here with my male characters.

As for developing your character's personality and background, I highly recommend going through this list of 100 questions.

[kazukitakamura126]

Developing a character's background ultimately depends on what type of story you want to tell and what problem does the world or your characters face. For example, You have a story where dragon are human sized and control the humans. Your character's background would revolve around this premise. Like you protagonist wants to take his home back from the dragons. Based on this goal you can get a basic personality they would stand up for others but is very unforgiving.

Their physical design has to reflect the society the character lives in, their social class and their personality. Here's another design fact to keep in mind is the geometric shapes they make. Circles are more friend, Squares are straight forward and Triangles are more Intimidating. The example character would be wearing clothes or armor to protect himself from the dragons and. The shapes the armor would take would be squares and triangles because his goal is pretty straight forward and the triangles represent his anger and his need to appear intimidating to his enemies. These are loose rules those so you can mix and match to get the best looking outfit. Colors follow something similar, warmer colors represent good things while cooler colors represent bad things.

[Waterdrain]

Actually we were just talking about this kind of thing in one of my classes a few days back. Im not really good at giving advice on this but I do know for character design sometimes using different shapes can help you break out of same face or body types. If you use rounder shapes you get a more younger/more inviting look to the character. When using squares or rectangles it can give your character a stronger and stable look. When using triangles it gives a character a more sleek and demeaning look to them.
Here's one of my characters body type that I messed around with because someone asked me what they would look like if they were thin or over weight.

But yeah, working with shapes can help with character design c:

[abbastudios]

Do research. Everything doesn't have to come out of your head in isolation.

[keii4ii]

The same is true for body movement. It's little stuff like this that I feel a lot of people overlook when designing a character. A good way to test this out is to swap a character's outfit, hair, or a single facial feature with another character and see how different they look at a glance. If you feel like you've made an entirely different character, you succeeded. Next swap one character's mannerism, default (or common) expression, movement, or word flow with another character. This should be a little more subtle as things like this are hard to convey in a comic anyway, but the more it stands out, the better.

I've done both a while ago. The results were hilariously jarring. Fun exercise!

[Stellamari]

One trick that I've learned when it comes to designing characters in general would be to just draw the silhouette first. If you can distinguished which is which then that's good!

[danitasibert]

When it comes to character designs, i have always studied the people around me, they are my biggest inspiration. for example, when i was in high school there was this kid, i never really new him, but i loved the way he carried himself along with his sense of style, it was very different than what i had drawn at the time. I couldn't help myself but to watch him in the hall when we passed each other, so i could study him every time i saw him for a character i was designing, it was exciting for me! (plus no i was not attracted to him like that, i was really just fascinated by his presences and aura).

there are times when i like someone's hair, facial feature, outfit, style,body type, etc. I would use that to get started with my character design, or a piece of jewelry that was in a magazine. I try to use people, objects, etc. in real life to inspire me in a way that i can see if in real life. i think that the best way to designing a character is ti see if it can work (human designed) on an actual human being. (like a cosplayer, they are the best example.)
i hope this helped a little bit, i said what has worked for me, everyone is different, so this way my not work for you.

Band Collision: http://betaofthebass.deviantart.com/gallery/48231402/Band-Collision

[AnnaLandin]

Lots of good stuff in this thread already, but I'll throw my two cents in as well.

1.) Variation is key
Any comic that features more than one character should have more than one facial shape, more than one body type, and more than one type of behaviour. Don't get stuck drawing the same faces bodies just because that's what you feel comfortable with - challenging ourselves is how we learn. Draw short people and tall people, thin people and fat people, people with big noses and people with small noses. Draw people who walk with straight backs and their heads held high - draw people who slouch; draw people who shuffle around.

Example from my own comic:

Leaving aside the contrast in their body shapes and faces (being adult and child, Masahiro and Akane are bound to look very different), I'll use them to talk about movement patterns. Akane's a curious kid, so she tends to walk around staring at things, peeking around corners, never following the path if she can climb over stuff beside the path instead - she's got a very open sort of body language. Masahiro on the other hand, is a more troubled person, and tends to walk around with his shoulders drawn up, arms close to his body to keep from getting into the personal spaces of others - and to keep those others from getting into his. When he's just sitting around relaxing (... for given a value of "relaxing"; he's pretty tense) he tends to slump forward, kind of curling in on himself. He's got a very closed sort of body language.

So, even if they were the same size and shape, they would move differently.

2. a) Functionality
Since these are comic-characters were talking about - you're going to be drawing them a LOT of times. You're going to be drawing them from all sorts of angles, in lots of settings, and if you're drawing it in colour - in lots of various lighting situations. You're going to have to consider their designs from all angles, to make sure you know how to draw it, and to make sure it works from every angle. That awesome tattoo on their arm might look really cool from the front - but when you have to draw them from the back and you realise it doesn't work from that angle.

Then, of course, you have to make sure it's a design that's a.) complex enough to stand out, but also b.) simple enough that you can remember all the details you've put into it. That amazing swirling pattern might seem like a good idea in the design sketch, but that's before you have to draw it in 200 different panels.

2.b)
Unless you're drawing a comic about fashion design or fashionistas in general, it's unlikely that people are going to be walking around in clothes they can't sit down in. The functionality-issue isn't just for you as an artist - it's for the characters as well. What they can and will wear will depend on their personality, their daily activities, and what sort of clothes would be available to them. Someone who works outdoors will be wearing practical, hardwearing clothing. Someone who likes sitting around inside reading will be wearing something suitable for that. Someone who has to run around a lot will probably be wearing sneakers - if your setting allows for sneakers.

Again, to use myself as an example - Masahiro's clothes are ragged and torn and kind of make-shift stitched together because those clothes are all he has available. He has to make do with them, because he can't just turn around and get new ones when the old ones start looking worn out.

3.) Visual keywords
Colour-schemes, patterns, hair cuts, etc. Stuff that will make your readers know that the character is THE specific character, even at a distance or from weird angles. Really think about the colours you choose for their clothing, or the way you make them dress, or how they cut their hair. Use that colour scheme to make them stand out from everyone else - or connect them, specifically, to someone or something else in the comic. Uniforms, for example - they look like the characters wearing them are connected, even if their body shapes and their mannerisms are entirely different.

If I draw a crowd of people, my readers will be able to pick Masahiro out of it, because he'll be the one walking around in a white-yellow-grey outfit, and he'll probably be the only one in the crowd to do so. Likewise, they'll know that the character whose shoulder+sleeve are barely in the frame belong to Akane, because it's blue-beige. And so on.

[foervraengd]

1.) Use some classic tropes as a foundation for your character's general design and personality. Make the character easy to digest for the reader, the deep backstories can wait a little.

2.) Re-use old OCs and give them a makeover, they're perfect to use as background characters - just remove the demon horns, angel wings etc so they match the environment you put them in.

3.) A character based on a common trope can still stand out if you add an extra quirk to their personality, dialogue or outfit. This is a great way to make your characters more diverse and memorable. For example you could make your character stutter:

(this is from a very old comic I did some years ago for the 24h-comic day, hence the crude handwriting. You can read it here!)

4.) In a lot of american/european character design (such as cartoons and comics), shapes are used more on the bodyshape and facial features to emphasise the characters archetype. (example: Disney villains usually have bigger noses than Disney princesses)
In a lot of east asian character design (such as anime and manga), shapes are used mostly on the outfit, weapon and/or hairstyle to emphasise the characters iconic silhouette. (example: you can see it's Sailor Moon even as a tiny chibi 20x20px pixel artwork)
Try to use a bit of both when you design your character.

5.) It's very important to acknowledge the impact you make by using certain features only for certain characters. It's great if you make more characters fat, but not if you only draw the villains/bad guy as fat - while still only draw the heroes/main character as slim and conventionally attractive. This is a thing that bother me way more than sameface-syndrome, because it reinforce stereotypes that actually affects real people. Don't use race, gender, disability, sexuality etc only as your "plot device" or "punchline". It's not original, it's not fun, it's not making your comic better.

[joannekwan]

It's very important to acknowledge the impact you make by using certain features only for certain characters. It's great if you make more characters fat, but not if you only draw the villains/bad guy as fat - while still only draw the heroes/main character as slim and conventionally attractive. This is a thing that bother me way more than sameface-syndrome, because it reinforce stereotypes that actually affects real people. Don't use race, gender, disability, sexuality etc only as your "plot device" or "punchline". It's not original, it's not fun, it's not making your comic better.

I didn't even think of mentioning this because I thought people would be more aware and not do these things nowadays!

[AnnaLandin]

5.) It's very important to acknowledge the impact you make by using certain features only for certain characters. It's great if you make more characters fat, but not if you only draw the villains/bad guy as fat - while still only draw the heroes/main character as slim and conventionally attractive. This is a thing that bother me way more than sameface-syndrome, because it reinforce stereotypes that actually affects real people. Don't use race, gender, disability, sexuality etc only as your "plot device" or "punchline". It's not original, it's not fun, it's not making your comic better.

Oooh, this is a GREAT point!

This is a trope that shows up a LOT in all sorts of media, and it's one that's annoyed me forever. (*) So, so many villains in stuff I've read/watched/played have been ugly, fat, dark-skinned (when the heroes are light-skinned), or deviating from the sexual or gender-norm, and it is kinda gross when it happens, because it kind of equates being different with being evil, or morally questionable.

There's less of this trope around these days, but it still happens, and it's sad that it does. I mean, it even happened in Boxtrolls by Studio Laika, which is an otherwise excellent movie - SPOILERS: the main villain turns out to be a cross-dresser, and it's used to emphasise his villainy/weirdness, and yeah. NOT okay with that.

(*) When I say "forever", I mean forever. I started making up stories when I was still too young to know how to write, and from the very beginning, all of my heroes/heroines were darkhaired or ugly or weird-looking, because everywhere I looked, all fiction had blonde, blue-eyed, beautiful people as main characters, and it annoyed me before I knew how to articulate why. I mean, I WAS blonde as a child, and it still got on my nerves.

[foervraengd]

tbh a lot of people (esp those who aren't artists/creators) don't know this is a thing. Or it's even worse; they are aware about it but don't consider it an issue because "it's just a cartoon/game/joke etc". So we really shouldn't assume ppl already know stuff, especially in a thread meant to share advice heh.

[Wishjacked]

(*) When I say "forever", I mean forever. I started making up stories when I was still too young to know how to write, and from the very beginning, all of my heroes/heroines were darkhaired or ugly or weird-looking, because everywhere I looked, all fiction had blonde, blue-eyed, beautiful people as main characters, and it annoyed me before I knew how to articulate why. I mean, I WAS blonde as a child, and it still got on my nerves.

When I first started writing (around age 11 or 12) my characters were a team of superhero kids. Even as a blonde goofy little kid I was annoyed by how everybody looked the same in the books I read, so my team consisted entirely of fat, unfashionable, and/or ugly people, ha. I think 1/3 of the initial cast was white. And then people who read my story (most of which were kids near my own age or a little older) were upset with me for how my characters looked, so I stopped making unattractive characters right there at the very beginning. :/

I think (and many people have already pointed this out, sorry) that a lot of artists don't spend enough time designing their characters' body language. One thing I do to help myself is to just keep a list of all the characters' individual body language tics... if they tend to talk with their hands, I make a note, as I do if they tend to cross their arms a lot or lean on the furniture.

It tends to make it a lot easier to begin drawing the character interacting with others, and I've found it also helps me build parallels between characters through body language.

For example, in my pirate comic (one day I swear I will upload one of my good comics so I don't have to talk about that one, ha) there's a pair of cousins who I wanted to have some kind of visual connection, but I was having difficulty with it. The pair don't look anything alike and they tend to be the manly man and the girly guy, so I didn't know what to do. When I started mapping their body language I noticed that they both tended to communicate with their whole bodies, so I played with making their wild arm gestures and general bravado mimic each other, and I think it helped a lot. Plus, it's lots of fun. Ok, enough about that.