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HGohwell
Nov '20

This is going to be a long post.

So, you might remember a little bit back I made a post asking for some character design feedback. I got some great feedback out of that, took it away, did some rethinking of the designs and I'm back for Round 2.

This time around, a bit more context. For a start, more characters so you can see it more in context. Also, names so you don't have to just keep referring to them by colours or position.

Everyday wear

designs8a.png800x470 283 KB

Phantom Thief wear A

designs3.png800x470 263 KB

B
designs5a.png800x470 263 KB

C
designs6a.png800x470 270 KB

D
designs4a.png800x470 261 KB

E (the try something a bit different attempt)
designs7a.png800x470 270 KB

A few others things that came up in the last one or that you might want to know:

  • It's a low fantasy setting. For instance, the little gold and coloured circles are life watches, when they start losing time, you're nearing your death. And day to day wear is going for colourful but not bright.
  • It's a story about phantom thieves (among other things). There's a TV Tropes1 page for context, but consider them a lot like stage magician meets cat burglar. In many ways, the theft is a show and the aim is to be seen and still get away, so stealth isn't a huge consideration (although I don't want to go too far out on practicality).
  • No 2 and No 3 are twins so that's why their designs are similar. No 1 and No 11 are also a matching set although not related.
  • I forgot No 15's glasses, I might just leave them off.
  • Eleanor is supposed to have weirdly bright noticeable eyes, it's plot relevant.
  • There's no much difference between new No 2 and 3 and old No 2 and 3 design wise because after the last thread I was mostly happy with them.

So, thank you for making it all the way down here if you did. And thank you in advance for any feedback you give me, it really means a lot.

For the original post you can see over here if you want to compare at all or see how far it's come.

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darthmongoose
Nov '20

Oh, this is definitely an improvement since the previous thread!

The palettes feel more cohesive now, and seeing the cast together they all feel like they belong in the same universe / story, and you can kind of get a sense for what their roles might be by looking.

I'm really digging the phantom thief wear B. The dark theme sells "thieves" and those gradients and little splashes like the mask and belts as the sole identifying colour just look so cohesive and cool, plus the white on the chest and collar draws attention up to the face, arms and torso, the most expressive parts of the design where you want the audience attention focused.

HGohwell
Nov '20

Thank you! I definitely feel more confident about them as near-ish final designs. And I'm really glad putting them with the some more of the cast helps. I was leaning toward either B or C mostly, so it's good to have that reassurance that I'm probably leaning in the right sort of direction. Thank you so much for your help on these threads!

DiegoPalacios
Nov '20

These phantom thieves look so cool!

Personally, i like B more. Among all the options is the more solid blend of a team uniform and distinctive looks for the characters.

The combination of white, black and the individual colors gives the characters a touch of style and elegance without looking too formal and without sacrificing their individuality in looks. It also gives them a "stage magician look", which is associated with tricksters.

Option C looks too formal to me. It conveys the "phantom" but it misses the "thief". It also has an unintentional "militaristic uniform" look, which may not be fitting for phantom thieves.

Is curious how much a choice of colors can affect an impression.

HGohwell
Nov '20

Thank you! It's really helpful to have more points of view on it.

This is not quite so unintentional. The reason I threw in the white design is because it echoes their military uniforms. I mentioned briefly in the other thread, most of them come from a pretty strict order, that being the military wing of The Church (because you don't just pick up the skills to be a phantom thief, you either train for years or magic). And those uniforms are all white with a coloured patch to identify them. The biggest hold over from that being the double breasted jacket style. So I thought I'd throw in a white one as a sorta take their military style but turned to their thieving.

CosmicLeon
Dec '20

I was really drawn to C because there is a uniform color of white that ties all the character together a a group. and then I like the gradient and light use of color to differentiate each character apart.