Character design - the attractiveness scale

I like pretty, but a real selling point for a character design for me is a distinctive silhouette, or being able to tell them apart at a glance.

Things that attract me to that distinctiveness would be varying body types within a series, or radical hairstyles, for example, one girl would have a beehive hair, or a guy would have two cowlicks sticking out of his hair.

For lead characters, admittedly I like them to be cute/pretty/handsome. I'm gonna be drawing them all the time, might as well draw nice-looking characters >u>; That said, I think there are a lot of different ways to look attractive, and it's fun to design characters with opposing features.

I agree that above all, I want the character cast to be distinctive! Same-face syndrome is a huge turn-away for me when I'm looking at a comic, and I find this especially true when someone designs almost their entire cast to be attractive... like, they often all look attractive in the same way, as if the whole cast could be brothers/sisters. Drives me batty.

Preface: I have partial face-blindness (how does it work? There's a explanation in this Q&A!16), which means that even though I strive to make each character distinct and different from the others, I sometimes am unable to because my dumb brain trips me up. It's not same-face syndrome so much as it is my brain getting stuck on a particular way to draw a thing, and unconsciously replicating it (like, only drawing people gritting their teeth for 3 chapters straight >.<).

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I try to draw a wide range of characters on the pretty-plain-ugly scale! I like to vary it as much as I am able, because it's more fun to me that way. Drawing pretty people is a lot of fun - but so is drawing ugly people, and plain people! I like drawing people who are a mix of these things - people who have very pretty hair, but quite plain faces, or very pretty faces but they've not bothered to shave this morning so it's covered in stubble, etc., etc. Also, my metric for what is "pretty" might be different than that of other people.

I try to suit the physical looks to the personality, and I like to contrast two different physical types with each other - i.e: designing in pairs. Or trios. Let's use visual examples!

These three dorks are in my comic, and mostly appear in scenes together - either as a complete trio, or in some constellation of duo. From the top, they are Kazue, Chouko and Dateh. They're all wearing similar colours (because it's kind of a uniform, with personal tweaks), but they're all distinctly different, physically. Kazue is tiny, all slim and narrow and fairly straight lines, with a slightly elongated triangle shape to her face; she's also very flatchested and narrow across the hips. Chouko is a head taller than she is, with longer hair, a more heart-shaped face, and a more hourglass-shaped figure - broader in the hips and shoulders than Kazue - and her nose is broader and so is her mouth, and she's got more obviously visible eyelashes. Dateh is taller than both of them, and made of heavy, softer shapes, with a very square face and heavier features.

They all contrast with each other in some way - in height, in face-shape, in general body type, etc., etc. - and it lets me draw them all without ever getting bored at repetition.

(also I think they're all pretty cute but I am biased because I'm their mom)

Anyway, variety is the spice of life and also more fun to draw.

I'm somewhere in the middle, I really don't like when character designs get to caricature-ish, while I'm also not a fan if they're just too over the top pretty... it throws me off because usually when they are drawn really pretty artists will not use strong or any expressions on them for the sake of making them stay pretty looking... it's just so mechanical...

I've also been seeing the same where artists are trying really hard NOT to draw same face syndrome. They're so focused on the shape of the face they have given each of their characters they don't do too many strong expressions because it'll mess with the shape of the face.

I just don't like being completely dependent on dialog to read a character's reaction...

We're talking about tastes right? What we find attractive right?
I have a bit of a... hmm, odd taste?

I am indifferent about females, but if it comes to male characters, ho boy!
I like characters that are grumpy badasses with a short fuse, but deep inside they're good, just minding their own business. In which any that have plastered a very unimpressed look on their face, or a deathglare. For some reason I find them very attractive and instant fave the moment I see them.
But that's just my aesthetics, something I like to look at, but not to deal with in person. I'd fight with them all the time XD
I also like the ones that are visibly on the crazy side. Wide grin and demented eyes for example.

And then there's the characters that may be generic, but look much better with certain accessories. Like wearing glasses, dressed in lab coats or suits. Wearing a mask. Tattoo. Maybe a stubble. Bonus points for artificial limbs.
Or stuff like having scars across face or a big nose. Being incredibly tall and lanky.
Dang son, why you're so hot??? Just sit here, and I'll admire your looks all day long.

Well, that's my 5 cents on the matter ;w;

I think I look at it a little differently!

In a way, I don't believe in ugly characters. I don't want to find any of my characters ugly. But I don't really think about it as "prettiness" versus "ugliness," I guess? I definitely try my best to create some characters that are outside of "my type," but when I'm creating a character, no matter what features or body type or age I give them, I want to make characters where I love every part of how they look!

And I mean, that includes characters like these guys.

I want a bunch of different kinds of characters in my comics, and I do work hard to learn how to draw different kinds of people -- and I have a long way still to go! But my challenge when I'm branching out and learning how to draw new features or body types or whatever is usually in learning to see all of them as beautiful. The first time I decided I wanted one of my characters to be chubby, it was important to me to sketch her over and over and over until I could feel really comfortable and happy with her body.
I guess I feel a big difference between making characters that might be considered ugly by their peers, and "making an ugly character," and there's something really cool to me about taking a feature I don't normally like and finding the beauty in it through a character I love. I think you can often tell by looking at a character whether the artist thinks that character is beautiful or ugly. Something shines through!

.......But, y'know, all that said, there is a character in Runewriters who is absolutely drawn as exactly the type of character I personally find attractive....... and it's the guy in red up there. So, uh. There's that as well.

I don't particularly care about "ugly" or "pretty" at all. The only thing I care about while reading is being able to differentiate who is who because in large-scale comics with massive amounts of characters (or books or movies GEORGE R. R. MARTIN I'M LOOKIN ATCHU) I really really lose track of who is who and who did what and where who came from and literally every and anything. I HAVE to be able to tell. If you're talking about art style like DC style verse's anime, I don't particularly care. Same rules apply there too.

This^. I try to differentiate between in-universe standards of beauty and my own preferences (yes hi I love drawing big noses they are the cutest), and when I say "ugly", I mean "not living up to real-world standards of flawless beauty". Like, I love drawing crooked noses and big ears and big eyebrows and pudgy waistlines and hands and feet that are too big to be "pretty", or buck teeth or underbites or protruding cheekbones, etc., etc. Those are a fun challenge, especially when trying to keep them from becoming a charicature.

I do like pretty characters and most of the characters I draw can seen as attractive though not always because I chose to make them that way. When dealing with mass production you sometimes need to find ways to cut corners and of those ways for me is to have easy to draw faces. That often times results in simple, symmetrical faces which is what a lot of people consider attractive. Though honestly one my favorite things to draw are faces of old people.

As many people have noted already, this subject is very very very subjective. But there is obviously a traditional standard of beauty being applied in mainstream comics, both east and west respectively, which I assume is what's being put under the microscope here?

What I'm curious of is how people feel about applying principle to characters they create? For instance has anyone made a character with a larger body type with the reasoning of working against widespread standards of beauty.

I'll happily admit that when I think of a character, my brain immediately does not go to these places and part of that is probably because I'm a bit brainwashed by the "traditional" standards.

That said, there is functionality to consider as well. A character in an action comic who moves around a lot is possibly less likely to be a beautiful
chunky monkey. Whereas a professor-type character might naturally be of a less agile build. This is obviously just one example. I don't personally want to get too caught up in my principles when creating characters, and feel like there are a ton of things that factor in.

PS. Someone mentioned big noses which I agree are damn cute. DS.

When I create a character who is markedly heavy/bony/short/tall/not-traditionally-beautiful, I don't think "let's defy beauty standards!", I think "what works for this character?". In my post above, I've got a character who is very big - tall, big hands and feet, potbelly, the works - and I did that to make him seem physically imposing. He looms over people, even when not meaning to - and he mostly doesn't mean to, because he's got a very soft and friendly personality. He is hesitant and humble and very caring - which all contrasts with the stereotypes we usually associate with big and burly people. That's the contrast I'm after - and he's also designed to contrast physically with another character he is often seen with, who is very small and slim and delicate-looking (even though her personality isn't; she's the type to pick fights and go in swinging. Contrasts are fun!).

... but no, neither of them are conscious let's-defy-standards-of-beauty designs. They do, but that's not the main intent behind my design-choices.

Big nose fanclub hi-five!

I'll also admit I do like pretty xD

While I do like it, how pretty the characters are don't really affect how much I like a story. The main characters don't have to necessarily be super stunning or incredibly handsome, the same goes for side characters. As for when it comes to working on my own story, I love drawing a pretty character or two every now and then, they're just so fun to draw though...

I agree that pretty characters need to have a point of difference from one another. So many anime or harem/reverse harem genres have the same face with different hairstyles and eye colour. It's never really bothered me too much, but it'd be nice to see some variety.

I admit, most of my own characters lean more towards the "pretty/cute" side... Though it feels like more of a "generic cuteness" deal where my art style just tends to look cute almost no matter who/what I draw. While none of them are really meant to be specifically "ugly" (though it should be said there aren't really many people I'd really consider "ugly") some of them are intended to be "prettier" than others (in terms of typical beauty standards) though you can hardly tell lol
What I DO try to do, pretty or not is giving them different features. It's fun to try out different kinds of eyes (especially this!), noses, face shapes, ect. I'm not sure I always SUCCEED in this, and planning to do various practise sketches and ref sheets of each character by themselves to easier keep them "on model" and compare them to each other...

As for other people's comics, I really don't mind that much one way or other, as long as they're an interesting character? I really care more about if the artstyle is "appealing" or not (and even a technically "good" style might not always be appealing to me, it's all down to personal preference - I might prefer a not-very-polished-but-has-potential style in an aesthetic I really like over a technically well-made one in a style that doesn't appeal much to me) than what the characters look like. And in my case, I like the way I draw characters mostly because it's a fun style to draw. yeah

Contrasts and designing against stereotypes is super fun, I approve

I refuse to acknowledge reality unless it is to mock it.
I purposely make my comic's world a warm, pleasant place where cute/pretty/handsome is the norm.
It's all about escapism. Reality is such a horrid place that sometimes you just need to dream of better things.

I like pretty sometimes. I also like to do Beauty and the Beast inspired stories where pretty and not pretty mesh together well in personality, so they're attracted to each other because of that and not because of looks. Well... not entirely because of looks. After all, I think over a major percentage of the population will judge by looks first, so I can't pretend that doesn't exist. I gotta work with it haha!

On the other hand, I try to be as varied as possible and recognize that some people are naturally pretty, so I draw them that way. I also draw people who require makeup to seem flawless and use it as such. Then I also draw people who are somewhere in the middle, though I hesitate to use the word 'normal'. Beyond that I'll draw characters that aren't the conventional pretty, as well as those that we might consider undesirable to look at. Then there are those that are 'ugly' because of a would or burn from an accident. So they have to be added too in order to keep my cast extremely diverse.

We're I doing another type of story I might naturally lean more towards conventional pretty characters, but Forever is a story that shows the light side, but also the deep, dark corners of the world and the imperfections it has inside as well as out. So I need the heavy diversity to best show what I want the audience to see.

I prefer drawing and reading comics with attractive (main) characters, but I have a strong preference for interesting faces over bland ones that meet every standard of conventional beauty, and for there to be plenty of variation between different characters.

It's fun to try and make characters look less attractive, though. I like drawing minor characters because I feel more free to come up with weird faces that I wouldn't necessarily want to use for someone I'm drawing all the time.

I'd have to agree with you. I like attractive characters, but they have to be distinct from eachother. Not the cookie cutter anime body & face type.

Basically remove the outfit and hair to make sure they still look different from their cast.