Character design - the attractiveness scale

[Ghostie]

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.

[AnnaLandin]

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.

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.

[Mane]

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.

[TheVoidchildProject]

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.

[AnnaLandin]

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.

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.

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

Big nose fanclub hi-five!

[ashriott]

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.

[Zanreo]

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

n 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!).

Contrasts and designing against stereotypes is super fun, I approve

[carloswebcomic]

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.

[serverpanda]

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.

[gateofselidor]

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.

[MylCreates]

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.

[Strontium]

I prioritize cuteness over attractiveness. Actually, I really struggle with designing conventionally attractive characters because I guess I just lack experience being attracted to people in that way. So most of my characters are either very cute or just kinda cute. I like to joke that the most attractive character who appears in my comic is Isaac, who hasn't shown up yet, but once a picture of him got a lot of likes on Wysp so I have this joke that people find him attractive.

Despite that I do believe that attractive characters are a huge draw for people. I repeatedly see comics on Tapastic get very popular when their characters are conventionally attractive, even if the story/writing isn't as strong (note: not talking about anyone here's comic). Also, stories that place a lot of emphasis on relationships between attractive characters are even more popular and draw in even more people. Since nearly my entire cast is asexual and aromantic, and the one main character who isn't is already in a relationship, there isn't anything to ship or any pairing to root for in my comic, which could be a drawback to readers who really enjoy romance and shipping.

But I don't plan on introducing any attractive characters anytime soon. I like my characters cute and cartoony, and I am happy there are no shipping wars going on in my comic, because then we can focus on the cool mysteries and magic fights!

[kkitty]

I feel like anything could be attractive if it's drawn that way.

Unfortunately my art skills only go so far and it's really hard to draw in subtle differences. The biggest distinction are the eyes. I've never been accused of sameface but I always draw men with below shoulder hair because it just looks more normal to me and there's more you can do with it.

Since I'm writing a romance, I just make everyone as attractive as possible.

[Luminosophy]

I don't agree with the idea that they have to be ugly to be distinguishable. I design mine to still be pretty/ beautiful (depending) but take specific traits from the real world (such as specific nose shapes, lip shapes, jaw shapes, eye shapes etc) and apply them to the characters according to how I envision them.

[stephensharpe707]

I quite like how @PopteenPrincess just put it, if it's drawn well it can be attractive. I've seen comics and artworks depicting grim stuff, but drawn in such a way that there is an appreciation for it, and I'm sure the same can apply to characters.

As far as my creating character process goes, I feel they all tend to look a little generic (with a dash of same face syndrome thrown in).
I try to throw in some distinguishing features, but nothing overly "ugly", I get the feeling it could go south very fast if not handled properly.

Something else I've realised is that I don't play with age a lot...With the exception of maybe one character, a lot of them don't look a day over 30, whether this is a side effect of wanting characters to look nice, I don't know, but something I need to address.

[nattbear]

I have nothing against characters that are attractive or good looking, but it goes differently when every single character in the same story is attractive, or then old person being like young people with a little wrinkle on their faces. There are diferences and i really get frustrated when i can't have the least idea about a character's age. But, as a lot of people here said before me, what i found most important is to be able to distinguish one character from another. I get kinda upset when i have to read everything again because i just could't tell who was the person talking D:
Well, in my webcomic i have made one of my objectives to try to show different kind of characters.

[miseryhunting]

A character should not be necessarily pretty, but their design should be appealing. This would mean that the combination of shapes, colours and accessories is well matched and is not annoying to the reader. Keep in mind that you'd like a design which would be easy to replicate multiple times and would be fairly expressive.
Most importantly, make the design tell something about the character, it's just one of the ways to share information - Are they really kind? Then big round eyes would usually convey this. Are they very hardworking/busy? Make them a little dirty. There are many theories on character design related to their nature online, most are aimed at animation production but the same could be applied for comics.
You like a character design even when they are not pretty, because it tells you something about them.

[Vanzish]

I tried very hard to make my characters look different physically and now every time i add an episodic character i strive to give them unique features. I do like pretty characters, but there are so many types of pretty that i'm not certain characters can be ugly.

There are characters i specifically made to be pretty, but pretty after my standards, what i find attractive, thus not universally valid. Mine usually still retain that poodle face because of my style XD
>

Apparently characters resemble the creator in a way or another

But i love seeing other people's characters with all their flaws, imperfections, with their beauty or ugliness. They're all really good. A good personality also makes one appear more beautiful imo, well if the character is well written.

[keii4ii]

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...

cough cough SQUARE ENIX

[keii4ii]

I don't agree with the idea that they have to be ugly to be distinguishable.

I fully agree with you, but there are... extremists who look down upon any character design that fits the "conventionally beautiful" description at all. ;_;