How do you approach and what do you personally like in character designs?

[inkythoughts]

Hey everyone!

I just noticed how differently people approach character designs, and I'm very curious how you guys think about this topic! Another aspect I'd find very interesting is how your drawing style and the comic's setting/premises influences character design as well, so yeah, tell me about it

I personally have a semi-realistic art style and with my current comic I always think about where the character comes from (ethnically) and which features are prevelent for their heritage (easiest task if I already know how their parents look like) - from there on it's mostly playing with features and also thinking about what traits aren't common yet in my character cast (tall/small, big/slim, facial features, disabilities etc.) Then I think about their personality and their funds for clothing, how they'd wear their hair and clothes. A practical person for example probably would wear short hair or have them tied together, plus their clothes would be mainly functional and might even be a bit mismatched style-vise. Someone who is very into aesthetic clothing probably would wear something that looked really nicely but might be impractical (too hot, too cold for the weather, not very functional or even completely uncomfortable for their tasks...) Flashy personalities would probably wear brighter colours than someone who is rather mellow and shy. Someone poor probably would think twice about purchasing a new, fashionable piece compared to a more versatile and durable one. If they're sentimental, they'd probably have a few trinkets that remind them of X or have general emotional/nostalgic value to them.
I also developed specific fashion trends for different regions, cultures, decades, and subcultures.
I really like to show that they are like real people who express their personality the same way we do - through clothing and styles, even if it just happens unconsciously, even if they "don't really care about it."

So yeah, tell me about your views and approaches and what stylistic and symbolic backgrounds you use!

[djwaglmuffin]

Well....this is a hard question to answer, tbh.

Personally, when I was in the Navy, I was sitting at a post somewhere when I got struck with this idea to create a story revolving around angels. I created the first character from that idea not long after and I started watching stories/reading comics with those themes in it.

Then I decided that JUST angels was boring so I threw in some vampires. It was still boring.

And, at first, I remember this story took place in Europe with those same cliche vampire-story themes and I was in art school at the time when I threw what I working on in a dumpster because I thought it was total crap. So, to clear my head, I went to a museum that was dedicated to western themes and I stood in front of this picture of an unnamed Native American man from the Lakota and it all kind of hit me out of left field, but I started rewriting my whole story but set in the old west instead of Europe, and from there, started to tailor my characters to that timeline.

I guess, what I'm trying to say is. I get inspired for characters from different sources and I listen to people and observe things about people be it culture, clothing, personality, the way they talk. Sometimes I wonder if it's an automatic thing that I do because later I'll sit in front of a sketchbook or open word doc and just start interjecting what i learn from people into what I'm writing.

People/places/history. I take a little from everything because I honestly believe humans are sponges for that kind of thing. That's why I think what we as content creators do is so important. We can help to open minds for different things.

Did I answer this right? lul /rant

[yozhikisblue]

Ooh- this is a really interesting topic. I'd love to hear about different people's thought processes on this too!

Personally, I tend to create a sort of mood board. Ethnicity/heritage definitely play into this, but I mostly focus on the "who", similar to what you (@inkythoughts) described - in my case this looks like trying to get into the character's head and feel out what their morning routine is like. I'm a fan of characters having symbolic colour schemes, and even though my style leans heavily towards the realistic, I like having an element of caricature to how characters look.

To me this often means stepping away from making characters look "conventionally attractive" in favour of an appearance that stands out as very much their own. I've done a lot of quick portrait drawing at fairs/craft show events, so I think that helped improve my understanding of the sheer variety of facial feature combinations out there, and how they give a face personality. I try to apply that as much as I can. (P.S. I would highly recommend this to anyone who, like me, hasn't had a formal art education and just kind of picked up things here and there- well, actually anyone who hasn't tried it- it's a really cool experience!)

Example character doodles :3 >>>

[djwaglmuffin]

moodboards are so important.

take everything that inspires you and slap it on a piece of proverbial cardboard.

nods in agreement mm, yes perfect.

[silverraven0]

I just... create them...?

Lol. My drawing is pretty much in manga style, but I still need to learnt how to draw peoples differently thought.

[Strontium]

For my comic, all my character designs are simple so I can draw them easily every time they appear on the page. It's a time saving tool I use because I can't spend too long drawing.

I went through a design phase where I made a lot of characters who were mostly white with some color. I then went through a phase where I just threw shapes and colors together for fun and practice. Now I don't do so much random character designing but I shifted from spiky characters to rounder, blobbier characters over the years.

[yozhikisblue]

That's interesting- so your character designs now mostly begin their lives as shapes? I had heard about this being a thing from friends who had studied animation in college and remember being fascinated by it. I most definitely put way to much detail into the design of characters that I know I'll have to draw over and over again x')

[Nika]

It may sound kinda stupid, but here it goes: create Pinterest boards dedicated to your comic/story!

Really, it helps a lot. I, myself made lots of board dedicated to outfits that would fit my story setting, weapons that I can see my characters using, hairstyles that would be a new fashion trend or something, even fricken architecture that reminds me of something from my story.

While you build your boards it'll be easier to create something out of all these things that you like or think that would look nice in your story. So yeah, create boards for every little thing and when you want to create a new character just look through the things you pinned and find something to inspire you!

Recently I was brainstorming how I wanted to portray my main protag (for some reason she was always the visually undeveloped one, lol), so I went through my boards for hairstyles first. I chose the ones I felt would both look good on her and match her personality the most. Then I chose the pins of girls that reminded me of my character, so I can have lots of faces and facial features to chose from. And then I looked through my boards with clothing.

So, I gathered everything that inspired me and made me think of my character. I had them laid out before me while I was drawing. First I concentrated on the facial features that I wanted my character to have, like, I wanted her to have this kinda nose or this eyes or eyebrows and from there, I tried to make the other features look right next to them. After the face, I drew her with different hairstyles inspired by my pins and when I felt she looks cool I went to clothing. Now, when it comes to clothing I do it like I do faces. I pick one thing that I like and try to think of different thing would look nice with it. Also, I don't know if it's something worth noting or nah, but it helps immensely if you don't draw lots of details while doing clothing. Just go with the feeling and think of how the shapes look!

Also I love to design characters with certain color aesthetic in mind. Like having a dude that is cold and aloof wearing blue as his character specific color.

So, basically, this is my way of creating characters. I must say that I very much like your way of doing this. Definitely gotta adopt the part about their funds and personality impacting the way they wear their clothes and what they wear.

[dawgofdawgness]

How do I approach:

Each of my characters are based off of shapes -

Frances (my MC) is based off of circles as she's generally friendly and approachable- I gave her a round face and chubbed her up for the circle/round effect. I also spiked up her hair to make her look a little rowdy and hyper. I usually give her baggy clothes (like a T-shirt) and a silly zipper-sleeved jacket to add to the loose/laid back personality.

Azzi (Supporting), who is cold and slightly aggressive, is based off of triangles- her face, torso, and legs are all reminiscent of an upside down triangle. To top off her design, I gave her a some flat, straight hair for her overall cold and somber appearance. Her clothing is usually tightly wound around her body and I gave her unusually large boots to bring out how skinny she is.

Triangles are actually mostly used in villains' character designs, mainly because they come off as sharp and edgy (duh) - a lot of the times they contrast with the main characters, who are usually circle-based or square-based. Take a look at Incredibles for a better reference.

here are some really good links for character design!!

Tips on Character and Costume Design by Aaron Diaz

(Floobynooby is my bible)

What I personally like:

I love it when characters have an "emphasized" lower half -when done correctly, this makes them look sturdy and balanced. For example, I really like Sora's gigantic shoes:

And the "parachute pants" from Kim Possible:

[joannekwan]

When I design a character, sometimes they'll have a story or setting to fit already, sometimes they won't.
Many of my character designs are based off real people I see on the street that I will ascribe personalities to.
And for any historically inspired stories I'll do research into the population at the time, what they wore, the ethnic make up, etc. For example I'm developing a story set in an alternate Black Forest around the 1800's. And instead of having two white characters I thought I'd have them be of Turkish origin. I did some research, it lined up, and so it became.

But first and foremost I try to craft real people. They're diverse, they're not always super hot, they have different lifestyles, they carry themselves differently, all that. I think this very early cast page for Sarota Springs shows this off well.

I don't pay much attention to silhouettes and shape language though. I feel like they promote pigeon-holing and typecasting. And silhouettes I've only found useful in actual silhouette situations. So unless you're doing a lot of dramatic lighting, have a story set at night for a lot of it, or designing video game characters where it's necessary to see the outline of your enemies/teammates, I don't think it's too necessary.

And odd things I personally like in character designs? When the art style of the characters reflect the art historically produced by the cultures and settings they belong to. So like Disney's, Hercules, Mulan, Hercules, and Emperor's New Groove.

[Strontium]

I mean yeah, for the most part! I use shapes to block out my characters. For instance, my comic character Trickster has a more oval-shaped head than Cyrus, who has a very round head, or Helene, who has a wider head. Those are easy shapes I can draw again and again in thumbnails, which speeds up the process.

[Wumbl]

Silhouette mostly - I try to give characters a particular vibe on how they present themselves. I like to have a variety of bodies too to help keep them memorable.

Also I don't like characters wearing the same clothes all the time so I like to give them varied alt outfits where it makes sense. I will design 3-4 main outfits that suit their particular vibe/style. Sometimes I will make even more if it feels right. I think it's a lot of work but it's something that's worth it for me.

[inkythoughts]

It's really interesting to hear about all of these!

I knew about the circle/triangle/square method like @dawgofdawgness already but I personally have a similar view on it like @joannekwan. I generally don't work well in more stylised styles to begin with as it's not how I want to tell my story, though those shape-based character designs definitely work for other types. I just don't really agree with the theory that circle = friendly, square = stable, triangle = dynamic/evil, or at least I wouldn't like to use them under this premise.

Oh yes, pinterest boards! I don't really have them for each character like @Nika, more as a universe/story board (oh yeah, great pun) for a more general story aesthetic. Since all of my characters have several hair styles and clothes since let's be real, it's weird if you only wear one top for the rest of your life (pretty much what @wumblebumarts said), I prefer to keep the inspirations more to the different trends and regions in-universe than fixed to one character.
I still have (very few) character moodboards, but I usually come up with a complete design before I even start them, which then end up more as a reminder of what the character is supposed to be, about their origins within their world, or getting me into the mood when I have a scene with them. (I currently only have them for my main characters.)

even though my style leans heavily towards the realistic, I like having an element of caricature to how characters look.

This is really interesting! I still have a quite a lot characters who look conventionally (VERY) attractive. I might keep your tip in mind :^D
I also noticed that if I use pencil sketches of their faces first, it's also easier to come up with flaws as they are basically all the accidents that you maybe can't fully erase anymore. That's how a few characters got their moles, scars, or crooked noses. I don't really like to change their innitial design too much if their personality changes as that can still be expressed in the way they dress, wear their hair, etc.

I think my designs deliciously fail the silhouette test :'D but I'm not sure if it's really that necessary. If it's the point to make distinctive designs you can recognize a mile away, then it probably is, but if your point is "anyone could be in this world and be my protagonist" it's kinda counterproductive.

[JaRRtoons]

I personally like clean lines and smooth curves. There should be a flow to everything and it starts with my character designs. Since my characters are based to pop culture I try to make me designs close enough to recognize the character without making them a direct copy. https://m.tapas.io/series/Fairy-Stories

[Pandastrophic]

I think sometimes I just see a trait I like in the street or in a photo of a person, usually it's a hair style or clothing or theme and I just sketch a random character. But that's just a sketch and usually the nameless sketch doesn't develop into an actual character untill I feel like drawing them again or I feel like maybe this character has potential to be in a story? If I sketch a character design I think is cool I start to build up the character, personality, hobbies, occupation, back story and only revisite the design again after I have a substancial amount of details for the character. Then I edit the character design again to match their identity and personality better.
So it's more like: Basic Design -> Research + Character development -> Redesign and improvements. I just find going through several drafts of designing the oc a lot better than researching a ton and designing at the end.

A lot of my characters and stories are set in modern day and are about regular people so I do my best to make the way they look as unique as possible but still be realistic? I also love giving my characters a personal style of clothing, I have to draw them in new clothes all the time in the comic so I'm constantly designing new outfits and it makes it a lot easier to make sure every character has their own sense of style.

[yozhikisblue]

I admire the simplicity of your designs! I work in graphic design as well as doing illustration, and have always found simplifying concepts to be deceptively challenging. You do it so well

[yozhikisblue]

Huh, so do your characters typically begin their lives as sketches without a specific context or goal, and then evolve from there? I often find myself kind of doing the reverse of what you're describing here, where I have a nebulous collection of traits in mind for a character (stories/narrative come to me first) and then I'll be working in a cafe and see a patron who kind of looks like what I've been imagining and the appearance of the character just clicks x)

[akemikae]

For me it really varies. Sometimes it's just a sketch that I liked enough to turn into a character design. Other times it's because I had a type of character in mind and would design them based on that. I also try to pay attention to what their age is, so that I can dress them properly. I actually have two series now, one where they're college students, and one where they're high school students, and they dress a lot different.

Honestly, a lot of the time their personality will come out based on what I ended up drawing. If I think too hard about designing a character, I've noticed they come out stale and uninteresting design wise. So I tend to let my hand do the thinking, and then I go from there.

College Kids.

High School.

Wish I had better examples, but yeah, I don't have very good turn around sheets at the ready.

[Pandastrophic]

Lol yeah that's like the opposite of my process, would be interesting to try it out tho!
I sketch a lot of random characters with traits I feel like sketching and most of my illustrations are also namless characters that just fit the theme of the illustration and usually not of my current oc's. There are even character designs I have that I frequently draw but they don't really have solid personalities or even names. It does kinda start very look based but also if I decide I want to turn the design into an oc I always find that the design changes by the end. I hardly ever designed a character to fit into a story (aside from really minor characters) and most of my stories are just about the characters personal stories and struggles. For me it's like design, personality and then maybe story.

[yozhikisblue]

Thank you for sharing that. I don't mean to be weird, but it's so fascinating to me because this really is like the complete opposite of how my mind works! x) It sounds like your process is much more spontaneous and probably generates more variety as a result.