[Design] I need tips on Character Design

[48Tentacles]

I was drawing one of the main characters for my game. It's not the first time I've drawn them, so for this drawing I did some improvements and the character looks better... but I have a funny feeling that it still needs some work, and I don't know how to improve.

Does anyone here have some tips on the issue of Character Design that might help me see better on how to improve my character? Or maybe a video or a pic to share?

 

[richter_h]

Well, first of all, you need to know what kind of characteristics you want to give to your character. Once you nailed it, you might want to work on their other traits that can be put into the design: occupations, fashion taste, tendencies, you name it.

Although it's much better to show us what you've got, so we can pinpoint which part to improve.

 

[MrKiwi]

There are many ways to "improve" your designs, but I'll give you this little guide rule (don't follow it step by step as some sort of manual):

1. Where and why does your character appear. Think of this as the context, is your character from a medieval period or from the modern era, is it rich, or is it poor? Think of general qualities that may influence your characters looks.

2. How does it wants to appear. This is pretty much self-image, what its meant to portray, is it shy? brave? cool looking? On this point I like to idealize and exagerate my characeter concept to make a base, I keep it really simple since there's more you can add to it.

3. How does it actually appears to others. This is hard, but you pretty much want to take what you made on the previous point, and break it. Quite literally, think of it as mixing both of the previous points, and make and accurate representation of your character's self-concept and its context.

4. Take a break, looks for some inspiration, work on your design mentally, and come back to your design. Sometimes we miss a few odd things on the first go, and only after a while we realize "something's wrong". As from experience, sometimes I work on a character for weeks just to give a it complete redesign after a month.

5. Share. Its fine if you don't want people to watch your work for whatever reason, but trust me that getting feedback or just a mere impression from others is so valuable when designing a character, for example if you talk to someone with more experience you might get some good tips, on the other hand, if you get into a non-artist person just a little "looks cute/cool/evil/kind" type of reaction can tell you that your character might or not represent what you wanted.

Hope these little tips can help you!

 

[48Tentacles]

Although it's much better to show us what you've got, so we can pinpoint which part to improve.

I'm seriously considering creating a thread in the Art section, possibly with a label with a definition of WIP. What's it, Work In Progress?

4. Take a break, looks for some inspiration, work on your design mentally, and come back to your design. Sometimes we miss a few odd things on the first go, and only after a while we realize "something's wrong". As from experience, sometimes I work on a character for weeks just to give a it complete redesign after a month.

5. Share. Its fine if you don't want people to watch your work for whatever reason, but trust me that getting feedback or just a mere impression from others is so valuable when designing a character, for example if you talk to someone with more experience you might get some good tips, on the other hand, if you get into a non-artist person just a little "looks cute/cool/evil/kind" type of reaction can tell you that your character might or not represent what you wanted.

Hope these little tips can help you!

>4
I've previously drawn the character/s a few years ago, they used to have a simpler design, so I want to change that while maintaining the sexy aspect.

Gotta plan how to communicate properly, it's difficult to articulate ideas in my mind into words, which brings me to
>5
As I said above, I'm considering opening a thread with my art, cause I'm seeing in this forum people experienced in RPG Maker and I hope this level of EXP is the same for this aspect as well. More heads think better than one head.

Thanks for the tips!


On the subject of the future thread, I still need more updated material, because as much as I've drawn one character, the character is drawn to the thighs height.

 

[richter_h]

I'm seriously considering creating a thread in the Art section, possibly with a label with a definition of WIP. What's it, Work In Progress?

Yes, work in progress.
Although before that, you might want to take another spin on your design before showing it to people around.

Also, while you're at it, be open to people's suggestions, but keep in mind that the final decision is yours.

 

[48Tentacles]

Although before that, you might want to take another spin on your design before showing it to people around.

Question. In character design, I'm assuming that personality, hobbies and all that (including bio) should be included in order to look for a better synergy with the character design. If that's true, should I include the character's description when I show the design into my thread?

 

[RachelTheSeeker]

I've previously drawn the character/s a few years ago, they used to have a simpler design, so I want to change that while maintaining the sexy aspect.

(...)

On the subject of the future thread, I still need more updated material, because as much as I've drawn one character, the character is drawn to the thighs height.

As someone who's fiddled with this same OC of hers for nearly a decade, I hope my advice can help.

First... uh, we still don't know who this character is? It's alright if you want to keep who they are vague. That said, as they seem to be your main character, being able to share details of who they were / are will be be important to custom-fit advice.

As an example, my avatar character, Raziya, is my main character for... everything, really. Who the character is hasn't changed intristically; she's always been a lion-girl adventurer who likes fire magic. Over time I'd added, subtracted and refined elements of her. Some of those bits branched off into other characters -- a barbarian lioness named Kiya, the fact Raziya's SO is an illusionist-rogue like Razzy used to be, et cetera.

Tl;dr I feel you should stick to what fits a uniform character idea. Don't change their traits drastically, but refine them to fit what you think is cool.