Got any character visual design tips for a newbie?

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

I'm no artist by any means, but I'm an avid pen & paper roleplayer so the advice I would give you is try and get into your character's head. Don't try to think "what would look cool on this character", try and think like your character and then, in that frame of mind, think "what would -insert name here- wear". That way the clothing and style of the character represents them, and speaks as to their personality.

...

I don't feel like I'm explaining myself properly, but there it is. You shouldn't design the styles of your characters, your characters should design their own looks themselves, through you.

[sub][sub]And yes, I'm aware of how douche-y that sounds.[/sub][/sub]

 

[EvilRoy]

I'm not an artist at all, but thinking of my favorite character designs through games and webcomics, the designs I like the best typically have a few things in common.

The first like everyone has already said is simplicity and silhouette - probably no point in going further.

The second is a bit of flair attached to the character and emblematic of the characters personality. Spyro had a upwards horns unique among the dragons you saw, Crash had fingerless gloves and a sharp nose, Max from Paranatural wears a baseball cap in a very 90s way and so on and so forth. Sir Carrot has carrot shaped hair. Tidus had one pant leg longer than the other because he was a tool. Basically something that I as a reader can look at and say "oh, they are this person and do that".

It also feeds into narrative use in the story, because you can use that bit of flair as a shorthand for a person when you need to express something simply and quickly to me or if you want to imply something in story.

Need to in-story bring a character up to speed on something, but you don't want to use a smash cut or six pages of dialog? Cut it down and express it simply - a stick person with a ballcap gets punched by a stick person with spikey hair, and a stick person with sunglasses breaks it up. Max and Isaac got in a fight, Mr. Spender broke it up. You can make it more complex by throwing in a little bit of a narration, but the big elements of the story come across in a straightforward way and you didn't have to say "refer to pages 112 to 123" or rewrite it all to get it across.

Want to imply something clearly and still maintain drama in the story - show the characters coming across a tip of carrot shaped hair. We now know something bad happened/is happening to Sir Carrot so we get a sense of urgency to find and help him. Want to imply shit got real in the past and stayed real - show me Spyro with a broken horn.

Basically little symbols that are attached to the characters but separate from them that can be used to help get stuff across to the reader without dedicating pages of fully drawn characters.

 

[default]

The above advice is all very good. When it comes to colours, stick to two or three at most. Some would argue one main colour with supplementary tones is enough. Always simplify as much as possible. Remove pointless greebles or details. A clean, clear design is always going to be more effective, recognisable and memorable. Make sure they fit aesthetically and are tonally consistent with the rest of your world. Make sure they have 'good lines'. You won't get these right straight away, but keep working at it.


Also, draw them a LOT. And I mean sit down for a few evenings, chuck on a podcast or an album, and do nothing but fill pages of this character.

Different poses, different clothes (if applicable), different moods, different scenes, interacting with objects, as many angles as you can think of, studies of their hands and feet and hair and face. That's how you'll really begin to get a feel for how they look, how they feel and how they flow. You're also wearing in the muscle memory with these new lines so eventually you can draw this character in a variety of dynamic poses with your eyes closed.

 

[Souplex]

Prioritize a distinct and appealing silhouette before you figure out the details.
Try to use only a few colors, and make sure they don't clash.
These are less about good design, and more about good visual continuity:
Figure out the character's proportions, and stick with them. (Make a master copy with your characters in a line in order of their various heights, and something like the vitruvian man.
If a character would make a pose, try making that pose yourself. No escher girls or subway sandwich thighs if you can avoid it.

 

[sageoftruth]

Hope you don't mind me asking here, but how do you post new threads? I can't find any button to do so and can't find help on how to do so. I'm planning on starting one of those "if you could make any game you wanted what you make?" threads, but with the option to submit up to five ideas (you should use spoilers if you want to put up more than one idea though). I don't think I've seen any of those lately.

Go to one of the threads indexes (Gaming, Off-Topic, etc.) and you'll find a light blue button labeled "New Topic". Click on it and you should be able to handle the rest.

 

[EvilRoy]

Also, draw them a LOT. And I mean sit down for a few evenings, chuck on a podcast or an album, and do nothing but fill pages of this character.

A webcomic artist I like quite a bit did one of those for one of his characters as a filler strip.

Spoiler: Expression Exercise

 

[someonehairy-ish]

https://support.steampowered.com/kb/9334-YDXV-8590/dota-2-workshop-character-art-guide
^
that guide is for Dota 2 3D art submissions but the vast majority of it applies to 2D character designs too. I'd recommend giving it a proper read through at some point.