Character designs

[kyuubi93]

The question I post to my fellow Pokecommunity writers, is this:

How do you go about with you character designs? And how do you choose between two good designs for one character? Right now I'm experiencing this issue cause the main character in my fic is a female. One design idea I have for her and is a little more on the edgy/cool side, while the second outfit (minor alterations) is very solid as well.

 

[Delirious Absol]

That's a struggle... maybe she could have two outfits? I like to draw my characters and their outfits, mainly 'cos I tend to get a bit obsessed with my 'fics lol. If you can, or already have, maybe sketch them out and see which one you really prefer? I'm sort of experiencing a similar thing myself. One of my characters in an upcoming 'fic has a plain black scarf, but I like the idea of changing it to have a blue cyberpunk print... but the plain black also suits him. Rather than go back and change it, I decided that he's gonna be gifted it later in some way as part of his character development.

 

[Ice1]

I pay minimal attention to character design. My characters tend to change clothing and hairstyle often enough anyway, so limiting them to a certain outfit feels wrong. It's an animation trope that I feel doesn't work too well in writing. Readers tend to forget and/or ignore about half of your character description anyway. I feel it's better to create an atmosphere for the character than a strong appearance as it never tends to stick. A long description also kills pacing for me, if I'm being honest.

 

[gimmepie]

I don't think much about style since characters generally appear in my head all but complete. I guess they all have a general sort of style they stick to, like a lot of people, but I don't limit a character to a set outfit.

 

[Sonata]

Unless the outfit/s are going to have some kind of major impact on the story at some point, or in some way tell a part of the story themselves through foreshadowing in some way then I don't think it's important to take more than a few seconds to describe the outfit of your character in terms other than a color and a general garment like yellow t shirt, black slacks, white shoes etc..

 

[starseed galaxy auticorn]

I just go with face claims. Usually, it's an actress/actor I like... or just random ones. As for outfits and such, I just create them on Polyvore and hope the hell I can explain what they (the outfits) look like enough. XD I only focus on the MC because their outfits are often what documents and expresses their unique personalities and such.

 

[Star Arcana]

I find that using the doll creators (on Rinmaru, DollDivine, Azalea Games, and Miss Angst mostly) to craft my character and see how different hair styles, clothes, colours, and such work together. I've even been inspired by certain accessories and/or outfits a create-a-doll has provided (like giving a character a diamond motif, for example).

It also provides a visual, which can be helpful when describing the character or how they look doing a certain action.

Just my 2 cents!