Character and Costume Design

Character and costume design is really important for any story told in a visual medium, as it provides a visual shorthand that gives the audience a basic understanding of the character without needing to explicitly state things. A lot of us here have our own characters and stories, and as visual artists and storytellers this is quite a relevant topic :>

So, post your designs here, and discuss! (I'm willing to do crits as well; most of my experience is in actual clothing construction so I approach design with primarily that in mind, but I also know quite a few things about design elements in general.)

Also, if you have found any good references, link them and I'll edit them in. C:

WOOOP 

This is a subject I know nothing about other than gut feeling and some basics |D (Or... well okay I don't know NOTHING. But I am terrible at applying what I do know into actual designs.)

crit meee!! (On both of these, though the right-hand one in particular)

Oooh yes please! I need a board like this desperately! 

I also do have a link with a lot of good references photos of old-timey clothes to start off with: http://www.osfcostumerentals.org/stock/

I'm pretty bad when it comes to designing clothes though, haha I usually go with gut instinct/simplicity things and then sometimes regret it later.

But I happen to have loads of Concept Clothes designs for my Doraks comin' up in Jackie adventures.

Spoiler:

Outfiiits! Any crits/comments for them are welcomed.

And oooh Thane I like their outfits! I think the only thing I could see changing for the one on the right, is maybe the purple? Seems a bit too bright and Easter/Spring feel going with the green/orangey she's got goin' on underneath. Unless thats a feeling you were trying to go for hehe. Or maybe just a darker purple? Or darker other color in general.

The palette was actually the first thing I noticed too; it's a bit too much pastel (and it does come out looking very easterish, with that particular combination). For now I reduced it to greyscale to play with the style; I'll go back into colour later.

Spoiler:

Sky, I really like your palettes; they really complement the doraks' skin tones. :>
I'm wondering about the different styles though; they seem a bit all over the place (unless you are deliberately playing up the stylistic mashup, in which case disregard this comment).
.....also keep in mind, in western fashion dude clothes overlap left over right, lady clothes right over left. Derek is wearing a girly vest in that top one. (and on that note, in eastern fashion everything overlaps left over right, unless you're dead... or just really stupid.)

Woo, feedbacks! 8D Yeah, I was not yet terribly attached to her design (or to her palette) since the comic she appears in is not yet made; I can actually implement a lot of these suggestions. I like the design tweaks!

Though, it says in your post you tinkered with the cloak design (and something about a two-piece style with a back slit?), but I don't see an image. Did you forget to include it?

Oh wow! I never knew that about men's and womans clothes. (Actually, I know SO LITTLE about clothes in general haha - It's a wonder I work in a clothing store XD Customers constantly ask me things about clothes I have nooo idea about haha.)

And yeah the style is all over the place, my reasoning for it is because I imagine if you have the sort of powers they do - the entire universe is yours to take/make any sort of clothes you want as soon as you see them XD

....B'oh I just saw the cloak pics! (Didn't spot the link the first time around). I.... I kind of like the slit as well, I did something like that in this picture though I hadn't fully thought through how the design worked at that point.

Yeah, I remember that one. I like the added definition to the back of the design. (she'll likely appear from the back at some point in-comic and you don't want her to suddenly turn into Vague Cloak Blob when she's got a lot of visual interest from the front.)

Tinkered with the colours a bit-- I picked just two colours for each one to avoid the easter candy look, and I did bring in some darker tones (if the whole thing is pastel it won't read well at a distance). You can also use white/cream/light grey to bring in more light tones without being too pastel.

Colours! :

Ooh.... I quite like these! Specially the values in the 1st (making the cloak darker is a good idea)...

Thank you!

I just did these and figured I'd post them here!

I don't often do armour design (am not particularly good at it) so this was fun to play with!

'not particularly good' pfff

pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

yes 8|

....anyway I've been working on some stuff for a thing!

reviving this topic because reasons

I've been working on this design (want to do a short comic about her)

Your designs are always fantastic, Dusk... I really like the colours on that one.

Haha thanks, I've really been in Design Mode lately.
reminder that this topic is also for wips and design advice (basically other people shouldn't be afraid to post things too)!

These are uniform designs for an elite supersoldier team. Different uniforms for different situations (which I discussed in more depth here).

Going for what makes sense in context is an excellent starting point if you're unsure! (....well it ought to be the starting point regardless, but anyway.) Nearly all design is referencing something even when the designers aren't aware that's what they're doing. It's good to start with an understanding of how clothes work (both in general and in the context of your setting) and then examine what the character would have access to. How someone chooses to dress themself can say a lot about them.

I like the upturned-toe boots! I am quite partial to upturned-toe boots.


I revisited the dragon girl design-- the original colours sort of bothered me from the start because they're all warm tones and to me it wasn't reading well.

Woooo costume designs! Man I am in love with all that layering on dragon girl, dusk! She's looking great *3*

And Selini, I love the skirt style on your post!

I've been hesitant to post because I don't have anything of my own to share, but... I really don't want it to die here again. D:

I just want to say I'm loving all the designs posted. Selini, really looking forward to seeing where you go with Matai's design there. All the sketches you posted look very cool. ^^

And the dragon girl is looking really nice with those colours, Duskglass!

more dragon girl, this time showing her costume layers.

This is something I tend to do a lot (since it's important to understand how layers work) but I've rarely done it in a presentable form like this.