Character design

[Ashley]

This is directly mostly at manga artists, but I figured this would be a good place to put it since it also has to do with various characters.

Ahem, confusing introductions aside, I need a favor. I am currently working really REALLY hard on a secret (not necessarily manga) project. I have two characters in mind, but my problem is transcribing them to paper...how do I design them? Everything from the clothes they wear to the color hair and eyes they have...I really want to make my work stand out and yet be aesthetically pleasing.

I have scoured the internet and I'm about to start skimming a stack of How-To-Draw books on character conceptualization. How do you guys, the artists, do it? And for you readers, what do certain traits bring out for you? Are red-haired always portrayed as Kyos, are short haired girls ditzy? Etc.

Thank you very much guys!

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Hi Ash,
I don't do manga, but comics. I find clothes, hair colour, eyes etc that suit the personality of my character. Then I may just pull the inspiration out of thin air, but sometimes I'm inspired by clothes, hairstyles etc that I've seen in catalogues, people's illustrations or photos. Then I add my on creative twist to the clothing etc. This is more important if your doing a fantasy style novel or manga but can be employed to some lengths in everyday manga. Think of Tintin's individual tuft of golden hair (had too mention that). It is very distinctive and people know its Tintin just by the hairstyle. Maybe give the character a birthmark or something that just sets them apart from everything else out there. Of course nowdays its a lot harder as there are so many styles but I'm sure you can come up with something!

Hope this helps, Ash!
If not, Sorry!

[chibi_chan]

EDIT: Sorry what I wrote wasn't very good, i'm taking it off.

[ChristianKitsune]

WEll, when i design my charas, i always ask myself, "What is their personality?" and i design off of that. Like one of my guy characters is a really big oddball... He loves originality, and is really crazy, he is an artsy person as well. So his hair is short in the back, and in the front kinda long, he has long blond peices of hair but the tips dyed blue. His clothes are just as crazy of his hair. He usually wears long leather jackets, and his pants have tons of buckles..

So, likei said, i design off of my character's personality.for anatomy help, i sometimes look off of magazine pics.. or i use my drawing manaquine (the wooded posable ones) they can be bought at Wal-Mart for like seven bucks.. (in the art Dept.)

hope that helps!

[Mave]

Eeep. How did I miss this thread?

Ok, this is what I do and it's not very original. My characters are usually based on an existing anime character whose character design I like very much. After deciding on the base, I work on modifying his/her character/physical characteristics. Ex. Character A is going to be something like Kenshin Himura but with black hair, a little taller, no scar and wears normal clothes.

It helps to start working from stereotypes. Personality plays a role and the modifications of Character A goes with it. Let' s say, Character A is a dark and angsty fellow. So I make him wearing dark clothes and have uneven layered hair cut to indicate a rebellious streak. I might add a earring and tattoos for more effect. Stereotyping -->Black = angsty, dark, depressing or Rebellious = earring, tattoo, bad haircut

Another thing I do is create characters based on real life people around you. Some of my characters look like my friends.

That's about all I usually do. Hope it helps. ^_^

[Debitt]

I usually determine a character's personality and function in the story before I ever start designing their outward appearance. Often how a person percieves themself and what relationships they have with those around them, as well as personality play an important role in how the person dresses/grooms themselves in every day life. The same basic ideas govern how I create my characters appearance. IE: A happy, outgoing, attention seeking character of mine will probably have bright hair (possibly dyed), friendly eyes, and keeps themselves well groomed and dresses nicely. But on the other hand, someone darker, who may not have a good perception of themselves would probably have messier hair, a perpetual stare, hand-me down clothes, etc. I don't generally stereotype, persay, but sometimes I do look at the people around me who may have similar personalities to the character I'm trying to portray. ^^

[Dark_angel]

I agree with what Mave said. I like to base my characters on an existing character, and then alter his/her clothes, looks in general, and hair. I personally find stereo-types tiring, but according to the story or personality of character, it's not always bad. Also, I like to match my characters to the things in the storyline, and carefully develope them as I go. One thing I do is first determine their personality, then according to that, decide their hair, (long, bright hair for a happy-go-lucky person, short for sporty, etc.) and then find clothes that would further bring out their characteristics. The eyes are very important, it speaks volumes of unwritten stories of the character, and give insight into their life/personal feelings. Another thing you can do is look for people around you or that you know, and then just use them as a basis, I've done that before, it's very useful most of the time. ^__^

[emersongreen]

what i do is i imagine that i was in the characters shoes......if i were in his/her circumstaces, what would i wear/dress/look like?

it's not easy to pretend to be one of your very own characters, but i have found this a very rewarding method for character design....also, look at photo's in some online photo album site, and look for pictures of normal people who have the right appearance for your characters traits.....for instance....look for pictures of distressed ppl if your character is depressed/distressed, etc.etc.etc....get the idea?


wel...i hope that this helps

[ShiroiHikari]

I usually determine a character's personality and function in the story before I ever start designing their outward appearance. Often how a person percieves themself and what relationships they have with those around them, as well as personality play an important role in how the person dresses/grooms themselves in every day life. The same basic ideas govern how I create my characters appearance.

I usually do things this way too. sometimes I come up with appearance first, personality second, but not usually.

[Ashley]

First off, thanks for everyone's input.

My problem is I have their personalities, but (out of naivete and not superiority) I don't KNOW of any characters like them. So I can't really base anything off them. Plus they are rather complex, so I don't know what traits to emphasize. O.o

Perhaps this would help:

CHARACTER A is a female, late teens. She is depressed (extremely) and goes through a lot of emotional trauma at the beginning. By the end, she has changed into a brighter, "normal" person; not perky, not off the wall ecstatic, but happy/content.

CHARACTER B is a male, approximately early twenties, who is both somber and tender. He can come off as distant, but at the same time he is very filled with compassion for those he cares about. He works as an intern at a music agency. So he must be well dressed but have a casual side too. He's quiet, somber, but as I said, gentle. He's also one of those people who get nervous at "sponatenous activity"

[RoyalWing]

I don't know if I can help, because usually when I come up with a character, they are already created in my head and all I have to do is come up with small details on the paper.

Your first character I think, has 2 possibilities: would be best if she didn't care very much for her appearance. Kind of Messy, tied back hair, not very 'feminin'. or, complete opposite, she is so insecure she completely goes wild with her appearance. At the end this would not change very so much except maybe, just a little of less (this is for both possibilities).

Second character, sounds like a mature man. Neat hair, neat appearance, does not laugh and smile widly often, but gives little kind of nice smiles once in a while. What do you want for them? To me, it sounds that you are more developed in your second character~

Ashley I didn't talk to you in a long time, I wish you good luck with every thing!

[Kireihana]

CHARACTER A is a female, late teens. She is depressed (extremely) and goes through a lot of emotional trauma at the beginning. By the end, she has changed into a brighter, "normal" person]
Maybe you should have her character go through a physical as well as emotional change. (I'm sorry if you were already planning on that.) For example, at the beginning, she dresses dark like a lot of angsty teens. Maybe wears long sleeves and pants to cover up (if any) physical harm she does to herself. I would guess someone like her would try to dress rebelliously to set themselves apart or alienate away from everyone else. When she changes, you could make her more subdued, maybe try some different colors and less extreme clothing. Just a subtle but pleasant change so that you can see she is a happier person without totally changing her personality.

CHARACTER B is a male, approximately early twenties, who is both somber and tender. He can come off as distant, but at the same time he is very filled with compassion for those he cares about. He works as an intern at a music agency. So he must be well dressed but have a casual side too. He's quiet, somber, but as I said, gentle. He's also one of those people who get nervous at "sponatenous activity"

I would make him look like a "normal" boy. Cute, but nothing outstanding about him. Sure, you might want to give him a few specifics that make him stand out a bit, but considering his personality, a super-wacky-original design probably wouldn't suit him. You could maybe play off the fact that a calm, average person like him has a job normally reserved for more "eccentric" people.

Sorry if my suggestions don't fit with your ideas. They're just what I was thinking. I wouldn't try to be too original with these characters, because for me at least, stereotypes are good visually. They help people connect with the character even before they know much about them. You know how you can look at someone and say "oh, that girl is depressed", or "wow, that guy looks like a nice person". Think of what people like that look like and then incorporate it inot your character.

[Liger'smane]

<Character A>
I personally think of this girl as having sholderlength hair that is constantly up with bangs down to hide her eyes. Um, I don't think the whole dark colors think is as improtant as her need to feel accepted. I think she might be a chamilian of sorts and either, always try to be 'in fashion' or try to were just 'normal' enough clothes to be overlooked. Maybe elbow length-gloves?

<Character B>
He sounds like the guy who goes to work in the morning in a nice shirt, nice pants/nice jeans, and absolutely NO TIE. He just doesn't seem tie matterial. Um, nice short hair... maybe a bit of front spiking... very little if any, perhaps some sideburns? Um, defanatly NO PLAD! Sorry, any selfrespecting character shouldn't wear bright plad!!! Yeah... um, maybe nice jeans... aka, NO CARGO POCKETS...

That's about it... hope it helps

[Sparrowhawk]

I'm a beginner so this mayt be useless...
I'm currently designing four characters *eye twitching from staying up many nights drawing over and over and slowly going mad* for a manga I'm writing. When I design a character, i first think of personality, then start at the face and work from there, because i consider the face the most important (especially the eyes). As far as how. Combination of how to draw books, watching real people and other manga/anime and asking what generic things seem to bring out that personality, considering what kind of background my characters are coming from and then just have fun making the character my own. I find the easiest way to do that is just free sketch with only with a VERY VERY basic quick sketches (taking about 2 min each) and keep making quick ones till i find one that i think will work if i work at it. Still, it drives me crazy *eye still twitching*. Oh one last thing, your question about:
And for you readers, what do certain traits bring out for you? Are red-haired always portrayed as Kyos, are short haired girls ditzy? Etc.

I don't think so at all. I have seen some short haired girls that are not ditzy. In fact the earliest sketch for one of my players who is the complete opposite had short hair. The way she looked was more like she was tired of being around "ditzy" people. When I'm drawing, reading, or watching to me the eyes and face portray more personality next would be the way the character acts (crazy arms spread out always running around, or slow moving, thoughtful, purposeful, etc). To me, the only effect hair has for me is when it is covering the eyes (makes me think they do not want to be known, normally because of lack of self-esteem or because they are doing something they do not wish to be known) and someitmes (not always) really wild looking hair makes me think the person is extremely carefree and a little absent minded. whew, i have said WAY, WAY, WAY too much. Sorry everybody!!!!

[Yumie]

I don't draw well, but I think I'm usually pretty good at character analysis, so I think I'll give it a shot.

When I read your descriptions, what came to mind for the female first off was dark hair down to about the shoulder blades. Maybe kind of stringy (well, I'm not sure that's really the word I'm looking for, but it shouldn't look like she bothers to take care of it.) I think it would look good if it was all tucked behind her ears except for one piece that hangs down and sort of hides her face. As for her clothes, if I was really depressed I don't think I would bother to go all out for the "woe is me I'm so depressed" look, I don't think I would bother with all that. So maybe just a simple tee shirt or tank with a pair of jeans? For her stance, I think it would best portray her outlook on life if she was a little hunched over and kept her arms crossed tight across her chest-- it would give the idea that she was trying to quell the pain she feels and would serve as a constant reminder that she's depressed. For her facial features, it I think it would look right if you made the corners of her mouth turned down, to show that she habitually frowns and is not accustomed to smiling much, if at all. And lastly, since the eyes are the windows to the soul, I can best picture them being sort of dark and lifeless looking, to give the impression there's not much of the vivacity of life left in her.
As for the guy, you know Yuki Sohma? Well, I totally picture him with those sweet little Yuki Sohma smiles, gentle and unobtrusive. I think if he works in the music industry he should definitely be stylish-- image is important when you work with artsy people all the time, you definitely have to look professional. I'm not sure that his hairstyle is really all too important, just so long as it looks stylish or at least up to date. But I think his eyes should be really bright and sparkly, to give a kind of warm and inviting feel.

Anyways, that's just my two bits, and I'm probably wrong, ha ha, but I hope it helps at least a little!

[true_noir_chloe]

I guess I can throw in my two cents:

Well, according to Mave's process of working with something already out there and then adjusting, I'd say Character A reminds me of Lain or Sunako and Character B reminds me of Frey from Tsubasa Chronicles, or any kind long-haired dude.

I don't know if that helps, but that's what came to mind when I read your first description.

So, my conclusion would be that the girl has mid-length hair. I like the idea of her either wearing hats or wearing her hair mussy and over her eyes, similar to Sunako in "Wallflower," at the beginning and then as she transforms you see the beauty inside begin to transpire to the outside, in that she begins to pull her hair back and away from her face, and her eyes are beautiful.

For the guy character, I think he is very stalwart, as everyone else here has pretty much stated, and clean cut. However, I know that there are some pretty wonderful long-haired geniuses (OldPhil and my son come to mind ~_^), so a long-haired guy would be alright. In fact, it would go against the grain and may actually be more original. Plus, I think a musician would be great with long hair and maybe an earring.

Maybe make him stand out a little from the others in a crowd, since he has a big heart and would be slightly non-conformist. In that regard he might be more like the doctor character in "Girl Got Game"... or in "Hana Kimi" - I forget. ^__^;;

Anyway, that's my input.^____^