My design process

Character clothing and clothing iterations 

So after completing my character design pages for my two future situations, picking out which sketches were my favourite and then completing more image research to give my inspiration of clothing designs and I knew it was time for me to move onto my actual drawings. I made sure before I started to draw anything  though that I had some good pose references so that I would be able to reference back to them for anatomical corrections to my work. I think that it is always important to look at different posing before drawing anything to make sure that you are getting the proportions right for the character you are creating and also so that you can give them some personality just from the he way they stand.

So I began by sketching out the young male flood survivor in pencil in my sketch book first as I knew I am not very used to drawing children for character designs so I really wanted to focus on getting the proportions right to make sure he did look like a pre pubescent teenager but also with elements added in with him being particularly skinny and also looking quite forlorn. This wasn't as much as a challenge as I thought it would be and I actually really enjoyed designing a character the didn't look pristine and perfect and had a lot of emotion to them. Once I had completed this sketch I moved onto the female cyborg who again I really liked drawing as she was able to have a much more confident pose and I could think about all the aspects of her cybernetic parts as I was drawing her. The two finished sketches that were done on paper can be seen below. 

So after I completed my two sketches in pencil I scanned them into the computer and then thought about how I was going to go about outlining them. Now usually I used a programme called Manga studio to complete all my pieces of art work with as it is what I am most comfortable using but I knew it was about high time that I moved away from this basic software and used a programme that is expected of artists to know how to use in the industry, which is Photoshop. Now I have used bits of Photoshop before so I knew my way around it but have never actually completed any final drawings in it is this was a first for me. The thing I love about Manga Studio is the fact that is had a specific line tool that allows you to draw and curve a straight line and bend it into the shape you want to you can easily create a crisp outline but I knew this tool wasn't available in Photoshop so I would have to hand draw my outline. This took me a little while to do and get used to but once I had completed my outline for the flood survivor sketch I did start getting the hang of it and overall once it was done I really liked it's more sketchy looking result. I was able to complete my second outline at a much quicker pace as I had gotten more used to the brush and tools I was using. The two outlined pieces can be seen in the photos below. 

After completing the outlines for each of my characters I thought it would be a good idea just to have a little experiment with the different colour palettes I could use for my designs. I knew that I didn't want anything to be too bright epically for my flood survivor piece so I kept my chosen colours fairly saturated and just had a play around to see what would work with what. This was very much a case of just colouring within my outlines so I really didn't struggle with this and actually just found it quite relaxing. I think at this stage by just adding a little colour the personalities and 'story' or my two characters began to become far more clear and I was pleased with the result they were showing so far. My two coloured outlined pieces can be seen below. 

The next part of the process was the bit I was really looking forward too and always enjoy doing which was the clothing iterations for my two characters. I think it is just because this part is really creative and you able to set a mood and feel from your character just from the items of clothing they wear so there is a lot to consider when design them. When I was in the process of creating these different designs I was able to look at the mood boards on futuristic and post apolitical clothing I had created a little while ago In order to get some creative inspiration and they were both really helpful to reference to when I was drawing. I found it a little tricky getting used to using the different layer in Photoshop so that I could draw the different items of clothing on top of my original art work but I got there in the end and overall I was pretty pleased with both the multiple results for each of the characters. 

So once I had completed all my different clothing designs I posted my pieces up on the Games art and design Facebook group and also sent them to my friends via messenger so that I would be able to get multiple opinions on which designs people liked the most. From this I planned to tot up the results and see which one was the most common answer and then use this design as my final one. Interestingly for both my cyborg and survivor characters the most common result for each of them was one of the designs that I didn't particularly think was the best myself. But I know in the indsutry that artists very rarely get they way with completing a design that they personally like the most and it is usually up to some else to pick so I went with this concept and stuck with the clothing design that my peers had chosen. The most popular result for my survivor was design number 5 and for the cyborg it was number 2.

I went along the lines of using the clothing designs that my peers and friends picked out and then moved quickly onto the stage of completing different colour variations of this particular design. As far as the clothing for the pair of futuristic characters went I stuck to the colour scheme which was constantly recurring in a large amount of my image research I did which was black, white and lots of different shades of grey. This colour scheme worked perfectly for both my designs as the greys on the survivor made him look quite bleak and plain which was the effect I was aiming for for him whereas on the cyborg they made her look sleek and smart so overall the results were how I wanted them to be from the beginning. After that I just fiddled around with different colours for little things such as the hair and eyes and other smaller details to make sure they completed the colours I had already picked 

and then I completed the same process of posting my designs up online and got my peers to choose which was their favourite for each character. This time around the the survivor it was colour iteration number 3 and from the cyborg it was number 2.  

Their stories 

So now that I have my two final character designs with their chosen colour scheme I knew it was time to move onto creating my final pieces but before I did that I wanted to just quickly write about the story of these two character as I feel like it really makes them who they are and define the differences between them. I have kept their back stories in mind whilst going through the creation process and they have been a big part of why I designed them how I did so I think it is important to mention it. 

Survivor 

The flood survivor is a prepubescent boy who is learning to adapt and live in his modern home town which has become severally flooded and effected by the rising sea levels. He became separated from this family when his town was devastated by the racing water and became isolated due to the government deciding to shut out the people suffering in the flooded cities due to over population in the dry land the young boy has been surviving within a commune of other refugees who all play their part in keeping the group alive. His job, due to him being small and nimble is to slip into hard to reach places and scoop out supplies for the struggling community. On one of his scouting exhibitions he picked up a nasty virus that was lurking in the stagnant water which cause him to developed a potent rash that caused him to lose his vision in his right eye. 

Traits: Timid, quiet, strong willed, determined, sensible.  

Cyborg 

The female cyborg is a young girl who is in her early twenties and lives in a large city far inland and away from the flooding. She lives a comfortable cushy life in a time where humans are now upgrading themselves with bionic parts for aesthetic purposes or to enhance their natural abilities but all of this development comes a expensive cost. As she comes from a wealthy family and is an incredibly spoilt daughter who always seems to get everything she wants she has been able to get many sophisticated cybernetic upgrades that lye low under her skin and can be seen through the transparent covered circular gaps where the electrical parts shine a strong aqua blue.   

Traits: Confident, athletic, powerful, superficial, brash, impulsive.  

Below is an example of the height difference between the two characters