Everyone wants to design a character that looks great but also stands out on its own. Design is a lot of fundamentals and one that is not so simple: appeal. We often see good and bad designs in media all the time. You can look at some anime and see generic designs and at other times you will see designs that stand out entirely. Design is not something you get lucky with but something you put a lot of thought and effort into. It is not just about art but research and understanding. People who are bad at designing don't research things and also end up copying already existing designs.
What makes a good design?
If you need to, look up designs you think are good and see what exactly they are doing right. It's important to look at artists better than you and see what they are doing that you are not.
Silhouette Importance
A silhouette is supposed to convey what a character is supposed to be in either what they do for a living, personality, skills, or culture. It is about planning to convey what makes this character unique compared to other characters in that universe or within our own. Take a look at examples of people's work that shows the bare minimum and silhouettes of characters.
How to Start your Design
Answer all of these questions:
Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? - Archetype: Trope: Spin: Specs:
Next step:
Once you are done answering those questions you need to think about three more things: Culture, the universe, and overall idea. You need to reference accordingly, finding images that match the type of thing you are going for. Make sure to have more than 10 images for the base of the design and five unique elements you want to add (over 15 references).
It's important to have more references and ideas to take from than to just have the same ten images for all of your characters. Expand and avoid having characters looking the same. If you want examples of characters who are family or from the same culture, look at Avatar the last Airbender. Lastly, reference different face and body shapes and avoid making similar faces. There are too many shapes for you not to use them, if you struggle with this then you need to look at different faces of people in a country and body types. Here is an Example of Detailed Concept Finished
This is one of the characters by KnightZhang
I would also suggest following all of KNKL Design series as he is a professional in the industry and designs for games. He has a whole series on what he does for designing. And remember, your first few concepts will probably suck. Keep in mind, that getting a second opinion and critique on all stages will improve your design also.
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