Oy'yo --- Kickoff, completed
Hi!
These exploration sheets are made in preparation for illustrational character concepts .
Figuring out the conditions of the setting ( materials available in the world, social dynamics and groupings + their attitudes etc) to provide myself a meaningful context to guide my upcoming design works.
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This times framework:
"Concepts for a fantasy RPG with a tribal theme. Protagonists are all female and display nudity that will be desexualised."
- existing materials restricted to: 1. stone, 2. rough, handwoven textiles, 3.wood, 4.animal materials
- no metals
- 1 protagonist "guided" by 4 represantitives of 4 individual tribes
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This exploration stage will rest for a while until I can get back to it with fresh eyes. Looking forward to start the actual design work for each individual and figuring out the world itself.
Again, an one-sheet-warm-up. Having a walk on the screen to think and quickly note down possible directions.
Setting up puppets to explore costume design - focusing on various body types to distance the porject from popular female shapes.
Goal: 4 x noting costume design directions. Concentrating on 1.focus area, 2.material and 3.internal shapes.
1.Focus areas: Catching the viewer's eye in an intended way.
2.Material: When juggling with focus areas I also define a possible structure of material distribution of various people groupings ( eg. in clans, families etc).
3.Internal shapes: To allow distinctive designs while keeping a project scalable, I additionally pay attention on how shapes within focus areas flow, so that in case a design assets needs to share a focus area, these shapes still separat assets.
Continueing with the child character: Been dissatisfied with these results. Horns should create a feeling of danger, but the sketches I created miss the feeling of sth unnatural. They, instead, look like some theatre toys with off physics.
Switched to face design to get some distance to the last sheet - focused on creating head designs of 2 phases: unawaken and evolved.
A gender-diffuse child with unremarkable physique in phase 1.
An unnatural body physique for phase 2.
Combined one chosen head option with one chosen body physique option that fulfilld my criterias the best.
Continueing with the protagonist, noting the Phases as an overview. A cape will build contrast to the nearly nude company of her.
Dissatisfied with the design options, I struggled to explore a direction as I had no define dgoal for the cape except for being a cape.
Introduced visual crossings to communicate that someone is tied.
Distanced myself from the last sheet as I preferred the protagonist's clothing to be as blank and underwhleming as possible for the first impression.
First notes on a few features the cape comes with.
As usual: face design at the end, as the face is naturally the focus of attention I keep it for the last design step to avoid overlooking design opportunities in other parts.
Various hair designs to choose from as a player.
Notes on the materials: tools the people in this world work with and how they are being used. This sheets functions as a reminder and restriction for upcoming detailing, this way, design deliverables naturally belong to "one world" as they share rules.
Notes on possible decorative objects.
Notes on possible armour and weapons.
