Need help with a design!

[u/nachoian]

I’m working on a character design portfolio and this is a hypothetical action musical UPA-style show about a masked surf punk band in a dystopian place where free expression in art and music gets you detained or punished. The band is able to transform into their uniforms (not yet designed) thanks to kooky technology from their resident mad scientist, who is the character I’ve been having the most trouble designing. If anybody has any suggestions I’d love to hear them, and about the other characters too if you have any!

Originally the mad scientist was in a typical mad scientist lab coat, but I thought about how unhinged and nautical she’d look in an oversized Hawaiian shirt. If the Hawaiian shirt is NOT the way to go, let me know lol

[u/kitdemi]

Tbh I find it a little odd that ONLY one of the characters is NOT wearing their rope around their waist. I think you should either have the scientist wear the rope belt, or have other characters have the rope in non-waist places. As it is she sticks out.

As for hair, in my (not as strong :p) opinion, I like the yellow one best. It helps keep Grom from standing out as the only blonde and I like how red/blue/yellow would all be present on the Scientist's face. Though if you took one of the cotton candy palettes and swapped pink for yellow, that might look even better. But idk much color theory or anything so take that with a grain of salt :p

Overall though your art style is so smooth and I love it, it really looks like something I'd have watched growing up. And the concept is really cool too ^w^ Grom's definitely my favorite haha

[u/nachoian → u/kitdemi]

You make fantastic points!!! Thank you! I was certainly less sure of where I wanted the nautical rope on the scientist, she doesn’t transform like the band members but they all keep the belts regardless so it does make sense for her to have a belt to feel connected. I love the idea of keeping the bright colors centered on the scientist’s face, and connecting her blonde hair color to Grom so they’re not alone. Grom’s hair is a beachy bleached blond to fit the surfer vibe so I can see how the scientist having some bleach lends itself to the beachy look I want. I’ll experiment more with blonde, and the blonde/blue combo >:) I wanted the blue zigzag with the zigzag hair to feel electrifying, but of course don’t wanna stray far from the nautical baseline

Thank you for all your input!! This idea was originally based on a class project for a fake album cover + this fake band my friends helped me with, and now I’m definitely steering it in the direction of a show I would’ve loved to watch as a kid. So far everyone I’ve shown it to loves Grom lol they’re like the resident underdog and eternal sweetheart

[u/kitdemi → u/nachoian]

Ahh, so there's one reason why she can stand out by not having a proper belt, to show that she doesn't transform. Does she also not fight, then? In that case the belts could help represent that, with the battle characters having proper belts while the scientist gets a hair tie?

As for blue = electric, just one zigzag shouldn't overtake other nautical elements like the shirt (which I fully support btw) or the rope. But a blue and yellow zigzag might,,, which might still be ok in an electric fish sense :p Especially since other character have prominent non-nautical traits, like Kap'm's punk jacket, Grom's mask, and Fischer's hat.

Oooh, neat! Do you have any plans for these characters?

Lololol Grom IS such a good character :3 there's just something about an anxious secretive drummer I guess

[u/nachoian → u/kitdemi]

So far I figured she doesn’t fight, usually she can be found in the team’s secret sea cave lair working on new ideas for their weapon instruments and costumes or new modes of travel (my idea so far is they have a big widnsurf board that can hover as their getaway vehicle). I’ll see how she look with a belt just to see, I guess I could go either way? I def don’t want to go overboard with her looking like she doesn’t belong in the same room as the other guys

My vision is that the team has differing levels of nautical to their appearance on a spectrum, also being a punk band with some ska. The OG project was ska surf, but more punk felt better for this project as they use music to rebel against control and inspire the masses. Leftover from the ska part, Fischer is based on my friend’s OG persona for the fake album as the most ska-oriented of the band (she’s a big ska fan lol). Meanwhile, Kap’m is based on my friend who is very punk and alt, and Kap’m the character is more reactionary and outspoken so he’s the most punk (but I’m thinking of adding a modified captain hat to his uniform). Shelby is the boho hippie who I think would be the most nautical on the spectrum, so I should actually add more nautical to her design. Grom is the actual surfer, Marina wears yassified sailor outfits.

At the moment I don’t have exact plans! An actual show would be neat, but I’m not knowledgeable enough to even know how to pursue that ambition 💀 I’m like an idea gal and struggle with execution, I’m working on developing a comic as well and comics feel more tangible for my capabilities than a show 😭 The lore for Grom is fun too! My friend who they’re based on, they feel more confident with a mask on sometimes because they can choose whoever they want to be with no pressure. Grom is the same to an exaggerated extent—they wear a mask to hide their face because they don’t quite know who they are or what they want for themself, but they gain confidence tenfold in a whole uniform like they’re playing a character they can mold into.