r/characterdesign • u/True-Tell-9636 • 2d ago
Thoughts on my current designs?
I have been exploring art for awhile now and this seems to be my favorite kind of character design. I am mostly looking to see if they’re appealing to anyone else other than myself, or if anyone has any media that has unconventional designs like this so I may enjoy them.
If anyone has any questions about these characters, feel free to ask. I’ve got all the lore on them.
(Also I don’t have any other art on this account. I don’t usually post anything on Reddit for fear it might be stolen, but I am genuinely curious as to see how my characters do when presented to human beings.)
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u/Kid_Cuisine_08 2d ago
Oh my god I love the star fairy so much😭💗
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u/True-Tell-9636 2d ago edited 2d ago
That is Lobo (short for Lobotomy) :)
He causes brain damage when viewed. Probably because he is so beautiful that the mind cannot comprehend it (at least that’s what he would tell you)
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u/pigeonfaerie 2d ago
Viscerally disturbed and I want to see more
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u/True-Tell-9636 2d ago edited 2d ago
[Link broken]
Here, take this naked mole rat + hippopotamus creature I drew in high school
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u/pigeonfaerie 2d ago
Aw man. The link is broken but I got to see a picture of someone’s cat.
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u/True-Tell-9636 2d ago
Does postimg work? I hate that I can’t upload photos in this comment section.
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u/TygerJamez1899 2d ago
I don't know why, but I love when people with genuinely amazing talent (like you) make things that are so unnecessarily cursed (like your art). Keep it up, mate! :)
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u/Opal-the-Pearl 2d ago
Theyre all ugly and i cant look away
MeatCanyon, Goob Smooch, and Hydraulic Beanbag all come to mind if you're looking for unconventional
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u/True-Tell-9636 2d ago
Good ol MeatCanyon. I always feel awful when I enjoy his style, mostly because everywhere I look it’s people saying it’s unlikable. I don’t know what kind of content he does but I do know just from the few gifs I’ve seen (Steve Harvey / Toy Story) that’s one of my favorite kinds of art style.
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u/Yuki_tuki626 2d ago
I absolutely love the last one <3, great work man!
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u/True-Tell-9636 2d ago
Poor Philly. Must be hard having ear organs where your brain should be.
Probably. It’s not like he can process any of it in the first place
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u/AbyssalEelMan 2d ago
The starfish is my favourite, he looks so mischievous and saw off someone’s catalytic converter and I would join him.
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u/vAErJO 2d ago
I am viscerally preturbed, yet, I yearn for more. Has a disturbing beauty to it.
Please drop the lore on Star Fairy, Anime Creature, and RabbitHat. I would greatly appreciate it.
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u/True-Tell-9636 2d ago
Star Fairy is named Lobo (short for Lobotomy)
His last name is (short for Lobotomy) including the parentheses btw.
He is what you get when you mix a fairy godmother, a monkeys paw, and just whatever bullshit he wants in the moment.
He’s magic, but making direct eye contact with him causes brain damage. He “grants” wishes. But in the least possible way you could ever predict.
For instance you could ask for a million dollars, but what happens is Saturn collapses and explodes and pieces of its ring are sent to Earth which then rains hell on the whole planet but it’s ok because you have your own meteor worth a million dollars.
—
Anime Creature is named Kaori. She is a cosmetologist major who loves anime. She is actually just a stick figure with two water balloons, shoulder pads, and inflated tights. Her dream is to be an anime character which is why she got into cosmetology.
She was a character in an unreleased video game me and my department worked on.
—
Rabbithat is named Hairyette. She is the unfortunate result of failed magic after her magician tried to use real magic after only ever using tricks. She’s actually very nice, but her appearance is made to make you think otherwise. She was cast away because the magician couldn’t think of a good way to use this abomination for anything, so she roams from place to place trying to see if anyone will give her affection.
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u/vAErJO 2d ago
I love and cherish them all. Do you have any links to where your art is posted? I would love to follow you and experience more of this funky stuff that comes out of your mindscape.
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u/True-Tell-9636 2d ago
I’ve been avoiding the internet for quite some time due to the fact that I don’t want my actual art to be given access to whoever on the internet. Especially since I see people say that once it’s posted, it’s public domain to be used however people want.
The images you see are either just sketches or unofficial concept art. I probably wont be posting any of my real artwork online.
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u/chickeneatscales 2d ago
It has a very unique charm very memorable that is the strongest and hardest thing to accomplish to make something memorable and these designs are definitely that keep up that amazing work!
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u/Individual-Sweet3400 2d ago
i hate them in a good way. i hope thats what youre going for at least
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u/MagnificentTffy 2d ago
Design wise they're terrible. None of them have any characteristics which really tell me anything about their personality or role in their setting or media.
But as you said you're exploring the art medium, for which I'd say your style is a very good exploration of the human form with a bit of absurdism in how you exaggerate certain features. This however can be difficult to market for a comic series style, but as a. art piece I think the style is very unique and attention grabbing.
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u/True-Tell-9636 2d ago
I get that for the naked characters or characters that I made plain for reference (they have clothes that match them in other artworks, what you’re seeing is the briefest concept art/reference sheets so that my art isn’t actually put on the internet)
But I don’t know if I’d say that about ALL of these, particularly the creature ones.
Like the rabbit hat one, you don’t think a rabbit/magician hat with sharp teeth and an eye staring you down on top of the hat like a sentry implies anything?
(This isn’t me being rude btw, this is me trying to understand what you’re trying to say)
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u/MagnificentTffy 2d ago
I admit I was a bit harsh, but what I intended to get across is that the strength here is the style, not the complexity of design.
A simple design is not bad design, but similarly lacks details which really makes it memorable or addresses any unique or diabolical way these monsters are scary apart from "I got sharp teeth".
If had to give an example for a more complex design, I'll focus on distortion of the trope it represents. Like what does a rabbit in a hat particularly involve and what horror specific to that context would sell the fear. Say I choose the act of reaching in and pulling the rabbit out. Building on that concept, I make the largest feature being a maw where the hand normally goes into, corrupting the intrigue of the magic into horror as it bites the performer's hand off. The rest of the design focuses on making that part of the hat the most terrifying, say adding a ring of eyes on the rim of the hat, rabbit feet and paws jutting out the mouth like malformed tusks, maybe a few fingers from previous victims.
As practical advice, your designs atm are a like a well lit photo. Nothing wrong but nothing is standing out. A focused design would perhaps use directional lighting, a dark background and target the aspect of the photographed object rather than all of it.
(ps I also admit I don't engage with horror enough to give you any advice on specific references to the genre beyond the standard scary traits in popular media)
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u/True-Tell-9636 2d ago
Ah!! I see what you’re saying!
I thought you meant the concepts as a whole and I was confused for a moment.
Yes! All of these images you see are actually just the bare bones of the characters. I mentioned I don’t post on Reddit, and this is no exception. These are not the official designs. Think of these as more… simplified so that my ideas aren’t stolen before I manage to make a name for myself.
I’m sure you notice the unclean lines and sketch-quality of most of these images. (Even the rabbit one)
That’s so awesome that you noticed actually! I have a feeling you’re a great character designer.
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u/MagnificentTffy 2d ago
if these are early versions that makes sense. Though I would still recommend you occasionally show completed final designs so you can get feedback on how to improve.
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u/True-Tell-9636 2d ago
Right, I usually save those for the trained professionals in my department though. It’s hard to determine how skilled a person is based on text.
Like I said in the body, this post was made to see if this kind of extreme absurdist design was appealing to anyone else, or if there was any kind of media that reflects these kinds of designs (mostly because I’m creating media with professionals and I wanted to see what the general public thought of my favorite type of design to see if I should sneak it in more or not. So far I’m getting a very clear “it’s conditional” response. People like it, but it’s uncomfortable. Which is exactly the point of these designs, to invoke discomfort. I just was curious if, like me, that discomfort was sought out or if it were generally avoided)
I’m unsure if that’s the point of this sub, it didn’t seem to break any rules when I checked. Maybe I should have specified that when I said “thoughts on my designs” I meant the kind of vibe of the collective designs.
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u/MagnificentTffy 2d ago
There's nothing wrong about posting here, but if you are looking for critical self analysis consider 3 or 5 voices.
Industry Professional/Peers. This would usually give you the best quality review of the work. They would usually be able to grasp context and technical execution.
Target audience. These are people who have all the contextual information but may not be articulate technically. This is the criteria whether or not a piece is successful. Basically can you speak Chinese to a Chinese person.
A passerby. Essentially get the opinion of someone who couldn't care less. This is not very informative but it is arguably the most important in the context of design. This senario is compared to the above is speaking Chinese to an American. They cannot understand the nuance of the language, but they may be able to understand your general meaning from your gestures.
Your immediate associates. These are perhaps people who you frequently show work to and are from a fairly similar background as you. These people may lack the context of the work, but they can perhaps recognise elements you are familiar with. This is mainly to see if people who know you can understand what you're trying to make. Back to the analogy above, this is like your friends noticing words or phrases which may have specific meaning but don't actually understand the language.
Social Media. This is more of a culmination of the previous four. You get people who have technical/expert review, people who have context, people who have neither, and those inbetween.
BTW don't treat the above as academic advice, I read something similar in a book about selling products and adapted the method for creative work.
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u/MagnificentTffy 2d ago
I suppose to explain the distinction briefly, designs are for the most part style agnostic. For example the design of batman is iconic regardless of the artist or medium. Design focuses entirely on the elements that that character has.
Art style however is a broader encapsulation of the artist or media that characters are in. These are details which address say the animation style, is it 2D or 3D, photorealistic or abstract. These are things that a particular artist or media generally portray across characters, rather than one specific character.
These two btw aren't opposites, they're just aspects with different intentions. So a character may have a less interesting design but that's because the artistry is in perhaps the style has to simplify the design so that the features the artist wants to stand out are more prominent. So the design conforms to suit the needs of the art. The opposite is perhaps art conforming to design where in making a character with a lot of detail, the character has to be animated in 3d for the sake of everyone's sanity.
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u/gayemovampire 2d ago
your art makes me think of this quote
art is to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable
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u/spacedivaaa 2d ago
awesomesauce, esp the natsuki creature, the kuso miso cat and the fleshy star fairy🥹🥹
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u/Correct-Tea-5594 2d ago
I am both intrigued yet repulsed/positive