Runway Kids revision
Added 2019-07-16 16:30:13 +0000 UTCTaking me outside my comfort zone, I knew this series would be a challenge, but that's also why I wanted to do it. To my surprise, I've really enjoyed creating these characters. Combing experience, research, and imagination; I've especially invested into creating their backstories. However, I feel the sprites weren't quite capturing the expressive characters I had in mind. While there was nothing majorly wrong with the way things were going, it just lacked style, which is unacceptable for a series focused on fashion. So, without doing anything too drastic, I've made some revisions to all the current sprites. Old on the left, new on the right.
First, I made a palette swap from Bright Future to Mondo. This palette is inherently more stylish with its soothing pastel look. The softer colors keep the sprites looking smooth, even with using few colors. It's also important how all the characters look together, and these colors seem to harmonize better.
The other major change is the eye style. Honestly, I'm easily weirded out by huge anime eyes, but when working with low res sprites the eyes are one of the best ways to capture expression. While the small eyes are more realistic, the sprites feel more alive with the big eyes. There's usually a good reason why big eyes are used in character design, although it may just be a fetish to some.
I also made design changes to some of the characters outfits and color combinations. The biggest changes were made to Andrew and Leila.
I hope you can acclimate to the new style. Anyway, the deed is done and all the posts in the series will soon be updated. I plan to finish the series out with 3 more characters for a total of 9.
