5 Fashion Tips to Improve Your Costume/Character Design

Hello Everyone,

It's becoming evident that a lot of character designs out there are feeling repetitive and uninspired. A significant reason behind this is the overlooked potential of integrating fashion insights. By incorporating a touch of fashion wisdom into your designs, not only do you bring uniqueness to your characters but also embed them with layers of story and culture. 

I've put together a set of fashion oriented tricks tailored for artists like you. And to help you practice, I'll also share daily exercises that you can complete in 30 minutes to an hour. 

Once you're done sketching, I'll love to see your creations. Post them in our new Discord channel "Challenges". Let's dive in!:

1. Historical Revival

Futuristic designs are prevalent, making many characters appear similar. Dive into historical clothing from specific eras to infuse uniqueness into your designs. Think of a modern day detective wearing a Victorian style coat with big buttons.

Exercise: Choose a time in history you're not familiar with. Look up what people wore back then. Draw a sketch of a modern day person dressed in those styles. Aim for a 30 minute to 1 hour sketch.

2. Nature Inspired Palettes

Selecting a color scheme can be repetitive. Taking inspiration from nature provides a vast array of untouched palettes. Imagine a character dressed in the green of leaves, brown of tree bark, and gold of sunrise.

Exercise: Look at pictures of nature or go outside. Find a scene, like a sunset or a forest, and pick 3 main colors from it. Use these colors to sketch a character's outfit. Aim for a 30 minute to 1 hour sketch.

3. Mixed Medium Experimentation

Characters often feature common materials like leather and metal. Incorporate unexpected materials for innovative designs. Visualize a knight wearing armor made from old soda cans or a dancer with light up shoes.

Exercise: Choose two opposite materials and sketch a character wearing clothes inspired by these two themes. 30min to 1h for the sketch session.

4. Cultural Fusion

Many fantasy worlds draw from a handful of cultures. Merging fashion aspects from diverse cultures offers a fresh perspective. For instance the fusion of a Japanese kimono and the bold patterns of African ankara fabric.

Exercise: Research traditional outfits from two unfamiliar countries and merge their elements in a character outfit. 30 min to 1 hour sketch session.

5. Storytelling through Garments

Character backgrounds or traits can be elusive. Embed their narratives in their attire with symbols, patches, or embroidery. Envision a backpacker with a shirt that has tiny mountain symbols or a wizard with stars on their hat.

Exercise: Design a character with an undisclosed secret. Their costume alone should provide clues to that mystery. 30 min to 1 hour sketch session.

Conclusion
When creating an outfit, consider the real-world context of your character and how these points influence its costume. This might seem unnecessary at first glance but adds a strong layer of realism that makes your ideas more powerful.

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