From my silhouettes I picked 10 that I liked and from that three that I wanted to make very basic thumbnails from. Most of the thumbnails below were based around the concept of a female protagonist which was interesting. I tried to vary clothing and in a few cases gender to get a wide range of Ideas down in the thumbnails.
My thoughts:
Thumbnail 1: The large neckerchief and baggy shorts under the skirt were the most interesting part of this. I also liked the hair and of the boots worn by the other thumbnails, I think that this was the right size and design.
Thumbnail 2: Keeping it basic with a simple scarf and sweater. However I don’t know if it would stand out as a player character and in addition there isn’t the fox/ wolf influence that I would have liked
Thumbnail 3: I went for a male character here, which was difficult in the constraints of the silhouette so the jeans hang low (to fit the shape of the skirt). I really liked this thumbnail as there was something about it that makes it seem more ‘absolute’ than the others. A definite contender
Thumbnail 4: similar to thumbnail 2in simplicity but I tried to make it more interesting with the bag, boots and hair. Not really seeing the protagonist in this design. Again I think maybe it might be too simple, although simplicity is often one of the traits of a protagonist design wise.
Thumbnail 5: my original concept when drawing the first silhouette, the idea of two long overly baggy sleeves, the long boots and beret/ beanie was all the reasons for the silhouettes shape. I do like this one but it oddly doesn’t share the impact of thumbnail 3 for a protagonist. I do think though, that it could be a basis for another ‘player’ in Zork.
Thumbnail 6: More explicitly influenced by a wolf, this one was more aimed for another character other than the protagonist (namely ‘Syo’). The idea that she looks like a normal person but is wearing a large oversized wolf hat is subverting the idea “A wolf in sheep’s clothing” to be the opposite – “A sheep in a wolf’s clothing” to hint that while she seems like danger, in actuality she is not at all.
Thumbnail 7 (Original Silhouette)
Thumbnail 8: Given the shape catered for a skirt, I tried to vary the clothing for other forms that fit the shape and the poncho was born from this. It’s interesting but again doesn’t really stand out to me.
Thumbnail 9: Was trying another male character with this one. The shabby hair and untidy business/ school wear was very archetypal of anime style characters (i.e.: Battle Royale) but I want to deviate slightly from what has been done before and create a character that is unique in its own right.
The next bout of thumbnails were interesting because out of the silhouettes I had created, these had one of the most dynamic poses and had the interesting feature of a lantern that hung from the characters torso.
My thoughts:
Thumbnail 1: futuristic looking with the goggles and clothing. Actually liked this, but I don’t think the character should show as much skin and maybe should wear clothing that would perhaps be more suitable to the tasks they are fulfilling.
Thumbnail 2: going with basic business attire like thumbnail 9 of the previous batch, creating a Shaun of the Dead style look. I don’t think the silhouette proportions necessarily fit the character.
Thumbnail 3: I like this one with the short sleeved hooded sweatshirt, converse shoes, jeans, skirt and Z design on the t-shirt. Furthermore the hair flicks hint at ‘ears’ like that of a fox. Not necessarily going to be my final design but from this I am seriously considering orange hair and some kind of hair flick as possibilities for a fox influence on the character.
Thumbnail 4: I experimented on the bottom half variation a little, with short boots and rolled up jeans under the skirt. This really didn’t stand out to me, but I did like the top half with the black, leather like jacket, short red neckerchief and shorter bag. A possible contender for further conceptual work.
Thumbnail 5: Valkyria Chronicle’s heroine ‘Alicia Melchiot’ was a definite influence with the head scarf and brown hair. The torso bag was probably one of the stand-out points of this design.
Thumbnail 6: I really liked this thumbnail because it put across a character more than a design. I could see a freelance journalist in my mind from just looking at the image and from that I had ideas about how I could tie this into the story. I think out of all of the thumbnails so far this was probably the most thought provoking.
Thumbnail 7: Really pushed the fox influence with this in the hat and pony tail. For the actual costume design, I liked the simplicity of this and the stand out nature of the neck scarf. It reminded me of my original Zork concept to have each ‘player’ wear a bright red piece of clothing.
The final few thumbnails were from a silhouette that was actually inspired by someone I know, when it came to the stance and hood with ears. Because of the stance this silhouette was somewhat restricting, so I only did three thumbnails.
My Thoughts:
Thumbnail 1 (Original Silhouette)
Thumbnail 2: The original concept that came to mind when creating the silhouette.
Thumbnail 3: This was similar to my original idea of what Syo would look like when designing the concept of Zork initially. I think the bright white hoody and neckerchief work well together although there wasn’t much room for deviation in the bottom half of the thumbnail.
Thumbnail 4: experimented with a fox like hat and simple design for the rest of the costume. I think this actually works quite well although I don’t think such a focus on headwear suits the protagonist character – there should be a balance all over the design. However for a possible NPC this could be a good starting point.
