Anna the Roommate [WEEK 16]

 Mood boards and Mind map -

Using Niamh's character thumbnailing requirements as a guide i created some deliverables to help with making the sprite for the roommate. I first started out idea generating by creating a mood board and mind map of some main themes, styles, colour pallets and elements i wanted to include in this character. The room mate is supposed to be the embodiment of positivity, peace and comfort, so i wanted to use a very bright, warm or natural colour pallet tied in with a hippie, bohemian or whimsigoth look in terms of fashion. I imagine them to be quite messy but not in an overly chaotic way, just kinda laidback and homey. With positivity comes semiotics of sunshine, rainbows and bright colours, which ties into the fashion theme of Whimsigoth. I also imagine her to be creative like the main character, making a lot of her clothes from scratch and overall being quite alternative, i feel like the main character would feel more comfortable being around people who are likeminded to them, and so i think this character being quite artistic would fit well. I actually considered the room mate to be on the same course as the main character, just maybe a little older to act as sort of a protective figure that can give them advice based on experience. With all these ideas in mind i had built a very strong mental image of what i thought the room mate character might look like, so from here i moved on to making some sketches.

Thumbnail sketches and development sketches-

My first thumbnails were just some simple outfit designs inspired by the moodboards i put together [this is the second image under the silhouettes], although i stuck with a similar colour pallete i created variations of saturation and brightness of these hues as well as exploring different silhouettes, hairstyles and accessories. I do think i could have benefitted from perhaps exploring different body types, however i had this image of the room mate being quite tall as a symbol of being strong and reliable, and almost motherly. Once i had made these i had a look at some silhouettes of some design elements i liked, seeing which ones stood out best, i really liked the first four and the third set of four, so from here i made some hairstyle iterations along with some outfit iterations and passed these onto the class group chat for some advice on what elements and designs they liked best.

Feedback - 

Hairstyle sketches -

Seb "I like 2 the most"

Nathan "Same"

Niamh "I was gonna say I really like the first one. I like the messy bun look it works well with the off the shoulder outfit - makes it pop. I do like the lil head scarf from number 4 and I love the small plait on both the last 2"

Pantelis "I like the 2nd and the fourth with that tattoo detail"

Francis " I like hairstyle 4 the best, i think its adds a lot to the silhouette and gives a lot of character to the design"

Rose "I love all of themmmm, although first and third gotta be my faves :-)"

Holly "I like the leftmost and rightmost the most, I think these work best for a distinctive silhouette"

Niamh "Guess I’m the odd one out I feel like the second one is my least favourite - I feel like it’s too simple in silhouette compared to what seems like the style of the character, they seem very out there in showing off their personality"

Outfit designs -

Francis "i like number 4 best, i like the triangular pattern in the shape of the shirt"

Niamh "I love the top on number 2, I think it looks good paired with a long skirt, but could be cool to play around with the varieties of patterns for the long skirt. I love the entire outfit of number 3, I love the colours and the socks, and I think they all work well together, but I definitely think a long skirt looks cool for this character. and I love the off the shoulder jumper of 1 and the cardi for 4 .I do quite like the dark patchwork skirt too Ah it’s really hard cause they all look good, but those are my favourite elements "

Rose "ugh theyre all AMAZING i love the sun top and the long skirts on number 1 + 4 :3"

Nat [an online friend] "i like 2 and 3"

Of the feedback i got back a lot of people really liked hairstyle number one and two , and outfits 4 and 2. I personally liked the first hairstyle as i thought the bun helps juxtapose the messy and baggy outfit with a kind of put together but still kinda chaotic look, it also somewhat reminded me of sunrays a little bit. Niamh from our group thought this design has the most interesting silhouette without muddying the overall form of the character. In terms of outfit, i personally really liked the sun shirt and cloud jumper too, and putting these together would really help solidify those semiotics of positivity and comforting vibes. So, using this information i combined the most liked qualities into one final design which i think in both outfit and colour pallet wise is very nice to look at.

Final Reference Sheet and info -

This is my final reference for Anna, the room mate. I made sure to include very simple shading and a colour pallet to make colour picking easier for Niamh our character artist, as well as writing notations on any ambiguous qualities of her outfit. I really think the more limited colour pallet is much more effective than my previous designs, and the complementary colours of orange and blue with accents of yellow helps give a warm and sunny feel and really pops off of the page. I think this design also reflects well on a lot of the elements i explored in my mind map and mood board, including themes of handmade clothing, alternate fashion and the messy yet homely look. I also just for some extra bits of information put together a little character sheet about Anna, her likes, her aspirations and some information relevant to our world.

Gantt Chart -

Now that i have finished the character design, i am going to move on to making a set of 4 sketches for the kitchen scene, and potentially trying to fix some of the details within the main character bedroom to avoid any infringements on existing IPs. This character development for the room mate only took me a day to complete so now i can focus solely on debugging the game once my team have alpha tested it, and creating environments. I am so far feeling somewhat ok about the workload and how much time we have until submission.