#639-641 Costume tips

 Fun Fact #639

Oops.

Scope creep is the slow and unchecked addition of new features or information to a project or Product. This can often result in needless complexity and overabundance of information making the property confusing at best.

Fun Fact #640

Shape-Up

In the world of Fiction there are many strategies available to build memorable characters, yet there is one feature often overlooked by fans: Shape Language.

Put simply, Shape language is the use of shapes in a character’s design and items to establish a basic understanding and expectations of a character. This doesn't just apply to drawn stories like animation. Even in Live action and books the character follows this same idea –just more focused on Costume design.     

For instance, a villain may have a long tattered cloak, an upturned collar, and spiked hair,  all of which rely on Triangles and hard edges to translate that “Hey This character could be Aggressive or intelligent.” While another character in the series could have hair combed to flow around the head,  wider sleeves, and a circular hat or buttons to denote kindness and discovery. This shorthand is critical in making memorable characters whose personality and emotion are easily understood without words or the overall design being too cluttered (this is an issue in modern Sci-Fi which irks me to no end).

Oh and if someone calls you “a Square” just know that squares are shorthand for “Safety, Stability, and Strength”. Really it should be taken as a compliment that you are can be depended on to do the job right the first time –even if it’s not the easiest choice. 

I hope this helps if you’re planning on making a Halloween costume this year. As always thanks for reading and please have a wonderful day.

Oh and if you or someone you know is trying to get better at character design, a simple project many art schools give their students is to either print out some famous characters (even people) and just try seeing what shapes best make up the person.

Image taken from “The Character Design E-book” available for free online by “21-Draw” (Link)

Fun Fact #641

Intensity in character 

When someone says a character is “Intense” it can be taken literal. Intensity in character design is using color intensity and lighting to direct where the eye is drawn, and how someone may feel (emotional) about that character. 

For instance a depressed character is very different from a Rouge different, but both can have a similar color palette to convey a hidden aspect to them –even if rogue is just hiding a dagger (. . .which we hope they'll use ethically). Other strategies may include brighter colors not for emotion but to convey actions and draw attention to them. Think of the swords in Star Wars. When activated they change the lighting of a scene to draw attention in, and are used to convey the danger, and intensity of a situation. Yet Lightsabers can be turned off when the danger has left, leaving you back in the calmer, natural light of the situation. 

    For fun try seeing what you can do with intensity for your Halloween decor and costume this year. I wish you the best of luck. Thanks for Reading and Please have an amazing day!

Image from “CLip Studio Tips” for drawing and costume design ( https://tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/4330 )

Fun Fact #641

Action Line

In Character design a line of action is the line which flows through a character and points to where they are acting upon. Thus any action starts to bend the line like a bow in that direction ( Think “( or )”).  While it may seem like this is only good for those who draw art, it can also be applied elsewhere, for instance in Photography. In fact many people naturally “abuse” this trick alongside a good understanding of lighting to be “Photogenic” –even if they don't realize it! Which is partly why its taught to Actors at companies like Paramount and LucasFilm.

For those planning to do Halloween costumes this can be great to use in expressing the character’s personality for photos by just a simple change of posture, or movement (don't be a "Zoo on display"). In meetings or presentations this can be used to emphasize Ideas, concepts and points, with the compliment of “being animated” having been documented for those good at this skill since the 1960s. 

lastly this can even be used in architecture and decoration to help encourage flow of attention to places you want it to be more attractive (Attention Line). Indeed there are many companies which go out of their way to use both Attention and Action lines, even so far as teaching those who deal with Customers or investors, so they can put on a “better image” quite literally.

As always thanks for reading and please have an amazing day!

Image from Mitch Leeuwe on Facebook  ( Link:  https://www.facebook.com/100044580843326/posts/sitting-poses-using-the-line-of-action-as-a-starting-point-what-kind-of-poses-wo/937939944368692/ )