The Pillars of Good Character Design

Right, so my last couple of posts covered what games I considered to have good/ bad designs, but that doesn't really say much about what made those designs good/ bad. So, let's take a quick look at the pillars of good character design.

Now, I'm aware that it seems a little counter-intuitive and anti-climactic to just do a post explaining what makes good character design when I'm investigating it for my Masters, BUT this stuff doesn't cover EVERYTHING, so there may be some missing link here that I can look into. Anyway, without further ado:-

Image Source: http://rant.computator.ca/wp-content/post-uploads/2008/11/popular-silhouettes.jpg

1. An Easily Recognisable Silhouette
You can always recognise a good character design based solely on the shape of their silhouette, which is usually why most concept artists begin by creating a basic silhouette. The idea is that the character should not only stand out but also be identifiable from their outline alone, be it because of their anatomy, clothing or even their posture. Think about it; you can always pick out the likes of Bugs Bunny or Sonic the Hedgehog from a line-up. Granted, this can be a little harder with characters of more realistic proportions, but there will always be something that gives them away (for example, Solid Snake's bandana)

2. Limited Colour Palette
Most good character designs primarily use around 2-3 colours in their palette. Mario = Red & Blue. Master Chief = Green, Gold & Black. Assassin's Creed = White, Brown & Red/ Blue. This doesn't mean you can't use other colours though; you're free to use various different shades of the colours you've got and other colours can be used for skin and minor details, but don't overuse them. Rainbow-coloured characters rarely look good (but when they do, they're fabulous)

3. Context
Who is the character? Where do they come from? What actions do they perform? A good character design should reflect these things. If they are a soldier, they should look like a soldier. If they're stealthy, they should be able to blend in with their surroundings. The same also applies to the game's tone; a grim and gritty character won't fit into a wacky, cartoonish setting (unless they're a parody, but that's another matter altogether). Always keep these things in mind when designing characters.

4. But does it Function?
Functionality is a key factor in character design, one that should come before anything else. There's nothing more distracting that something that looks like it won't work properly. After all, it doesn't matter how cool your weapon look if it doesn't actually work as a weapon. This is the main reason why chainmail bikinis and other types of female 'armour' are considered to be bad design; sure, they may add sex appeal, but they're absolutely useless at protecting the wearer from harm, which is what it's for. Basically, aim to make the design as practical as possible within the world it appears in.

5. Less is More
And here's the part that Square-Enix always gets wrong: don't make a character too complex. Walking clusterfucks are not good designs, so it's often best to aim for simplicity when designing a character. Accessories are okay in moderation, but it's always best to wait until you've nailed down the basic look before adding them

6. Originality
Yeah, bit of a no-brainer, but a good character has to be unique. Which means they can't look like someone else's character. In other words, no ripping off other game characters, because that's terrible

Sooo, yeah, that about covers all the unanimous aspects of good design. But is there something else? Is there some unknown aspect hiding in plain sight? Well, that's what I intend to find out (for now), so from here on out, I'll be investigating things to see their impact on character design.
First up: Aesthetic design/ Style