How does one come up with unique clothing and character designs?

[Peteman]

Also think of what sort of setting your character/s will be in. Not every character is a magical girl with more bows frills and fancy bits than could be considered sane. As others have said, as most manga involves high school students t-shirt and jeans is a good blace to start. Or if there in a sci-fi manga have fun thinking up some awsome looking space suits, or if it's a fantasy, look at real armour and then just pimp it up a little. If there part of a specific faction mayby that faction has a particular clothing type or symbol on there clothing, Naruto's a good example of that.

Pete

[Saith]

Keep it simple is my advice.
I mean, sure you could go the direction of Final Fantasy, but in the end that gets all cluttered and pointless and... Well... Dumb. They convey nothing about the characters.
A good example of character design is Team Fortress 2. Not only does every aspect of their appearance clue you into their personality, roles and, well, damn near everything else, they're also instantly recognisable due to their silhouette.

I mean, there's nothing exactly wrong with zippers and ribbons and whatnot, but in my opinion, agood design should be able to be described in a sentence or two.

He's big, bald, unshaven and angry. He wears a bandoleer and carries a huge machine gun.
From that, you instantly see a big soldier who knows what the fuck he's doing, but doesn't give a shit about his appearance - he's too busy gunning people down and laughing.

On the other hand:
He's black, he has an afro and a goatee, he wears a green duster and carries twin revolvers.
...
He's... a cowboy? Maybe?

She's got long red hair and wears a, uh, weird white jacketshirtdressthing. She also carries a gunblade.
So... I guess she's a warrior, but... Um...?
Belts?

Don't be unique just to be unique. Take something that exists, and twist it to the character. A knight who can never stand to rest when he could be fighting evil, who hardly ever even sleeps will probably wear old, rusted, smelly armour and carry a chipped, notched sword. He'd probably have a bunch of scars and bags under his eyes, along with long, knotted hair and a full yet scraggly beard.
You fit someone's appearance to their character.

[Cloudy]

I usually try and think of what I want to achieve, and think a lot about it. adding things to my model, changing things around to my liking and experimenting. sometimes some inspiration is required, from fashion photographs etc.

btw, the above comment is purely that persons opinion...you do not HAVE to keep it simple, you can go all out crazy. imo simple looks boring and plain.

[GAbRieLWrIgHt]

yall are so helpful...i haven't gotten any bad advice -.-

[Rio]

imo simple looks boring and plain.

There's simple that looks boring and plain and then there's simple yet interesting because of added textures, detailing like seam lines, and design. But I think it all depends on the execution of the character overall. I mean, take a look at this:


(If you can't see the image, click here)

She has rather plain clothes but overall, it works imo. ...Unless you think it looks boring regardless? =_=

Anyways, like I say, it all depends on the character you're making. If they're a boring non-descript type of person, then make them simple, boring clothes. If they prefer loud flashy clothes, then put them in fancy gear with all the frills. If they're the elegant sort, then put them in timeless, classic-styled clothes.

What I dislike is people putting characters in clothes that doesn't fit them at all. I mean, I see Princess's being put in bikini-style clothes swinging swords yet their personality is demure, very girlish, and downright not what I was expecting. Talk about total disconnect! :<

[ram]

I mean, sure you could go the direction of Final Fantasy, but in the end that gets all cluttered and pointless and... Well... Dumb. They convey nothing about the characters.

I don't like this comment, I'm a fan of final fantasy designs and their artworks, And they are faaaaarrr more better than team fortress 2! those actually look really dull.

[GunZet]

It's all in execution of style and detail management/balance. Regarding FF and TF2, they both work for a reason, and are totally unrelated anyways.

[ram]

Sorry about that, My blood suddenly burst out when I read that FF design is dumb.

[GunZet]

FF has some of the most defined character designs out there. I haven't seen one I hate yet.

[GAbRieLWrIgHt]

FF is the best rpg out there, and the people who design the characters are amazing to. I actually really like to design character's off of that, and I can use there designs to make sure that my armor, clothing, and other stuff that has to do with character design will work and will not have that look of random stupidity.


Edit: I can't see the picture that you posted Rio :/