When creating characters, there’s some things that can help improve their characterization so they would look much more lively. Character’s fashion choice are something that is so personalized to them. A character’s outfit choice is so important because it could adjust and pop their personality. Either they are the lazy type, a fashion nerd, the bold one, or the shy person, it even appeared and stated in their outfit choices. Below is tips for how I make character’s outfit by the basic shapes and how it related to their personality, focused on girls character!

 

Step 1 for making a character’s profile is the pose sketch. Their gesture is basic important need to make their personality is much recognizable. Then, somehow, we sometimes realized how their outfits are so bland and stiff. Then how can we manageit to be something better?

When creating character’s outfit, it is so important to understand how silhouette will make their looks popped out more. But before silhouette, there are basic shapes you need to know more on making these characters alive. Basic shapes such as rectangle, triangle, and circle are some basic shapes that can be found on character design too. These shapes are known to make the silhouette of the characters are much more subtle and lively. On These shapes are important as well when you make clothes. How is that even work? Now take a look at this.

When you work on character’s outfit, you can place several outfit references you can found on the internet and analyze the basic shapes. You can use the sub-view window to look closely on each outfit. This feature is so important to help me working with my canvas and reference while I can analyze them closely side-by-side. I usually use them floating like this, so we won’t be missing any details. You can use as much as reference you need here! (reference on sub-view window are just an example view, since I don’t own the fashion reference images … But at least you get what I mean!)

You can place several basic shapes on different places part of their body, mainly torso and the lower parts. The shapes placement are important to make their silhouette to be much more interesting and less bland. Then how these shapes somehow can be connected to their outfit style and personality?

 

Let’s elaborate how each shape related and can be interpreted to personality traits!

Rectangle is the basic shape that could be associated with assertive, bold, confidence, fierce, and elegant characterizations. This basic shape usually doesn’t have much flows, fitted to the body, and give the firm looks. Characters who are rather cold, the dominant type who are very confidence to themself are suitable with this style. Here’s a lady sketch example I made!

Her silhouette are clear and assertive, showing much confidence and subtleness. The basic shapes are adjust her basic outfit shapes and people can started guess what character type she is.

 

The next one is triangle, that somehow is contrary to the rectangle shape.

The next basic shape is triangle. Triangle shapes make an open, tend to be flowy outfit type that are not suitted to the characters’ body which is a sign of comfortability and supple. This shape could be associated with friendly, warm, soft, and sweet. Contrary to rectangles, triangles makes more outflowed shape. Characters that are the sweet, soft, but also free soul kind of traits are suitable for this style.

 

Look at this girl sketch I made below.

Her outfit choice helps her character to be much more visualized as a sweet and kind person. Not only on clothes, you can add the shapes on other body parts, such as accessories, hair, and footwear! However, these tips mainly focused on clothes only so you can be more creative as much as you want.

 

Let’s move forward to the next basic shape, the famous and fun circle shape!

Circle shapes is tend to look bubbly, bulge shape. This shape usually associated to bubbly, fun, adorable, but also tend to be elegant. Characters that are cute, cheerful, full of excitement, but also cutely elegant in special cases are suitable to this outfit style. Here’s a adorable, cheerful girl sketch I made by developing this shape into outfit.

It’s fun to developning these character looks by the basic shapes, especially when you explore more on their hair, even foot accessories.

 

Now that you learned the basic shapes, a question might crossed your mind: Can I combine these shapes? My characters are not so suited any of these personality traits, they are something in between, so is it okay if the shapes are mixed? Of course you can!

 

These basic shapes are a help to guide you on how you could elaborate their personality based on their shape. You can be wild on mixing the shapes and do mix and match!

By mixing the shapes, you can get more & more personality traits that you can develop on your characters. They can be tomboy, chic, classy, sweet, and many more. When the basic shapes associated with some characteristics, the combination of them also could be associated with many more characteristic probability.

 

Here’s some example how you can explore further the shapes:

 

I think my character are tend to be the rectangle shape type, but she’s also the lazy and comfortable lady type. I think I can give her a comfortable, elegant but with bulge outfit type.

The example is to combine rectangle to highlight the elegant and chic looks, also flowy bulginess of the circle shape.

 

Let’s go to next example as well!

 

I want my characters to be the tomboy look. It should looks she’s confident in it but comfortable as well!

The idea of shape of combining here is to make the character has the confident rectangle shape and comfortable flowy triangle as well (with circle-like flow type at the end of the trousers).

 

The complexity of a character’s outfit choice is also related to their personality. As the example above, the girl is the comfortable and lazy-like type that don’t hussle too much about her outfit, but she’s confident at the same time. Her outfit choice isn’t complex and looks simple shaped to show her lazy and confidenceness.

 

But, I want my characters to be as wild as I want! She’s definetely a maximalist, cheerful, party attender, all-out type!

Of course! You can be as wild as you can with the shape combination. Just remember one thing: each outfit combination has the “statement” part and you don’t want their clothes to overlaps each other. “Statement” here refers to a clothes piece that has strong shape, garment and fabric type, texture, etc. a.k.a the highlight of the outfit.

 

The more extravagant they are, the more “statement” they have, but that doesn’t mean each part should be the “statement”. Only choose 1 to 2 clothes piece that is the “statement” for them with different spotlight power. As an example, the girl sketch below has the “statement” on her foot accessories as well as her top, but the top itself is not as strong as the foot accessories.

 

However, “statement” is something that is rather subjective and also based on your taste. By exploring your character fashion, you can also show off your outfit preferences and your taste in fashion as well.

After learning the basic shapes, now you can decide the overall silhouette that fits your character. By following their outfit basic shapes, you can proceed to explore their alternative outfits with their basic shapes. Now you can explore alternate skins for your characters based on their alternate scenarios, settings, even universe.

 

Below is the little exploration I did with previous girl sketch for her alternate looks, using the similar shapes as well (rectangle and triangle combination).

That’s it from me for how the basic shapes associated the character’s personality! In conclusion, these outfits are show how your characters would choose their outfit based on their personality. The more you think how they would choose their outfit, the more you understand your characters.

 

These tips could be used to the boys’ outfit as well. If you look closely, boys’ outfit are not much different and have these basic shapes too. I make this guide based on girls’ outfit because the difference of each girls’ outfit and the range of the outfit are much more crystal clear.

 

 

In addition, you might already noticed the orange or teal partial lines beside each outfit sketch. You might also know that they are partial proportion lines for the outfit! It also can be helped to develop simple thoughts of your characters on how they wear their outfits. I will elaborate a bit here.

The proportion of the clothes are showing the difference of how your characters wear their outfit. The lazy, relaxed character type are much more doesn’t think about it a lot, while the showy, confident, and stylish character tends to think more about it. That way, it also gives different dynamic on your clothes and build different kinds of silhouette.

 

 

Now that you understand the basic shapes and proportions, you can learn and explore the next steps of designing character outfits! We also blessed by csp assets made by respectiove asset creators that can help you exploring character’s fashions, just go wild with the search bar key words and find your needs, is it the texture, accessories, laces, pattern, anything!

That’s it all from me! The key is simply think about your character’s choice to understand their preferences and how these basic shapes are visualize their characteristics. Good luck on explore your character’s outfit! Hope this tip helps! (●'◡'●)