VAILL 385 Character Design Fall 2014

Elsa Chang - fashion illustration

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Assignment #5 - Costume

"If your not feeling creative... turn to real life."

In this assignment you will demonstrate

- Use of period and cultural costumes in storytelling
- Folds
- Research
- Balance of Detail

As well as previous skills:

- Silhouette
- Structure
- Streamlining with straights and curves

Instructions:

Design a "Chef" (cook/someone who works with or is a specialist with food - not just someone eating food) from a specific time period and culture (no realistic proportions - exaggerate).
Research -You will need to do specific research to learn about that period's costume and customs. Reference - Compose a Tear sheet of both library and internet visual research.
Fact - Provide one interesting fact about that period's medical profession.
Overlays - Include one overlay showing the skeletal structure underneath and One overlay showing the character's design w/out the drapery.

The most important element here is still the character - strengthened by their costume. Remember to look for creative shapes - these may be influenced by the costume shapes you find. Exaggerate - and make strong shapes and silhouettes.
The costume doesn't have to be completely historically accurate - just based on fact. we should be able to look at your tear sheet and see how you applied specific costume parts to your character.

fact examples:

A famous ancient chinese physician of the sui dynasty (c. 618 A.D.) named Sun Simiao was called "King of Medicine." he claimed that actions like touching hair, rolling eyes, walking, and shaking heads improved health.

or

In ancient chinese history the concept of Yin and Yang was applicable to the human body and used in medicine.

or

Anciently Acupuncture needles were made of Stone, wood, and bone.

These interesting facts may or may not end up applying to your character, but a little bit of background research may give you some creative ideas.

In summary:

1 character design using historical costume research
2 overlays - one the undraped character, the other the skeletal structure
be able to tell us the time period and culture
tear sheet showing research
historical fact

Peter de seve

Using Costume to tell a Story

STORY TELLING

Costume and wardrobe can be a really effective way of adding layers and meaning to the telling of a story

Costume is such a big part of what helps give personality to a character. What a person wears and how they wear it gives us an instant feeling about who they are and what they're like. It's especially powerful because we aren't always aware that we're even making those kind of judgements.

Great artists will use the clothes as an extension of the character's personality. Always avoid giving your characters bland and nondescript wardrobes. Be specific!

Adversaries that represent different ideals should have costumes that represent who they are and contrast with what their nemesis wears.

- Mark Kennedy Using Costume to tell a Story

Scottie Young

Clothing can convey quite a bit of conscious and unconscious information to the reader, but it should never be doing 100% of the legwork. Body language, shape and overall behavior all come into play when building a character, and the trick is to figure out what clothing can do that these other elements can’t.

SHAPE- Every character, no matter how complex, should be designed around an overall unique visual shape. This theme should not repeat in any other character. This shape should be readable enough that if you were to shrink all your characters into a super-simplified cartoony state, they should still be distinguishable. Core shapes and patterns should repeat on the outfit.

Enrique Fernandez

DETAIL - Character designs follow a hierarchy: you grab the reader’s attention with the most essential information and then invite them to investigate the details. If important elements of your design are only evident in the details, then it needs to be reworked. If your character is not completely distinguishable in silhouette, it needs to be reworked. Detail should always radiate from the core theme.

Nico Marlet

UNIFORM - What does your character do? In what way would their clothing reasonably convey how they spend their time? What is their job? social status? personality?

Peter De Seve

Scottie Yound

ATTITUDE - how does your character move? What are their default postures and body language? A good outfit should accentuate the body movements that you deem most important. If a character stoops and hunches a lot, their clothes can augment that behavior.

- Aaron Diaz Tips on character and Costume Design

Enrique Fernandez

Out of Class Assignment #5 - Folds

Practice designing folds in men and women's clothing.

to practice folds – use layers in photoshop or tracing paper overlays of photographs of men and women in magazines (10 total), working out and Designing the most important folds in their clothing. Don't draw every detail and fold - Design!

Study these folds carefully, noting especially the points of support, pull of gravity and effects of tension.

Label with your name and "Out of Class Assignment" - post both the photographs you used and the folds you drew over them- Due This Thursday before midnight.