Character Design- Silhouettes

When i first started thinking about character design for anvil, i knew i'd have to take some artistic liberties against the real-life people that the characters are loosely based upon.

If you're already familiar with the Anvil cast, you might recognise these- if not, here's a fun quiz to test how well my silhouette design is working.

which character is the most physically active?
which character is the most relaxed?
which character is the baddest?
which character is the most introverted?

(answers at the bottom)

the idea of testing your character design as a silhouette is based on the way humans recognise and identify with people in the real world. a silhouette says, at any distance 'look, i'm a human. nothing else has my shape, so you know for sure i'm a human."
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but what does the silhouette tell us about a character?
1. shape and size. the first and most obvious thing will be the character's physical size and proportions, especially apparent in comparison to other characters. 4 and 2's body types are distinctly different, and relays a lot of different messages about how this person interracts with their world.

2. attitude. posture says a lot about a person and the way someone stands will affect their silhouette. who's more confident, silhouette 4, or silhouette 2?

3. emotion through 'shape noise'. this is something that we respond to, rather than something most people think to control- the shapes that break up a silhouette can create discord. if you imagine a hard cut business suit compared to a baggy tracksuit, the figure in the tracksuit is usually much less imposing because their edges are softened. take 2 and 4- lots of jutting edges and points. 4 even has a sword crossing his body, absolutely breaking his symmetry. this leaves us with an impression of action- a kind of aggressive silhouette, if you like. 2 and 3 possess much calmer silhouettes- hardly broken up at all, except in the case of 3's hair. this leads us to a much calmer concept- the characters appear to be much more stable and less violent in form- almost as if the softer silhouettes let them fade into the world.
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now, in RL, the four characters share reasonably similar silhouettes. some of us are a little shorter, taller, thinner, thicker- but by and large, the figures are not dissimilar. for the anvil designs, i've had to separate them a little more clearly. this has been a common theme throughout the character design and plot process- i've done my best to accentuate existing traits rather than fabricating new ones- for example, Ace (1), in RL will occasionally be goaded into impressive physical feats very through dare or other verbal challenge- the Anvil Ace is an absolute adrenaline junky; running, jumping, and climbing any obstacle that presents itself. so i've played down his thoughtful and inhibited side- though in RL, he's often much more careful and cautious than not. this reflects itself in his silhouette- where the RL version sometimes wears an overshirt, Anvil Ace boasts a baggy overshirt with huge baggy cargo shorts to match his extremely active lifestyle.

anyway, character sheets being drawn up, expect the first one sometime tomorrow!

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answers
1, 3, 4, 2. if you didn't read them this way, you're not wrong- but i'd like to know why you came to that conclusion! leave a comment!