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Description
A QUICK AND DIRTY little guide of some concepts to help with using references for character designing (or any designing, really!) that help with making unique designs that don't stray close to their sources of inspiration!

Theres a lot of different ways to approach designing and using references, but for beginners or people just starting out in design it can be a little nebulous on what to do or how to use source images effectively without crossing the line into copying, i hope these techniques help!

some additional thoughts:

- in regards to adopts and CS specifically, i recommend getting inspiration sources from outside of the community! it helps bring new ideas to the table rather than rehashing old ones, and you don't have to worry nearly as much about the "my adopt design is too close to this adopt design and im gonna get in trouble" aspect

-think about what you want as a designer! just like with an art style, if you get really into designing you will develop your own style in terms of your design tastes! collect anything that interests you, and build up that visual library and personal aesthetic tastes!

- like a reference? like a specific outfit? don't just copy it! it maybe way easier to just outright take an outfit from a photograph, but redesigning and figuring out what you like about it helps you develop design skills! also, if someone knows the source material you are taking, it makes your design lose a lot of uniqueness and interest, because it wasn't your idea to start ;0

-"nothing is original anyways so who cares? i should just be able to copy whatever i want"
Well, you are right that nothing is outright original, and theres no law stopping you, but people aren't gonna want to work with you, buy your art or probably even get to know you if you are taking other peoples stuff, and you are closing a lot of doors and hurting a lot of feelings, especially when you reference personal characters- people tend not to like that.
also, even if concepts have to be born from things we know, that doesn't mean people are incapable of creating unique concepts from unoriginal material!

- find resources to fit your interests! if you like fantasy clothing, get references of medieval garb, look at popular fantasy games, etc.! theres a resource for anything if you look hard enough >:3c

I thought it would be fun to share some insp boards vs final designs!! some things to note is how sometimes i don't use certain images on my boards at all- its just nice to have options!! also 2 of these are customs, so the refs are chosen by the commissioner + sometimes extras from my visual library that i think suit the idea!

vs. vs vs

well hopefully that covers everything!! i hope this is helpful to someone out there! /o/

Description
A QUICK AND DIRTY little guide of some concepts to help with using references for character designing (or any designing, really!) that help with making unique designs that don't stray close to their sources of inspiration!

Theres a lot of different ways to approach designing and using references, but for beginners or people just starting out in design it can be a little nebulous on what to do or how to use source images effectively without crossing the line into copying, i hope these techniques help!

some additional thoughts:

- in regards to adopts and CS specifically, i recommend getting inspiration sources from outside of the community! it helps bring new ideas to the table rather than rehashing old ones, and you don't have to worry nearly as much about the "my adopt design is too close to this adopt design and im gonna get in trouble" aspect

-think about what you want as a designer! just like with an art style, if you get really into designing you will develop your own style in terms of your design tastes! collect anything that interests you, and build up that visual library and personal aesthetic tastes!

- like a reference? like a specific outfit? don't just copy it! it maybe way easier to just outright take an outfit from a photograph, but redesigning and figuring out what you like about it helps you develop design skills! also, if someone knows the source material you are taking, it makes your design lose a lot of uniqueness and interest, because it wasn't your idea to start ;0

-"nothing is original anyways so who cares? i should just be able to copy whatever i want"
Well, you are right that nothing is outright original, and theres no law stopping you, but people aren't gonna want to work with you, buy your art or probably even get to know you if you are taking other peoples stuff, and you are closing a lot of doors and hurting a lot of feelings, especially when you reference personal characters- people tend not to like that.
also, even if concepts have to be born from things we know, that doesn't mean people are incapable of creating unique concepts from unoriginal material!

- find resources to fit your interests! if you like fantasy clothing, get references of medieval garb, look at popular fantasy games, etc.! theres a resource for anything if you look hard enough >:3c

I thought it would be fun to share some insp boards vs final designs!! some things to note is how sometimes i don't use certain images on my boards at all- its just nice to have options!! also 2 of these are customs, so the refs are chosen by the commissioner + sometimes extras from my visual library that i think suit the idea!

vs. vs vs

well hopefully that covers everything!! i hope this is helpful to someone out there! /o/