Concept Art
Before Final Idea
Female Protagonist Design for a Horror Game
These three character designs were the three protagonist designs that I wanted to create. I chose a female protagonist as I had not done that before in any of my projects at college. Design A was based on Mandy from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (See Above), and was design trying to create a dynamic-looking character using shape language in the form of triangles. She was going to either have a dull, but warm colour palette, or a set of deep blues. I feel this character design came across as too mean-looking for a protagonist design, but I figured I'd leave it in, as the personality could be an example of a "don't judge a book by it's cover" situation. Design B was the one I was thinking of using, and it was at this point I realised that I should make it a part of the first survey to get feedback on these character designs. I based B more on squares and Triangles, to try and get the reliable and sturdy character feel, whilst retaining some of the dynamic feel of A. This one sort of had the Finally, C was designed with the idea of being a very friendly looking character in a horror game. She was designed mostly with circles in mind, as circles tend to represent friendly characters. She was planned to have a deep blue colour scheme all over (as seen in the image on the right), or a very pink/purple colour scheme, I wasn't sure if these would work well in a horror setting though. Overall, I think each of these designs had their own charm, but all needed some development in one way or another.
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Once I put these designs in a survey, C was the most chosen, and became the character design I went with for the project, which leads us to:
The Folk Laws of Fright 2 First Enemy/Character Design Drafts
Scrapped Design(s?) (This/These did not get put on the survey)
Doppelganger
The doppelganger was a boss that was featured in the first folk laws of fright game, and I didn't want to repeat too many folklore over the course of the game so that the game didn't feel like I reused the same ideas from the first. I designed these with mostly the idea of keeping the main character's design, but altering in such a way that it became unsettling, or just enough to be different. Design A was just a duller coloured version of the main design with larger pupils and yellow eyes. It also 3 tufts of hair at the split, as well as messier hair. The second design has more noticeable differences, such as the black tipped hair, and the lack of a mouth. Design C was a completely drained and monochrome version of the protagonist with pitch black eyes. Across all 3 designs I wanted to carry out the motif of it being very similar to the main character, whilst remaining ever so slightly off, making it creepy in its own way. The way I tried to accomplish this across all three designs was making the sweater very slightly different, not really with colour but by changing the symbol from a cross to a tick on A and B and nothing at all on C, I feel like this really emphasised the idea of a doppelganger, and the feeling of dread around something feeling wrong.
Level 1: The Pyramid Labyrinth
Medjed
Medjed was a very easy enemy to design, although it does stray quite far from its origin. The original concept of Medjed is a minor god, but for the game, it's a regular enemy, as I felt a simple shape with two legs and arm would work quite well as a first level enemy. The idea was to focus on the claws, as I wanted a more unique take on the character, as Medjed is usually seen shooting from it's eyes, which I felt would be boring for a horror game, so I gave it shadowy appendages, as I felt that would make it feel creepier. The idea of it shooting from it's eyes did seem to be a major factor of the original idea, so I gave it the large eyes in each of its designs to emphasise them. Medjed is also said to rarely ever be seen, hence why I gave it the shadowy figure. Overall, I think these designs came out really nicely, and capture what I was going for.
Aqrabuamela / Scorpion man
This one was quite hard to design for, as I wasn't really too sure on how to go about drawing insect bodies, or even human bodies for that matter, let alone both merged into one. However, after looking some images of what the Scorpion Man looks like, I had some inspiration, so I tried out 3 different designs. The first, a human torso with scorpion legs and a flesh tail with a mouth, with a set of razor sharp teeth and a long tongue. The second, the deformed upper half of a man with the legs of a scorpion, and the third, a bipedal scorpion-man hybrid. Each of these came out decently, with the first being the one I think came out the best. I wanted A too look dangerous and nimble, hence the more dynamic design (using triangles), and the other two I wanted to look large and intimidating, hence the use of more well built, but rounded squares, representing a more powerful design. Overall, these came out well, but I think B and C could definitely use some improvement.
Apep
For Apep, I really wanted to create a design that emphasised the snake aspect and the original design, but I also wanted to create a design that really represented the "enemy of light idea", and had it's own unique twist, rather than just looking like a snake. I wanted it to really be something worthy of being a representation of chaos. To do this, I created the two snake-like designs, which are very close to the original, with the second being slightly more dangerous looking, rather than the mischievous look I was going for with A, then I had the idea to make a design constructed entirely of darkness, whilst retaining the snake like features. Being a shadow also helps with the character representing chaos, as shadows can be very chaotic, as they have the ability to form any shape. I chose 5 fingers , as most characters in game have 4 due to the style, so 5 would feel out of place, but in an unsettling way, as they'd be trying to grab you, also it'd help represent the idea of chaos better, as it does not follow the general rule of the designs. Overall, I'm very happy with these designs, though I do believe C definitely came out the best by far.
Anubis
Finally, for Anubis, whilst I did carry over the motif of an Egyptian god-esque robe outfit and the Jackal theme throughout, I really wanted to create three unique takes on the Egyptian god of death. Design B was the first design I came up with, and he was going to have spiral eyes to try and represent madness, but after conducting research, Anubis is usually portrayed as a very calm god, so I wanted to create something that looked menacing, hence the glare. As for design A, I wanted to create a quick and nimble looking take, which is why I went for the floating design, as it looks like he can zoom about and go about his daily work uninterrupted at fast speeds. As for design C, I wanted to create the same idea of working quickly, but rather than being able to move about quickly, he can just do work incredibly quickly, so I gave him 4 powerful looking arms. I gave him the 2 dots for eyes as I felt it worked very well for a glare. In fact, I think all three types of eyes I used for these designs came out really well, and each work in their respective type of design. In terms of the bodies, A was meant to be based on triangles to show his speed , C was supposed to be based on squares for his strength, and B was supposed to be something between. Overall, these designs all came out really well, and I think each represent the character in their own way very well.
Level 2: The Greek Ruins
Ghoul
With the Ghoul, I wanted to create three slightly different takes on the same idea, being a very pale, humanoid creature that look like it was nothing but skin and bone with pitch black eyes and sharp teeth. I tried to create the feel that this creature feasts on corpses of humans, yet looks slightly like one itself. I tried to make as much of the body as sharp and slender as possible, as I want it to appear dangerous, but also incredibly frail, as ghouls are often portrayed as very frailly built creatures, most likely to appear as though they were starved. For design A, I focused mostly on the triangles and the hunched over stance, this came out decently as I wanted it too, but I think I made the face slightly too slim. Design B I wanted to focus more on the body and head, so I added joints and really put an emphasis on the mouth, as eating flesh is what they are known for. The final design I mainly wanted to capture the sadness of the creature, so I tried to accomplish that through the face, so I stretched it out and emphasised the frown and the hollowness of the eyes. Throughout all three, I'd say I did a decent job of recreating the kinds of bodies ghouls have, giving each of them a unique enough twist each to make their designs feel original. They were all planned to have a similar colour scheme of very desaturated greens, blues and purples. Overall, I'd say these came out quite well, and am happy with the results, and B is my favourite.
Ahool
For the ahool, my main priority was to really emphasise the idea of it being a giant bat. I tried to accomplish by creating a design that would be very believably large, which I tried to create by adding the fur and the very large wingspan, as with fur, the actual body can remain a similar size, but fur helps emphasise the size even more, making it appear much larger than it actually is. I also wanted to recreate the idea of it being able to grab you and fly around with you in its grasp, to accomplish this I gave it big hands on the edge of its wings, and feet that look like they could get a tight grip in designs A and B. I also tried to heavily rely on triangles for each of the designs to really drive home the dynamic feels of the characters so they looked both dangerous and agile/nimble. Design A was designed to have an emphasis on the grip idea, whilst remaining around the size of the main character. Design C focuses mainly on the fur and is smaller than the player. Design B focuses on both, retaining the nimble look, whilst having a larger emphasis on the fur and being larger than the player. I feel B came out the best for what I was trying to go for, and works in a horror game. I also chose the eyes to be pointing either direction as it makes the player uncertain of where the creature will go next. This unpredictability could create a sense of fear in the player, as well as the size, meaning it'd work well in a horror setting. Overall, I think these all came out really nicely, but B is definitely my favourite.
Fachan
For Fachan, I wanted to create a set of designs that really put forward the idea of it being a large troll-esque creature that fought with brute strength, whilst also retaining the original idea of the folklore creature, featuring the singular eye, arm and leg. One change I did make from the original design was to give it a wooden club rather than a metal flail full of cursed apples. I tried to keep squares in mind when creating these designs, so that I could really show off the sturdiness of this character. I like how these designs came out, and feel that I accomplished what I wanted to, though I would change B's face given the opportunity.
Medusa
For Medusa, I wanted to try and create designs that revolved around the idea of a "head of Medusa", which you can see in designs A and B, but just in case the audience did not like this, I tried a more traditional Medusa look.For each of the designs, I wanted to focus on triangles to give off the feeling of danger, but I feel like I could have done a much better job with A in terms of implementing triangles into the design, as with nearly every instance I tried to implement a triangle, it ended up being a triangle, and almost looks circular in every instance. Other than that though, I am happy with how these designs came out.
Level 3: The Burning Plagued Village
Changelings
In terms of the changeling, I wanted to create three believable, but grotesque alterations of the baby that you see in the middle of the bottom of the image. Whether it had extra arms, shadowy contortions, razor sharp teeth, or simply hollowing itself out, each had its own unique idea. Personally, I think a combination of all three would look good, but if I had to pick one, it'd be A. One improvement I'd make is to add more to the heads and faces of each, as they're just circles, which are quite boring.
Baba Yaga
The Baba Yaga was an interesting enemy to design, as I wanted to create designs that would be believable to be both strong and incredibly nimble, which I feel I got right for A and C, but could've had some improvement on in design B, as the arms look way too slim to feel strong. I tried to accomplish this with squares and triangles in the designs, but I feel I fell short in adding squares to design B, which is why it looks overly skinny and not as well built as the other two. I am very happy with how designs A and C came out, but feel that B could've used some major improvement, as I wasn't too keep on it personally.
Alps
The alps were quite fun to draw really, I focused heavily on the dream stealing aspect of them, as well as the goblin aspect. I wanted to create something sinister looking, as well as looking sinister. To accomplish this, I will use dull and desaturated colours, and the design itself relies on triangles to look both dynamic, sleek and dangerous. Overall I feel like I could have done better with the final designs, but am happy with how they came out.
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The Grim Reaper
Immediately, I'd like to say that design A was meant to be an homage to Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and I drew it from memory, but upon comparison, it ended up being far too close to the original, so I am not comfortable with how close it is to the original to use in my project, so as much as I would love to put Grim in my game, I will use a combination of B and C, or one or the other dependent on the votes whenever it gets put on the survey. I tried to rely on triangles for these designs, as I wanted to create something that looked incredibly dynamic and sleek, though I did also add some more squares in B, so it felt larger and more present. I used the singular glowing dots for eyes as I felt that they would be unnerving to the player. Overall, I feel B and C were very effective designs for the Grim Reaper.
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Level 4: The Strait of Messina
Afanc
For the Afanc, I didn't really have many ideas on how to adapt the idea of a crocodile beaver hybrid, so I went with two interpretations of a similar design, and then tried to make it bipedal, which I don't think was for the better, as it looks really dreadful in comparison to every other character design, as I really forced out the extra idea, rather than it being inspired by anything. As for designs A and B, I think they came out really nicely, though I feel they may be slightly too similar. I tried to use both triangles and circles for A and B, as I want them to still have the whole fuzzball, but with lizard-like parts poking out of the fuzz, breaking the cutesy look. Overall, I think these came out really nicely, but C does exactly the opposite of come out nicely, and instead looks dreadful.
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Lusca
Lusca's designs were based off of the version of the tale of Lusca being half giant squid, and half shark. For this design, I wanted all danger, whilst showing the dynamicity of the creature, whilst also showing a scary side to the creature, as it was a tale that was told to scare others out at sea. I wanted to have A and B look like they had been in a vicious fight at some point, and have two different body types, one being more monstrous than the other, and the other being much more bipedal with its tentacles. As for design C, I wanted it to be as cartoony of a take on the Lusca as possible, and it would dash about on its legs and slash with its fins. Overall, I think these designs came out really nicely, and I would happily use any of the 3 that get picked, though I may mix all three onto one base if one gets chosen over the others.
Melusine
For Melusine, I wanted to create something that looked like it was once friendly, but has since changed, as that was the idea for Melusine in game, as Melusine in the original folklore tale was a friendly water spirit, so I had her be possessed for the sake of her being an enemy for the game. I accomplished this with a mix of circles and triangles in each design, creating the clash of danger and kindness in the design, making it confusing for the player on whether they should attack or not. As for the designs, C is supposed to be an overly comical take on the "half-fish" idea, and A is closer to the original idea, having Melusine in the barrel to breathe. B is a different take on A, where she doesn't have the barrel and instead claws her way towards the player whilst drying out slowly. I feel these designs came out really well, even if C does look even goofier than I wanted it to be (though I suppose that's a good thing?).
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Scylla
Scylla was a very one-sided set of designs. Design B was my initial idea, so it took front and center, and once I had designed it, I wasn't sure on how to improve on the design, so I created two designs that could potentially hold up, but personally, I don't think either of them are as good as the original. Also, one thing I overlooked to an immense degree was the fact that Scylla is a siren, but usually takes the form of a rock shoal, which is something I may need to amend in future designs of the character. For designs A and C, I focused on triangles for danger and dynamicity, whereas with B, I tried to create a healthy mix of all three, so that I could capture the siren aspect in the form of being cute(?), the sturdiness with the squares in the build of the tentacles below her, and the danger in the form of triangles at the points of the tentacles. Overall, I think these designs are alright, but for me personally at least, B definitely takes the cake.
Charybdis
These designs were all based on an illustration of Charybdis I saw that depicted Charybdis as A gigantic fish whose mouth was the cause of the whirlpools described in the original story, I liked this, so wanted to carry this idea into my own designs. So, to try this, I added an incredibly large, round mouth that the water would flow into, creating the large whirlpool. As for shape theory, I built each design primarily out of triangles and squares to showcase the danger of the creature and also to show the sheer size and sturdiness of it too. Personally, I think C came out as a worse version of A, but I tried to have it be a more corrupted take, with more spikes. Overall, I think A came out the best, as B doesn't really have much unique going for it, and C just seems like a worse version of A. Other than that, I am happy with how these turned out.
Level 5: The Obsidian Prison
Ghast
For these designs, I wanted to take three different approaches to the Ghast designs. The first was an attempt to get it as close to the source material as I could get it. However, This didn't really turn out too well, as I ended up trying to recreate the same design, which did not work very well with my art style, as it was very forced. The second design was to make it seem more like a kind of minion for the nameless mist, featuring the same signature mist coming out of the hollow eye sockets. Finally, design C was my own take on the idea of a Ghast, having incredibly long arms for slashing, covered in black stripes and having sharp teeth, creating a lizard-esque creature. Overall, I think B came out the best, but C could also work quite well, if given some slight alterations, such as working more with shape theory, as I feel it doesn't look dangerous enough. Other than that, designs B and C came out really nicely, and if A wins the poll, it will undergo some major design changes to match the overall art style of the game more.
Shoggoth
For these designs, I wanted to focus on two main aspects of the description of the Shoggoth, those two being the ooze/blob aspects, and the fact the designs are covered in eyes. All three designs were meant to be three simialr takes on the same design. For design A, I wanted to create a design that looked slightly goofy, and as if it were a very big mess. I think this idea came out quite well. For design B, I wanted to create something similar, but have it seem more like an insect-like creature, something that would scurry along the walls of the obsidian prison, and grab the player, which would be a take on the Shoggoth that would slightly go against them being large, hardly movable blobs, though that was the idea, to be a unique take on the design. I think this design came out quite nicely. Design C was meant to be an in-between of the two, being both something that can pull itself along with its stubby but strong arms, and attack with its large arm that can extend out of its body, al whilst being a blob covered in eyes. I used squares for these, rounding off any edges so that it would appear more blobby. Overall, I think all three of these designs came out really strongly, and I don't really have a preference as to which wins the poll.
Night-Gaunt
The Night-Gaunt was a very fun enemy to design. I wanted to create three different takes on the shadow-black, faceless demon. However, I wanted to create something that could do most, if not all that was described about it, such as the grabbing of people and flying around at sickening speeds with them whilst piercing them in some manner or another. For design A, I tried to create something that could meet all of the criteria, being able to fly, pierce things with its tail, and grip onto people well with its hands. This came out well, though the only improvements I'd make is to add more detail to the body, and maybe change the eyes so that they aren't actually eyes, as the original creature is entirely faceless. This same criticism can be said about the other two designs, though maybe to a lesser degree. For design B, I tried to keep a similar idea, but focus more on the flight aspect, and give it a cheeky grin, to make it appear more devilish, as well as giving it a much smaller body, making it appear more like a generic enemy. As for design C, I wanted to try something else that had a design without the wings. I tried to create something that looked incredibly fast and dangerous, and whilst I like how the design came out, I don't think it represents the night-gaunt very well, so I might change it slightly if it wins the poll. As for shape theory, each of the designs were designed whilst keeping triangles in mind to represent both dynamicity and danger throughout the design.
The Nameless Mist
The nameless mist was the first character to get concepts drawn, as it was the only returning character from the first game. Design A is a minimally improved version of the original, but retains the problems of the original, being simply a circle and a rectangle with certain features, and barely taking any notes in regards to shape theory. I put it on the survey as I felt that it would be interesting to see how many people responded saying that it was their favourite design. Design B was designed to look like more of a hunched over skeletal-esque creature. I designed the body with triangles and squares in mind, to both make it seem dangerous, dynamic, but also to make it appear as if it were exceptionally large and sturdy, and really emphasise the size of this monster. As for design C, I focused almost entirely on triangles, creating something that attempted to look truly dangerous and dynamic. If I were to improve this design further any more, I'd probably put more focus on the mist, and maybe add some eyes. Overall, I think each of these designs work in their own right, but get progressively better from left to right. I think I might add more to the head, as I'm not too keen on it just being a circle, as I feel it slightly takes away from what I was aiming to create. Other than that, I am happy with how these designs came out.
Final Character Designs
Robin
Robin was rather simple to design, and was born simply out of the novelty of putting a very friendly looking protagonist in a horror game. At the time of making this, the folk laws of fright 2 was simply meant to be a horror game, before I decided to make it a satirical horror, so in the end the design ended up being more fitting than initially intended. For Robin's outfit, I went with a very monochromatic colour scheme as that was a colour scheme heavily suggested by the audience in the initial survey results, I also chose it so her hair would stand out more, which was chosen solely because I liked the colour, though it does work also as a highlight for the character as opposed to her monochromatic colour scheme. I made her design very bubbly aside from her hair, as I wanted her to look friendly whilst also looking "cool" or dynamic. I did this by using circles and triangles respectively in terms of shape theory. Overall, I'm very happy with how this design came out.
Desert Pyramid Maze Level
Medjed
Medjed was a fun character design, as I wanted to try my hand at designing a character that appeared harmless at first, but changed into a monster upon getting closer or being provoked, as I always liked this idea. For the colour scheme, I went with very monochromatic colour scheme, as Medjed is usually depicted as something under a sheet in most of his actual folklore. For the eyes, Medjed is also said to have shot lasers from its eyes, but I felt that was slightly boring, so I instead had it be so that Medjed got bored of shooting lasers, and instead attacked with whatever was under its sheet. In terms of shape theory, It's mainly composed of circles and triangles, to show its friendly looking side, but then the danger of the hands and such with triangles and points.
Aqrabuamela
The Aqrabuamela was another character I have fun designing. In the feedback I was given on the survey, people suggested that I give the mouth drool, and make it not just a mouth, but a face as well. To accomplish this, I made a more deformed looking face for the tail. I also made it slightly more well built than the initial sketch, so it didn't look like it'd snap in half from one attack, making it seem more dangerous and large, like these creatures are supposed to be. I designed it mainly with triangles in mind, representing danger. As for the colour scheme, I tried to have it look like dried out skin, so it'd be a colour scheme based on nature.
Apep
Apep was a character I designed heavily around its original concept, whilst creating a unique take on the creature. I focused mainly on the "chaos" and "enemy of light" aspects from the original mythology, and had it built largely out of shadows, as shadows can change size and shape at any time. I also felt that this was fitting for inside a pyramid, as it would be very bright inside as well. I built the design heavily around triangles, and used the colour yellow to represent danger and unpredictability, as well as the theme of it being Egyptian, and gold/yellow is a colour usually associated with Egypt and royalty. Other than that, the colour scheme is a monochromatic colour scheme with highlights of yellow/gold.
Anubis
Anubis was designed to be the final boss of the Egyptian level. I worked slightly around the original idea of Anubis, having it be a jackal-esque spirit in a robe. I wanted it to be this, as I felt it would work better for a boss, allowing him to fly/float, and be more nimble. I added the gem, as I felt the robe was too boring. I again used gold/yellow to represent danger, as well as purple, as they are complimentary colours, and also very royal colours, which I thought was fitting for a god. I also designed Anubis with a heavy focus on triangles, to represent dynamicity and danger. Its weapon is the was-sceptre, and can create flames, as someone in the design feedback said that the weapon seemed too basic and not dangerous.
Medusa's Greek Ruins Level
Ghoul
The ghoul was one of the first designs I had a slight issue with, as I couldn't really replicate the original design as similarly as I did in the original, nor could implement aspects of one of the other designs into it, so I created an in-between of the two. This design focuses on the cave dwelling humanoid creature that feasts on flesh. To put emphasis on the flesh eating aspect, I made the Ghoul appear as if it were constantly starved, and had to eat to keep the soul inside it thriving. I chose the soul, as Ghouls were commonly associated with graveyards and being undead in their original tale. As for colour theory, I went with an analogous colour scheme, going with a grey-ish blue scheme, with bright blue eyes. This was due to it being a cave-dwelling monster, and I felt that the colour scheme would work thematically with the rest of the environment, as well as just making the creature devoid of any life, emphasising the dead aspect. In terms of shape theory, I focused on using triangles, once again, representing danger.
Ahool
The ahool was one of my favourite designs to create, and was arguably one of the easiest. As the original folklore is simply just an incredibly oversized bat, that is exactly what I created for this design. I based the shape theory around triangles and squares to make it appear more well built, as well as making it appear dangerous and dynamic. For the colour theory aspect, I went with a natural colour scheme, and based its colour scheme around what colours bats usually are. I think this design came out really well, as all of the theory aspects blend together really well.
Fachan
Fachan was hard to design when making the final design, as I was not sure on what colours to use for the skin, as most of them looked off when I tried them. Eventually, I settled for pale skin with brown hair, making it a colour scheme based on nature, though I also included purples, pinks and yellows, as they function as complementary colours, creating an appealing colour scheme. As for shape theory, I focused mainly on squares, making it an incredibly large monster, and something that would appear strong, sturdy and immovable.
Medusa
Medusa was another design that I think came out really well. The idea for this design was to have a head inside a robe on top of a magic body, as in the original tale, Medusa was reduced to nothing but a head, which was used as a weapon by Perseus. For colour theory, I chose greens and yellows as well as purple for the main body and eyes as they are complementary colours, and create colour harmony. As for the reds included in the eyes and tongue, I did this so that they would stand out on the design, and the eyes are an incredibly important part of Medusa, as they are the centric part of her powers. In terms of shape theory, Medusa is mainly built around triangles for danger and unpredictability value. In the end, I think this design came out very well due to this design choices.
The Burning Plagued Village Level
Changeling
The changeling was designed to be a small, Gremlin-esque creature, that would run incredibly fast at the player and slash at them. I based it around being a distorted contortion of a child, and had most of the design centered around triangles, for danger, dynamicity and unpredictability. In terms of colour theory, I gave it incredibly lifeless skin, making it appear drained of life and starved. So I suppose in a sense it is a natural colour scheme. I added the red eyes so that it would stand out, and represent danger in terms of colour theory.
Alp
The Alp was one of the designs that was incredibly inspired. It was heavily inspired by Hypno from Pokémon (Game Freak, 1996), as that was a design someone said that it looked incredibly similar to in my initial feedback. The desaturated, lifeless yellow also represents danger in a way, as well as the shape theory being based around triangles. I also used squares for the shape theory to make it appear more well built and tall. I also made the ears bent backwards, as that was another piece of feedback I got that I wanted to try, which worked on the design, so I kept it.
Baba Yaga
For the Baba Yaga, I tried to incorporate some aspects of design C into design A to create a more refined version of design A. The main thing I added was the shoes of the design, as I did not like the bare feet of design A, and I am bad at drawing feet. I also improved the shoes based on the feedback given on design C, and fur to the edges of the shoes. I added detail to the sides of the cloak, as I felt it was too bland otherwise. In terms of shape theory, I focused on triangles and squares, to make them appear strong, dynamic, unpredictable and dangerous. In terms of colour theory, I focused on a monochromatic outfit, with an analogous green colour scheme for the skin and hair, so it would fit with the environment it came from and make it appear as if it were rotten flesh, as she is meant to be incredibly old. It also helps with making it feel out of place in the level, adding to the chaos that I want in said level. I based the colour scheme of the mortar on wood, as it worked with the green, making it somewhat of a natural colour scheme.
The Grim Reaper
The Grim Reaper was a very straightforward design. Due to it being called the black death, I made it have an incredibly monochromatic colour scheme, with the two points of non-monochromatic colour being the eyes and the staff handle. I did this so that the eyes would stand out a lot in the design. I chose red as red is a colour usually associated with danger. In terms of shape theory, I focused heavily on triangles, making the design feel dynamic, dangerous, and unpredictable, which fits due to its shadowy character design. I chose said shadowy design as I wanted to create more of an original take on the Grim Reaper as most iterations of the Grim Reaper have a visible skull under the hood, or nothing at all. I went with an in-between, giving the bright red eyes. Overall, I think this design came out really well.
The Strait of Messina Level
Afanc
For the Afanc, I wanted to create something very akin to a beaver, as that is one of the main aspects of the original design, being a Beaver-Crocodile hybrid demon. In terms of colour theory, I simply based the colours on nature, making it a natural colour scheme. In terms of shape theory, I based it mostly around triangles for danger, but used a rounder shape for the main body, as I wanted it to retain the body aspect of a beaver, making it round and fuzzy. I gave it the large eyebrow as I felt the design looked too basic and unoriginal without it.
Lusca
Lusca was another one I had fun designing and experimenting with. My first priority was to get the main design done, which ended up being a shark body with a lot of tentacles pouring out the bottom of it, as this was the design that was chosen. One thing the audience seemed interested in my initial designs was making it appear as dead/close to death as possible, I tried to accomplish this by adding scars to the fins and eye, as well as keeping the harpoon in the dorsal fin. In terms of shape theory, I based it on triangles and squares to make it appear more well built, sturdy, dynamic and dangerous. In terms of colour theory, I focused on a natural colour scheme, making the main body similar to a great white shark, and the bottom half being based around octopus tentacles.
Melusine
For Melusine, I was unsure on the direction to take the design whilst avoiding making it too similar to Scylla. In terms of a colour scheme, it's focused more on blues to match the ocean, as well as yellow teeth to have it be similar to a fish's teeth, as they would be quite dirty, this would make it a natural colour scheme, as well as an analogous one. In terms of shape theory, I wanted to retain the friendliness of what Melusine would've looked like prior to possession, whilst also making her appear dynamic, due to the fish like aspect, as well as dangerous. I accomplished this by making a rounded body for the most part, with pointy aspects of the design as well, such as the hands, fins, teeth and hair.
Scylla
Scylla was a design that I had to adapt slightly due to a misunderstanding in my research. I designed it thinking it was just a siren, and forgot about the rock shoal aspect of Scylla in the initial design, and focused mainly on the fish-based iteration. To amend this, I made the new design feature rock hard spots akin to a rock shoal, as well as keeping the siren aspect. In terms of colour theory, I made it blue to match the ocean, making it a natural analogous colour scheme, though I did add the small amounts of yellow in the design, as they are very close to being complementary colours. In terms of shape theory, I incorporated all three main shapes into the design. I used circles in her face and body to try and get the "lost girl at sea" look that drew sailors in, used triangles in the tentacles and teeth to represent danger, and squares also in the tentacles and eels to make her appear large, powerful and sturdy, like a rock shoal.
Charybdis
Charybdis was very simple to create from the draft design. For the main body, I went with blues to again, represent the ocean and water. For the highlights like eyes, lure and scales, I went with a purple, yellow and orange colour scheme, as they are complementary colours. I kept the large mouth, as it is a major aspect of the design, having it swallow water and creating whirlpools. I also added the scales and patterns on the tail as one piece of feedback I got multiple times was that the main body and tail weren't very detailed, and looked very bland, so I improved it. In terms of shape theory, I based it mainly on squares and triangles, to really make it appear incredibly large, and make it look dangerous as well. I think this came out quite well.
The Obsidian Prison Level
Ghast
The Ghast was quite fun to design, as I had to merge two of the designs, due to them being very close in votes. The shape theory was almost entirely based around triangles for danger and dynamicity, and the shape theory was based around the obsidian prison, hence the very slightly blue-ish greys, this would make it an analogous colour scheme. Other than that, I think this design came out quite well.
Shoggoth
The Shoggoth was designed to be another regular enemy. The colour scheme was meant to be mostly monochromatic, but I added the eyes being slightly blue so that it wasn't overly boring, making it an analogous colour scheme. In terms of responding to feedback, one of my suggestions was to add the eyes from another design to this so that it wasn't just the pupils of the design, and I think this really added to the design. Another thing I was asked was to make it more blobby and like liquid like the original reference, so I made it more melty in the illustrations. In terms of shape theory, it is based around circles and squares mostly, making the size and blobby-aspects very front and centre, though the hand also features triangles to make sure that it represents danger in one way or another.
Night-Gaunt
The Night-Gaunt was another character I had a lot of fun designing, as it was interesting to try and create a character without a face. In terms of shape theory, it is entirely based on triangles, to make it purely dynamic, dangerous and unpredictable. In terms of colour theory, I went with a monochromatic analogous colour scheme, as that fit well with the obsidian prison, and the original description of the creature having "whale like skin".
The Nameless Mist
This was the final redesign of the nameless mist, which was design C on the questionnaire. The redesign was due to the original being simply a rectangle and circle with stick arms. For shape theory, this design was also focused mostly on triangles, so I could get the idea of danger, unpredictability, and speed/dynamicity incorporated into the character. The only part that doesn't follow this is the teeth, as I based them more on rounded squares, to have them be the kinds of teeth you'd imagine grinding things for the creature to eat, as I felt that was more menacing and fitting to the design. In terms of colour theory, just like the Night-Gaunt, I went with a monochromatic analogous colour scheme that was dark to match the obsidian prison that it resides in. I also added mist to the eyes, as in the initial feedback, one of the responses said to make the design more "misty", so that it matches the original concept better.
Summary
Overall, I think all of this concept art came out very well, though I may have spent too long on the character sheets, but I did this to try and meet the criteria of tying into my Unit 12, as there wasn't really many other ways I could have put a focus on character design for this project. I also cut a few corners with some designs, as I was very tired when making them due to crunch times leading me to have to work late at night (fun!). Other than that though, I think everything turned out really nicely, and I created some work I was really proud of.