These are two characters I’ve designed for my personal IP NOMADS, which depicts the world of near future lunar immigration and all that comes with it. Below you will find the process I used to create my final image broken down into hopefully simple to digest steps.
First I gather appropriate reference for both characters and take into account the tone, feel, personality, and function I am aiming to achieve. As of lately keeping my reference to a relative minimum has been serving me well in terms of staying true and clear to an overall vision.
While existing in the same universe, these characters are designed to be presented as a duo/pair. So playing off and contrasting one another is something I’m mindful of from the very beginning.
Character 1 initial sketches.
Character 2 initial sketches.
Character 2 pose and function sketches.
Character 1 level 2 exploration.
Once I’d pretty much nailed in a direction I wanted to go in, I began blocking out my designs in 3d and getting a feel for the poses and statures of each; finding things that maybe worked in my drawings that didn’t in the 3D realm. Ultimately leading me to think in different axis and omit some initial ideas I had in the very beginning.
Small worldbuilding details such as graphic and logo design are some of my favorite things to design in the process and it takes an idea to the next level and ultimately makes things a lot more believable, while also grounding the designs in their own distinct universe.
Some quick helmet ideas for character 1 along with a couple background props.
The final result after some 2d treatment and design reworks based off the feedback from my friends Kevin Kruse and Adrian Majkrzak. Rear views pictured on my portfolio page.