TIPS for Designing

Arissa

Ritsu's Renegades
Defender of Defoko
Terrible pun cough

So the last thingy I replied to awakened something in me oh god why

Anyway, since I have been designing lately, thank goodness, and since this would be helpful, I think, I'm going to make an Utau design help thread!

For those that want a great Utau design, be it to have a proud accomplishment, or to get away from prying trolls that insist they ripped off some Vocaloid or something ;-;

My first bit of advice is



1.Decide on the essentials of your character. Are they female or male, or somewhere in between or out between, how old are they? etc. This step is very vital, and should come naturally unless you are very confused ;^^


2. Have an idea in your head beforehand. Before you start designing, it's good to have a basic starting point you want to jump from and work off of.

3. Be prepared for scrap paper(lol idk) Not every design idea is solid, so don't go getting too attached to something you won't be holding onto ;3 but, hey, old designs make great bonuses for concept art!

4. Don't feel the need to do or die with designs. If you don't like certain parts of a certain design you came up with and scrap it for another you though up, don't feel the need to choose only one and toss the other completely, or worse, toss them both. If you feel conflicted, take parts that you enjoy from both and analyze them. Try combining these aspects to make something greater! Finally, if you're too attached to both of them, try using them both as designs! Who said an Utau only had to have one signature outfit? cough Yami Ryone

5. Pull apart your initial ideas. If you're designing, think about a base idea you have, like is your Utau ultimately inspired by witches or magicians, ice crea m or waffles? Once you have that in mind, you can come up with something brilliant.

6. Try using methods and clothing that allow more freedom. Don't limit yourself to tried pieces of clothing if you know you won't be able to deliver the effect you desired. Don't try making the world out of a plain sailor suit if you find you're unable to >=< Instead, why not choose a T-shirt or something? T-shirts themselves are oh so plain, but there are soo many designs you can use for them,,, that being said...

7. Try taking the boring and make it fun. As I said, not everyone will be able to pull of something unique from something considered a cliche(I said this, no???). Depending on how deep you go, the more limited your designing freedom will be if you insist sticking to a certain fad, for example, how unique can you make derivative Miku formula and still have it look like it was made from Miku formula? See my point? Not that such a thing is impossible, it's just very difficult, making it tough territory. Feel free to use T-shirts and sailor suit uniforms as base clothing for designs and make bright flowers or some creative stuff and allow it to flourish,, not sure how realistic that uniform would be though lol

8. Attach and detach. If there are aspects of another design you really like that would improve yours, go ahead and use it. But don't outright steal it >=< Like,,,If it's something iconic and unique like Shiro's crown from NGNL, try changing the shape and color, or try working off it to make something that only looks reminiscent of it if you really must have it >=< These tok are waters that must be tread lightly... Same goes for stuff in your design you have. If it doesn't look good, consider a color change or altering it, don't just scrap it without giving it a chance first.

9. Experiment. Very important, and I believe this cost me quite a few designs, or the lack of. Try having other people draw the design you came up with, and perhaps this is just me, but, I had tons of designs I thought were bad due to my drawing skill/style that I heavily disliked, causing me to smile upon a design one day then scorning it the next. In addition to that little bit of advice, sadly, if you happen to have bad art, no matter how good a design may be, its potential is wasted on those that take is more bad art. Try drawing the design more than once so that it sticks, and so you can see if it works as well as you thought it did. Try out color schemes, palettes, these may be crucial to whether you keep or destroy a design.

10. Have fun. Don't put down others not allow yourself to be put down. If people say your design is bad or a ripoff, think about it. No design is really bad unless its unoriginal or maybe had a bad color scheme. Ask for other people's opinions, chances are the people that scorned you may just be a lame troll. How does the design look to you, first and foremost, and if you face hard but necessary creative criticism, don't make like the first stage of grief and accept it to improve. If it looks like Miku, say, 'Hm, how can I improve this? What can I take away and add to make it look different, yet retain some of its good qualities?'

Extra- Try using your Utau's name for design help, or vice versa






And this is long so that's about it! If you need help or art or more advice, feel free to comment and/or PM me! I'm here for discussions, helping out, all that! Hope that was useful!! Get out there and design!!!! :3 you can do it!![/spoiler][/spoiler]