Character Development

For this project I have decided to redesign my female assassin character from our previous interactive narrative project. I liked my original design, but I wanted to develop it to see if i could create something better and really think about the clothes she wears, how she wears it and why. This was the original design, very simple, but not very good for blending into crowds or hiding her identity.

Below are the silhouettes and original thumbnail designs I did for the character. They are very rough because I just wanted to create loose forms at first.

These are some thumbnail sketches I did of possible headwear for my character. I liked the idea of the assassin to be able to have a scarf she could wear multiple ways, one way to hide her face, another more for blending in with crowds etc.

After creating my thumbnail images and silhouettes, I created some black and white, developed thumbnails.

For the next stage of development, I chose 10 designs I liked from all previous designs, and developed them, experimenting with colour and adding more detail to her clothing. 

Image 1. I like the head scarf in this, and the jacket could be buttoned up for her to blend in as a man, but i feel like she is showing off too much flesh to blend in believably.

Image 2. The best thing I like about this design is the cape, it covers her up for disguise yet could be folded into a head scarf for combat. 

Image 3. I like the style of the top as it looks more Moroccan than the other designs, but I don't like the colour scheme and she does not look very deadly.

Image 4. This design looks far too comical and the colours are very "girly" However, I like the shape of the jump suit with the belt hanging behind.

Image 5. This is one of my favorite designs, I like the colour scheme, it represents hot, middle eastern, I like the head wear because it provides coverage of her face, and overall it looks practical for running across deserts and rooftops.

Image 6. I like this design, however, I feel it looks more asian ninja, than middle eastern assassin. I designed the hair with the idea that she could use it as a weapon, with a sharp implement wrapped to the end.

Image 7. Again, I dislike the colour scheme, its too cold/ Alice in Wonderland. I like the cape but it seems as if it would be unpractical with little arm movement. It is important for me to create a character where the assets and clothing are both practical and realistic.

Image 8. I like the colour scheme, but it reminds me of being a bit military.

Image 9. I really like this design, she is covered up well, yet can still be identified as a woman. If I were to develop this idea however, I would change the colour scheme to warmer colours.

Image 10. This design was influence by a minor character in my interactive narrative, I think the green works well, but she looks more like a maid rather than deadly assassin. 

Taking influence from my designs, particularly 2 and 5, I developed this character.

The left image is how I depict her everyday clothes to be, the right image would be used for blending into crowds etc. I like the idea that the orange cloth she is wearing would be really versatile and be used to alter her appearance.

Thinking about how she could use her "top" to disguise herself, I also thought about how she could use it to distract in combat, or conceal weapons. An idea I had was thin needles/throwing daggers would be sewn into the bottom edge, so when she whips it like the image above, weapons would fly from her cape into the enemy.

This is the final model sheet for my assassin character, as you can see, her top is pinned up with a needle, which could also be used as a weapon.

I drew these images to show the different ways she could wear her clothes to suit her surroundings or to blend in.