Story-based Design, Character Evolution, + Kingpin Comedy

Hey Past-me,

I’m writing this one on the road, trying to squeeze one of these out before it’s my turn at the wheel.

Today, I figure I'll let fate decide the contents of this letter. My one goal is to prepare you for your creative future. To answer questions you wouldn’t think to ask at this point.

So where do you begin, when you don’t know where to start?

[ ESTIMATED_READTIME: 2 minutes and 10 seconds ]

In the box:

• 3 Design Tips: Let the Story Design for You

• 2 Perfect Examples: Character Evolution

• 1 Public Gem: Kingpin gets arrested

3 Design Tips

You’ll hear this often: Story is king 👑

If that’s the case, then let the story design for you. So whether it’s a character, a background, prop, painting, whatever, you can start here 👇

1 Clarify its function in the story

• Determine narrative roles and how the visual elements serve the plot

2 Define the shape of its soul

• Identify core moods and themes

• Mold forms and sculpt lines

• Incorporate symbols and motifs

3 Choose the colors of its experience

• Align colors with the emotional mood

• Consider culture and psychology

  

  Teen Titans Cast - Robin, Raven, Starfire, Beastboy, Cyborg

2 Perfect Examples

The times, technology, budget, taste, and intent. Those are just some of the factors that influence design decisions. See how these characters evolved over time:

Turtles

Robots

Which ones are more your taste?

1 Public Gem

 😭😭😭

That’s it for the stash this week. Hope you found something useful in here.

(Don’t work so hard. Let the story do the work for you 🙃…but what if you don’t know the story??? I’ll fill you in on the next one…)

Talk to you soon,

—Future-you

Say hi on TwitterX/IG/LinkedIn

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