Some time ago I decided to stop redesigning other peoples stuff (like my reboot cast for example). It’s so much fun, but so is shooting fish in a barrel (for people I probably don’t want in my life).
It’s easy to design a character after you’ve seen their whole story arc play out, witnessed the nuances of writing, acting, animation, even their contribution to the overall atmosphere of the final product. For us, character design is done in the dark. We have descriptions, plans, and vague gestures, all of which will change, many of which will change BECAUSE of what we design.
So, to me it doesn’t feel like a “sporting chance” to redesign someone else’s finished character. They couldn’t see what you see now. They didn’t know that twist was planned, or that they’d get an extra season, or that marketing would favor an unexpected character.
It’s easy to design a character after you’ve seen their whole story arc play out, witnessed the nuances of writing, acting, animation, even their contribution to the overall atmosphere of the final product. For us, character design is done in the dark. We have descriptions, plans, and vague gestures, all of which will change, many of which will change BECAUSE of what we design.
So, to me it doesn’t feel like a “sporting chance” to redesign someone else’s finished character. They couldn’t see what you see now. They didn’t know that twist was planned, or that they’d get an extra season, or that marketing would favor an unexpected character.
But just for fun I’ll take a swing at our own stuff.
Given a chance to take another pass at Fenris, I would suggest something like this. Chunkier, bald, more of a warrior, with more Tevinter motifs (which we hadn’t yet established during DA2).
Well, first of all, I hope that armored longcoat look suggests designs in play in DAI; it's simple and badass, and I like it a lot.
ReplyDeleteSecond: I really hope you enjoyed this one enough to do more. Seriously, fantastic parallel universe takes on Dragon Age is pretty much why we have the Internet in the first place!
I definitely prefer this look to the waify fellow from DA2. This guy seems formidable.
ReplyDeleteThe baldness with the tattoos imply a level of severity that the old Fenris design did not get across visually and the utilitarian armor implies someone that is more interested in function rather than form. Also that armor just looks rad.
I hope you continue doing this. Like you said I guess, I prefer to see you noodle at your own designs rather than others. Not to mention this exploration is likely to inform your design decisions going forward and may even have a direct impact on in progress stuff like Inquisition. If this is the kind of work we can look forward to seeing I am even more stoked for DAI than I was before.
Thanks for sharing, you are great.