nkarafo
Member
I made this point in the "worst character" thread (last page post though, lol) but i think it deserves a thread of it's own. I always wondered about this.
My question is simple. What goes through the artist's head when he/she designs something like this?
My main complain about these designs is the clutter. JRPGs are the main source of this. The outfits seem to have many details and features just for the sake of having details and features to keep your eyes busy. They look like those people dressed up for the Rio carnival or a pretentious fashion show... Non of this seem to have any particular use or make sense at all. If fact, it's quite the opposite. The outfits look impractical, uncomfortable, heavy and it also looks like any of these people need to spend hours before making an appearance of fix their hair to go for a battle.
Now i'm not suggesting that everything must look realistic. I don't have a problem with futuristic/battle outfits. But i prefer it when it makes sense. I even like cluttered designs sometimes but that's because they make sense. For instance, a royal character like a queen/king, etc could have an outfit with tons of decorations and stuff that sticks out for no reason.
Jim Sterling also touched this topic in one of the Jimquisition videos and makes some good points, like how more simple looking characters are more memorable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DGSR7ZY_sU
So again, why so many artists do this then? What's the purpose? Is it to justify their paycheck? Is it to "show off" their skills by adding more and more detail to their characters? Is it because consoles are so powerful that they don't know where else to spend the polygons? Do they try to compensate for the earlier years when characters could only have minimal features due to hardware limitations?
I'm also an artist and i do this too, but only when i make something abstract. I like drawing detailed things with more detailed things inside them. So if that's the case, i can at least see where they come from.
But why do you think this nonsensical, cluttered style is so overused lately?
My question is simple. What goes through the artist's head when he/she designs something like this?
My main complain about these designs is the clutter. JRPGs are the main source of this. The outfits seem to have many details and features just for the sake of having details and features to keep your eyes busy. They look like those people dressed up for the Rio carnival or a pretentious fashion show... Non of this seem to have any particular use or make sense at all. If fact, it's quite the opposite. The outfits look impractical, uncomfortable, heavy and it also looks like any of these people need to spend hours before making an appearance of fix their hair to go for a battle.
Now i'm not suggesting that everything must look realistic. I don't have a problem with futuristic/battle outfits. But i prefer it when it makes sense. I even like cluttered designs sometimes but that's because they make sense. For instance, a royal character like a queen/king, etc could have an outfit with tons of decorations and stuff that sticks out for no reason.
Jim Sterling also touched this topic in one of the Jimquisition videos and makes some good points, like how more simple looking characters are more memorable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DGSR7ZY_sU
So again, why so many artists do this then? What's the purpose? Is it to justify their paycheck? Is it to "show off" their skills by adding more and more detail to their characters? Is it because consoles are so powerful that they don't know where else to spend the polygons? Do they try to compensate for the earlier years when characters could only have minimal features due to hardware limitations?
I'm also an artist and i do this too, but only when i make something abstract. I like drawing detailed things with more detailed things inside them. So if that's the case, i can at least see where they come from.
But why do you think this nonsensical, cluttered style is so overused lately?