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Aza and Redesign Processes + PSDs
🕑 Added 2024-02-03 01:19:15 +0000 UTCNot much to say about the Azas, so I'll skip to talkin' about the redesign thought process.
MAGGIE
Despite being an incredibly minor character, I went in wanting to give her a distinguishing look that had as much thought and attention as everyone else. Not just because I enjoy giving everyone that amount of care to make them feel more like an inhabitant of the Rekindled world, but because she's a character meant to leave sort of a lasting impression despite her small role. Her old design just didn't do that, and it was born from a period where I thought only doing simpler designs would make my characters Good. That and the old outfit just didn't communicate that much, hence why I opted for something that's both practical and has a more firm in-universe reasoning. Living in a place so heavily disconnected from the rest of the world with such a small community (that has been established for roughly 20 years) would give rise to stuff like clothing not being as spiffy as everywhere else outside of trading/imports that happen from time to time; a stark difference to the isolated sanctuary Aza grew up in despite being in identical circumstances.
As for the coat, I wanted to design something that did resemble the coats worn by the people of the human village mentioned in her profile (and worn by Matt and Shelly, who come from this region), to reinforce the tidbit about there being trading between said village and the small straggler group Maggie is a part of.
It was kind of a no-brainer to redesign the spear keeping in mind of its materials, particularly when it comes to the spearhead in relation to Jex's sword.
MORA
There was more urgency in getting this design to look BETTER given that she's a much more important character to the narrative, and I was surprised to see how quickly things came together!
Funnily enough, one of the main driving forces for this redesign was to remedy the issue of people pointing out that her outfit looked pretty similar to Nova's while still making something that's in-character. A lot of her reserved nature used to be carried just by the trench coat in her old design, so I decided to spread that energy more across the overall look. This meant taking the coat design in a new direction, finding that balance between secretive but approachable on top of the decision to give her shades to hide what her eyes look like (which is plot-relevant, though her eyes are still gray like in the old design). It was also a good call to get rid of the blue turtleneck, making it gray instead to hammer in her mysterious vibe. The blue wasn't without its justification however! It was meant to harken back to a point in her past, but ultimately I could live without it being present. A friend described this new look as having a Morpheus vibe, and I would agree!! She has a Matrix Grandma type feel, which is befitting for a character who knows a lot more than other characters about the world and how it really functions.
As for the hair, I wanted to try a braided style since its one that I've yet to really use in a character design and I ended up liking it! It suits her methinks.
Overall, the redesign procedure for these two went well I think :)
PSDs below as usual.
