Your Characters Do Not Look From The Same Universe? Here Are 3 Simple Tips

Someone suggested in our last poll, 'how to design a character with the intent of them being part of the same world'.

This is an interesting subject and something I've been doing for the past couple of years as part of worldbuilding for my personal projects. I think the overall feeling that a character is part of the same universe is largely defined by the art style. Because whether you have an alien motorcyclist standing right next to a coffee cashier, if the line texture, color palette, or values selection match in one way or another, people will assume they both are from the same production, sharing a pretty bizarre story indeed, but still the same universe

So, if you are currently struggling with making characters look part of the same universe, here are some things I'll suggest you check:

Character's eyes

While line texture indeed influences style, it is the shapes created with those lines, particularly anatomical shapes, that have a more significant impact.

If there was a part of the body that acted as the signature of a style in the characters, it would be the eyes. Look at the reference below of Vampire Hunter D, directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Most of Kawajiri's characters share a distinctive anatomical style, making them feel part of the same universe, regardless of the story.

This does not mean all your characters must have the same eye shapes; they can share other anatomical aspects, costumes, colors, or rendering styles. But keep in mind that this is the quickest way to spot that "thing" in common as people tend to go straight to the eyes when reading a character closely.

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Character's Costume Period

There's nothing that suggests characters are not from the same place more than their outfits or costumes. And by "place," I mean era, defined by time period. It's important you make clear from what period of time your characters are (past, present, future), so you don't throw a pair of sneakers into a set of characters from the Victorian era, making one of them feel off. Nothing wrong with this unless that's your intention.

Generally, I like to dress characters matching present times, using pieces of clothing or costume anyone would wear right now casually (heels, boots, pants, jackets, etc.), and sometimes mixing with past or future styles, like goth or cyberpunk. If you are eager to try different outfits, I suggest you choose one aspect for all the characters to share, like the anatomical one I just mentioned, colors, or render.

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Character's Shadows and Lights in Render

Do you want your characters to look totally different? Make one with a realistic render and another with cell shading (anime style). Characters from the same universe will share the same rendering characteristics. To have some control over the number of values you use to render volume in your characters, keep things simple. Use one value at first to define the overall shadow silhouette and choose carefully which parts of the character will receive new darker shadows.

The color and tone of the shadow are also key in this phase. For instance, if you have two characters with the same base skin tone but the shadow of the skin tone is different for no apparent reason, there you will find inconsistency. This is because, in reality, unless they are under different lighting circumstances, the skin (only if it's the same color) should cast the same color and hue of shadow. Generally speaking, I use different skin tones for characters, as well as different clothing pieces, so this last tip might apply more as an extra thing.

In conclusion, most of the time, the characters we design are visually limited by the constraints of our skills, therefore they end up sharing some aspects, beyond our choices. But if you don't feel they look as part of the same universe, pay close attention to their anatomical features, the way they dress, and how the shadows and lights look while rendering. I hope this helps!

I delve more into style in this article:

How I Developed My Art Style: Understanding 'Popular' Art + My Secret to Staying Relevant!

How to Create Anime Style Characters - Anatomy, Colors, and Shadows

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