[Cerulean Wake]

Do you have any tips for designing characters? :0

Ok, first of all I'm not an expert. If you've seen my "color in a palette and get a character" thing I originally started that to get better at designing characters- but here's some knowledge I've picked up!

1) In general, do not use clashing colors.

2) pick one thing to make the focus. If you have wings, and goggles, and a tail, and a sword, and long flowing hair, and a scarf, and earrings, and fancy shoes, and glitter, your character will look like a jumbled mess. Up on the left, the character has bright colors all over the place, the eye can't focus on one thing. On the right, the character has a dark red as an accent which emphasizes the heart on its chest. If you draw the person's focus to the most important aspect of a character, I think it makes them more memorable and appealing.

3) Use references. References for clothing and such help a ton. 10/10 would recommend drawing from life 24/7 as much as possible.

I can't really think of any more tips at the moment! If you have any more questions feel free.

[AngelSami]

I'd like to make a rebuttal for point one and say that using saturated colors is A-okay sometimes.
Your example is on point. That's a pretty good example of what not to do.

But I have some characters who have pretty saturated colors and I personally don't think their designs are inherently bad or hard to look at. To some maybe, but that's mostly just taste or maybe even their eyes see colors much differently than I do which makes the designs hard to look at.
The saturated colors become less of an eyesore if you add something softer to look at with it. But saying to completely avoid saturated colors because a person's eye doesn't find bright colors as appealing and to use only natural colors kinda bugged me... I just wanted to point out making characters with saturated palettes is okay as long as you feel it's good for the overall design. Saturated colors can be very eye catching! I know for a fact that I adore brightly colored characters! They make me happy!

Bright orange character
ORANGE AND REDS but the white belly and bird-like design make it fits together well in my opinion. Almost making you imagine a sunset or tropical birds.

Bright yellow character
This guy has a lighter colored belly and then darker spots which makes it easier to look at than it would be if he was ALL yellow. The all yellow palette also kinda makes his green hair pop out too. Which is one of my favorite parts since the green hair ties in with his paw pads and eyes (if he ever opened his eyes that is)...

Colorful character
This one doesn't have saturated colors but I feel it's a good example of how you can use more colors while also making it look natural. His colors are very muted but the soft yellow against the soft purple really pops! It can make your character look bright while sticking to the more muted natural colors that arnt just various shades of brown and white.

I'm in NO way discrediting the points you've made! I just found the first point wasn't worded very well and would probably cause people to avoid a lot of color options while trying to keep their character natural looking.

[Cerulean Wake]

I'd like to make a rebuttal for point one and say that using saturated colors is A-okay sometimes.
Your example is on point. That's a pretty good example of what not to do.

But I have some characters who have pretty saturated colors and I personally don't think their designs are inherently bad or hard to look at. To some maybe, but that's mostly just taste or maybe even their eyes see colors much differently than I do which makes the designs hard to look at.
The saturated colors become less of an eyesore if you add something softer to look at with it. But saying to completely avoid saturated colors because a person's eye doesn't find bright colors as appealing and to use only natural colors kinda bugged me... I just wanted to point out making characters with saturated palettes is okay as long as you feel it's good for the overall design. Saturated colors can be very eye catching! I know for a fact that I adore brightly colored characters! They make me happy!

Bright orange character
ORANGE AND REDS but the white belly and bird-like design make it fits together well in my opinion. Almost making you imagine a sunset or tropical birds.

Bright yellow character
This guy has a lighter colored belly and then darker spots which makes it easier to look at than it would be if he was ALL yellow. The all yellow palette also kinda makes his green hair pop out too. Which is one of my favorite parts since the green hair ties in with his paw pads and eyes (if he ever opened his eyes that is)...

Colorful character
This one doesn't have saturated colors but I feel it's a good example of how you can use more colors while also making it look natural. His colors are very muted but the soft yellow against the soft purple really pops! It can make your character look bright while sticking to the more muted natural colors that arnt just various shades of brown and white.

I'm in NO way discrediting the points you've made! I just found the first point wasn't worded very well and would probably cause people to avoid a lot of color options while trying to keep their character natural looking.

Hey yeah thanks you make a good point! I should have been more specific when I said bright/saturated colors. There definetly are exceptions- I mostly meant in general and when clashing colors are used. When used in moderation, bright colors are fine. I'm sorry for sounding so adamant about it.

[AngelSami]

@Cerulean Wake

Oh no no don't be sorry! I understood your point, the wording just could have taken the wrong way I feel and I wanted to help out a little. When it comes to getting people into character design, I like to help out the best I can because it's always so fun to share characters and see things other people come up with, so I couldn't help but go a bit overboard on my examples eheh.
Sorry if I upset you! Sometimes I can accidentally come off as really blunt when I type.

[soupy.]

I always use natural colors for the type of animal I'm making

[eri]

hh is this bab up for grabs? also ps great tips!

[Cerulean Wake]

hh is this bab up for grabs? also ps great tips!

You really want this one???? Okay sure they're yours (￣▽￣;)

[An Shiraishi]

May I take le splotchy one and give it a smol revamp? X.X

[Cerulean Wake]

May I take le splotchy one and give it a smol revamp? X.X

go ahead ^ ^

[RainbowCharizard]

,,, is it bad that I actually kinda like the "bad" one?!? I feel like they could be in animal crossing or somethiNG
it's probably bc I'm a sucker for simple designs rip