crashfreeze

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Not a dig at the OP, but I thought it was funny and relevant.

I rolled up a toon on Freedom this week.
ALL Robot parts
ALL Gold and Silver
Ugliest full helmet design I could think of with all the clunky robot parts with a female torso.
Named her IRON MAIDEN

Won TWO costume constest in the first 10 minutes of her career for a shiny 2.4 Million Influence.

I broke EVERY design rule here and deliberately tried to make her ugly and functional looking instead of sleek/trendy/attractive.

Beauty trully is in the eye of the beholder

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Pretty funny. I've seen people judge costume contests with some crazy criteria. A friend of mine rolled up a toon with just black hair, sunglasses and "armored padding" with red pads and black undertones and he beat Crashfreeze in a costume contest because the guy who put it on "loves armored pads". Post a pic of your toon if you could. Also the design rules arent specifically for winning costume contests, they are also for pride.

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The guide does not work for what I call atomic age heroes. These tend to be scantly clad hero types. Example: Witchblade.

I think that you are right that putting a wolfhead with a human body and army boots is weird, but it can work.

The bio can explain why some may look weird. Also, many of my heroes are dark, brooding sorts. More Batman or Punisher like. My heroes don't arrest people(AR, arrows and claws, and swords are unlikely to not kill people), so they dont wear Purple and Yellow Spandex. I dont say to the team in battle, "Arrest him". I say "kill him". Also, if I am on the COV side, I say "brute, bring me his head". I think these are great suggestions for making old school old fashion hero types which are still pretty cool, but it does not work for the modern hero types.

I looked at your toons Crashfreeze and I admit that the costumes do look good. But as a graphic artist, surely you must admit that comic book heroes and heroines have taken on more sex appeal and most of them are not the goody two-shoes of the past. Even classic superheroes have had makeovers. Wonder Woman in 1970s to now is a huge difference. The male characters are becoming more streamlined as well.

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Thanks for your post and you certainly make some good points. You mentioning Witchblade is certainly an atomic age character along with several others. You are dead on about sex appeal. Comic book artists started realizing sexy is profitable.

So... I have decided to give a shot to some more sexy atomic age costumes and I'll update the guide in a few days with what I come up with.

But I also think there is plenty of room in the guide for the likes of Spawn, Batman, Blade etc that are of the more dark brooding hero. I also do not abide the "arrest them" mentality.

Thanks for your suggestions.

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You design costumes like a graphic artist would. You do not design costumes like a comic book artist would, or like someone who would actually ever try to stich spandex together or fight in those outfits.


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That's probably true but when it comes down to it just about every costume is more flashy than functional.


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Tight & Loose - Sure Captain America pulls it off, but flared boots and gloves went out of style along time ago.

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I definitely agree with you there, which is why only 1 character has flared boots. For me the flared boots is kind of a love hate thing. I love them because they are so nostalgic but I hate them because I think they have always looked goofy even on character like Captain America where they looked good.

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Blends - Nice organic feel to them. Don't really look right on Spandex. They wouldn't weave the cloth that way, so was it air brushed on ? You don't see blends often in comics either as it would be more difficult to ink.

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Also agree with you here. The gradients were certainly more a choice of style over practicality. But then again how practical is flame coming out of someone's eyeballs?

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Color Wheel - The triangles are good, but complimentary colors my shiny metal behind. Orange and Blue ? Only if your a Cobra Urban Viper or DeathStroke. Purple and Yellow ? Yeah just like..no wait.....yeah there pretty much isn't anyone in comics running around in purple and yellow.

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We will have to agree to disagree here. Because even though orange is one of my least favorite colors I think orange and blue look great together. I cited some examples in my post where these combinations work, Orange & blue; broncos, florida gators, auburn university. Purple & Yellow; Baltimore Ravens, LA Lakers, Minnesota Vikings. That's not to say you can't pair up yellow with blue because thats one of my favorite color combos actually. The point was you should not pair up something like Purple with Orange, or Red with Purple. Again I'm very clear in my guide these are all "guidelines" there can always be exceptions and they will look nice.

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Complex Design - I disagree with this. Lightning bolts on everything if you want, It matches. Incidently, you charecter Crashfreeze appears to have a fire motiff going on every part except his chest and his head is on fire. He couldn't get much more flaming if you tried.

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Again my rules are generalizations they can be broken with success, also Crashfreeze was the first costume I ever built on CoH.

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Infernobot's costume screams function over design, except for the flared boots. If she was trully worried about her appearance imagine covering up the exposed wires or the hoses going into her face would be a bigger concern than the boots.

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Infernobot is my least favorite of these designs but I wanted a robotic character that sort of looked like a walking Xbox. I just got the idea in my head that would be kinda neat. That being said I still think she looks cool but I'm probably going to be taking her back to the drawing board at some piont.

Thanks so much for your input!

Crashfreeze's Guide to Creating an Awesome costume

1. Introduction to the Guide
2. What qualifies me to give costume advice
3. Coming up with a concept for your hero
4. Lesson on good coloring
5. Specific Do's and Don'ts
6. General Tips for costume creation



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1. Introduction to the Guide
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NOTE
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In this guide the term "costume" will refer to a person's overall look. A costume in this sense is all-inclusive; hair, hair color, skin tone, height, weight, girth, muscle tone, clothing, color scheme, aura, everything.

In the guide the term "outfit" will refer to a character's clothing, color scheme, patterns, etc.
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A good costume is essential to a hero's identity. I would assert that a hero's costume makes them more identifiable than their powers. Quick quiz, identify the following hero based on their abilities; Able to bend steel, lift cars, punch through walls, fly at supersonic speeds, is invulnerable to just about every type of attacks. I am talking, of course, about Captain Marvel! The point is a lot of hero abilities are recycled, but their costumes make them unique.

I see a lot of horrible costumes running around Paragon City. A lot of times it appears as if people just hit the random button and enter the game. I have also grouped with some people who were awesome players, had great characters but their costumes kept them from being "awe inspiring". Remember a costume is your personal touch that makes the character come alive. The Sistine chapel is a beautiful piece of architecture but without Michaelangelo's brushstrokes on its ceilings it would just be another building. In my opinion a good character becomes a great character whenever they are both powerful and and have a great costume.

As a final test try to think of a comic book superhero (or villain) with awesome powers that has a really stupid looking costume. It's hard to come up with any because comic book artists know what it takes to make a costume look good. Or it could be that the bad costumes make a character forgettable. For the record Impossible Man and Molecule Man are both tremendously powerful but look silly, and they are also obscure. Coincidence?

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2. What qualifies me to give costume advice?
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Well technically nothing. I don't have a degree from CoH costume design academy or anything but here are some things that might help in my assessment of CoH costume building.

-I am a graphic artist in real life
-Every character I've ever actively played has won at least one costume contest (some multiple)
-Almost every time I play I get complemented on my costumes
-My friends on CoH ask me regularly to critique or help improve on their costume design.
-I pride myself on quality costume design.

You can feel free to critique these but here are some costumes that have won contests that I have created.

www.crashfreze.com/toons.jpg
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3. Coming up with a concept for your character
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In my opinion costume creation should begin here. A good character concept will almost build your outfit for you! With that in mind I would like to describe a few hero archetypes and some costume suggestions that go with them. I believe a lot of times people start with no concept in mind, they get into the character creator and say "Ok, this is the coolest looking shoulder pads, this is the coolest looking belt, this is the coolest looking shirt design, these are the best looking boots..." so on and so forth. While the person feels they are choosing the best in each category the sum of the parts end up being a tragedy. Pizza and chocolate pudding are both awesome... just not together.


NOTE
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The examples listed under each archetype always have exceptions, they are just generalized for example sake.
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Classic Super Hero:
Description: The always faithul, always strong classic superhero from days of old
Keywords: Strong, Regal, Gallant, Vigilant, Unyielding, Altruistic, Brave, Powerful
Examples: Superman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Mr. Incredible, Promethion (my character)
Costume Suggestions: Bright colors, Tights, Well groomed hair, Small eye mask, Prominent chest logo, Big jaw, Muscular, Hopeful facial expression, Capes a must.

Troubled Vigilante:
Description: A fierce warrior often driven by revenge, disregarding of authority but ultimately good.
Keywords: Dark, Troubled, Intense, Tempermental, Impulsive, Violent, Uncompromising, Loner, Haunted
Examples: Wolverine, Blade, The Punisher, Rorschach
Costume Suggestions: Drab colors, Avoid tights, Messy Hair, No mask, Facial Hair, Muscular, Trenchcoats, Chest symbol optional, Guns and swords are good.

Cocky Young Hero
Description: The superhero who enjoys his powers, sometimes young, foolish and brash.
Keywords: Young, Handsome, Daring, Cocky, Pretty Boy, Thrill seeking, Jokester, Sometimes disrespectful
Examples: Human Torch, Spiderman, The Flash, Dash
Costume Suggestions: Bright colors, costume patterns (checkerboards, lighting bolts, etc), Trendy hair, Smirky facial expression, Brighter leather gloves and/or boots.

Mysterious Hero
Description: A hero shrouded in mystery, often a mystery to those close to him or her.
Keywords: Mysterious, Quiet, Stealthy, Enigmatic,
Examples: Batman, Deadpool, V , Darkman, Crashfreeze (my character)
Costume Suggestions: Covered face, avoid bright colors, Chest symbol important, Somber facial expression, Intense eyes.

Born from Evil
Description: A hero born from evil that pursues redemption or revenge
Keywords: Dark, Brooding, Demonic, Scary, Intense, Vengeful
Examples: Ghost Rider, Spawn, Hellboy, The Shadow
Costume suggestions: Loose clothing, Dark drab colors, Skulls, Scary face, Scars, Glowing eyes, Chains, Spikes, Horns, Trenchcoats, dark circles around eye cavity.

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4. Lesson on good coloring
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The brain is naturally inclined to find some color combinations pleasing and others less appealing. Knowing which colors to pair together can have a profound impact on whether your character looks coordinated or a walking fashion disaster. Let's face it, the citizens of Paragon need to see you have a good wardrobe to take you seriously. For color reference we use the color wheel.

This is a color wheel.

http://www.sanford-artedventures.com...ange_wheel.gif

Graphic artists use the color wheel often to determine who pleasing colors will be when paired together. It is a general design rule never use more than 3 colors in any scheme. This would apply to company logos, sports jerseys, websites, automobiles, etc. Most of the time when I design I try stick with two colors and mix in a 3rd very little.

Rules for using the color wheel

1. When deciding on 2 colors choose any color and its complement is directly across from it. Examples; red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple.

2. If you want 3 colors for something you need to use the points of each triangle. For example if you want to use blue and 2 other colors they should be yellow and red. Orange's other

two colors should be green and purple.

3. You can almost interject or substitue black, white or grey(silver)into any combination. For example you could choose Blue and Orange (Like Sister Cinder) and add in black or white to the outfit and it will still look good. Or you could do a three color scheme with Blue, Red and instead of Yellow substitute black or white and it will still be pleasing.

Color Categories:

Believe it or not colors actually invoke an emotional response in people. There are two main color categories. You can almost divide the color wheel in half and on one side would be cool colors, the other side would be warm colors.

Warm colors:
Warm colors invoke a soothing, inviting response from our brains. We associate warm colors with the colors of fire or the sun. These include yellows, oranges, reds, pinks and white.

Cool colors:
Cool colors invoke a non-inviting response, typically cool colors "recede". Cool colors have a tendency to make our minds associate with ice, night time, water, etc. These include blues, purples, greens, aquas, and black.

Examples of complementary Colors in popular culture (That look good):
Superman (Red, Blue, Yellow)
Spiderman (Red, Blue, Black)
Minnesota Vikings (Purple and Yellow)
Denver Broncos (Blue and Orange)
Florida Gators (Blue and Orange)
New England Patriots (Red, Blue, Silver)
Christmas (Red and Green)
Miami Dolphins (Orange and Aqua, which is a blue variant)
Auburn University (Navy Blue and Orange)
Baltimore Ravens (Purple and Yellow)

Color combinations that are not complementary (and are disastrous):
Oregon Ducks (Yellow and Dark Green)
Clemson Tigers (Purple and Orange)
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (Dark Blue and Aqua)

notice these are harder to find because designers avoid bad combinations.


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5. Specific Do's and Don'ts
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DO...
-Start with a character concept in mind
-Start with a plan
-Get a friend to critique your costume
-Stick with 3 or less main colors
-Make sure the colors you pick are complementary (use the color wheel)
-Go with some "character type" design rules, ie: Born from evil? Use darks and some skulls.
-Make your design congruent. For example don't do sleek tights up top, tattered jeans and motorcycle boots below.
-Go to the tailor often and play around with tweaking a color here and there or an outfit piece here and there. Sometimes the best results come from experimentation.
-Use colors specific to your characters power, ie: Ice blaster, blues, purples, white. Fire controller, reds, yellows, oranges.

DON'T...
-Use too many colors, less is more.
-Use clashing colors
-Use multiple patterns. Checkerboard pattern on the chest combined with lightning gloves and flames on the legs is a no-no.
-Overdo the complex designs. Subtlety is nice. If you are an electricity blaster, lighting patterns on every costume piece with an electricity aura is overdoing it a bit.
-Fill every category with something. It is ok to use "Detail 1" and leave "Detail 2" and "Detail 3" blank. You do not have to use something everywhere.
-Ignore people's advice.

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6. Ten Tips for Costume Creation
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1. Choose a nice mixture of tight and loose - If you are going to do tights, I would suggest using some loose elements like flared gloves, folded boots, padded shoulders etc.
2. Make your aura subtle - Most characters will have a toggle that can serve as an aura even from low levels. When picking an aura make it simple, glowing eyes, light rocky crumble, etc.
3. You don't have to have a cape - Only certain types of characters need capes in my opinion. Would Wolverine ever wear a cape? I think not.
4. Dont overdo spikes, chains, leather buckles - That stuff is fine for your character just dont put it on every costume piece. It makes a costume too complex.
5. Stick with the design rule KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid. Don't over-complicate your costume.
6. Let your friends critique your outfits. Even though I pride myself on good costume creation I ALWAYS get people to critique them, often times during "Outbreak" I will ask others.
7. If you are in a Supergroup play around with Supergroup colors. There has been many times I've used Supergroup colors on my outfit just to play around with some different things and often have gotten some really impressive results.
8. Use some comic book heroes for inspiration. Do not COPY their outfits but look around and see what works for some characters, whether its a concept, color scheme or otherwise. Remember, creative people hide their sources the best! For example, my inspiration for Crashfreeze was Raziel from the Soul Reaver video game series.
9. Avoid monsters. I'm sorry monster people, there are some very good monstrous outfits out there and I would even say use them for alternate outfits but throughout comic book history no "monster" character really goes onto greatness, they are always teammates and never great stand-alone heroes (with the possible exception of Beast).
10. Ultimately, do what you like. These are just tips, if you want to hit the random button and go with that, it's cool, go for it. You play the game to have fun and if your idea of fun is an insane, in your face outfit then that's what you should do!

I got this idea because I could never keep up with what Praetorian AV's I had beaten with which character. Therefore I decided to printout a spreadsheet with that information on it. I decided to add a few other things to the spreadsheet for convenience sake and by the time I was done I had a fully blown very helpful, checklist of important in-game information.

Sure its easy enough to use badge hunter but I want something sitting on my desk that I can grab a pen and put a check mark in and then keep on playing. So submitted for your approval is the spreadsheet I created. Download it and print it out for each of your heroes! If you find any mistakes on the sheet please PM me or email me from my website. There are no macros contained on this spreadsheet.


crashfreze.

>> Checklist Spreadsheet <<