9 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Designing Characters (2024)

Published on 25 April 2023 7 min read

Contents

1. Overemphasis on Physical Appearance

2. Lack of Unique Personality Traits

3. Inconsistent Character Design

4. Neglecting Cultural Context

5. Overuse of Archetypes and Stereotypes

6. Ignoring Character Background and History

7. Unrealistic Costumes and Accessories

8. Poorly Developed Character Relationships

9. Not Considering Audience and Genre

Designing characters can be a fun and creative process, but it's easy to fall into some common pitfalls. To help you avoid bad character design, we've put together a list of mistakes you should steer clear of when creating your characters. Let's dive in and explore how to make your characters truly stand out.

1. Overemphasis on Physical Appearance

While it's important to have visually appealing characters, focusing too much on their physical appearance can lead to bad character design. Here are some tips to avoid this mistake:

• Balance - Strive for a balance between physical appearance and the character's personality, background, and development.
• Variety - Create a diverse cast of characters, with different body types, facial features, and clothing styles. This adds depth to your story and makes it more relatable.
• Avoid clichés - Steer clear of overused physical traits, such as the "strong, silent type" or the "damsel in distress." Instead, challenge yourself to come up with unique designs that defy expectations.

By keeping these tips in mind, you can create well-rounded characters that don't rely solely on their looks to make an impression.

2. Lack of Unique Personality Traits

Characters with bland or indistinguishable personalities can result in bad character design. To make your characters memorable and engaging, consider the following:

• Distinct traits - Give your characters unique personality traits, quirks, or talents that set them apart from others. This can be as simple as a specific catchphrase, a unique laugh, or an unusual hobby.
• Character development - Allow your characters to grow and change throughout the story. This can involve learning new skills, overcoming personal challenges, or forming new relationships.
• Contrast - Create contrasts between characters to highlight their individuality. Pairing a shy, introverted character with a loud, extroverted one can create interesting dynamics and make both characters more memorable.

By focusing on developing unique personalities for your characters, you'll ensure that they leave a lasting impression on your audience and help you avoid bad character design.

3. Inconsistent Character Design

A common pitfall in bad character design is inconsistency. This can be in terms of appearance, personality, or behavior. To maintain a cohesive and believable character, keep these tips in mind:

• Visual consistency - Ensure that your character's appearance remains consistent throughout the story. This can include clothing, hairstyle, and even facial expressions. Changing a character's appearance without explanation can be confusing for your audience.
• Personality consistency - While characters should grow and change, their core personality should remain consistent. Abrupt personality changes without reason can make a character feel disjointed and unrealistic.
• Behavior consistency - A character's actions should align with their personality and values. If a character behaves in a way that contradicts their established traits, it can weaken the overall character design.

Remember that consistency is key when designing characters. By ensuring your characters stay true to their established appearance, personality, and behavior, you'll create a more immersive and believable world for your audience, steering clear of bad character design.

4. Neglecting Cultural Context

Another aspect that can lead to bad character design is neglecting the cultural context in which your characters exist. Culture plays a significant role in shaping a character's beliefs, behaviors, and appearance. To create well-rounded characters, consider the following:

• Research - Take the time to research the culture or historical period in which your character exists. This will help you to create an accurate and respectful portrayal of your character's background.
• Traditions and customs - Incorporate elements of your character's cultural traditions and customs into their story. This can help to create a richer, more immersive experience for your audience.
• Language - Consider the way your character speaks and the words they use. Their language should reflect their cultural background and upbringing.
• Representation - Be mindful of how you represent different cultures in your character designs. Avoid stereotypes and strive for authentic, nuanced portrayals of your characters' backgrounds.

By paying attention to cultural context, you'll create characters with depth and authenticity, avoiding the pitfalls of bad character design.

5. Overuse of Archetypes and Stereotypes

Overusing archetypes and stereotypes in your character design can lead to characters that feel flat, predictable, and uninspired. To avoid bad character design, keep these tips in mind:

• Understand archetypes - Archetypes are universal patterns that can provide a strong foundation for your characters. However, make sure to build upon them and give your characters unique traits and quirks that make them stand out.
• Challenge stereotypes - Stereotypes are oversimplified and often harmful representations of a group or an individual. Try to avoid relying on stereotypes when designing your characters, and instead, focus on creating complex, multi-dimensional characters.
• Character development - Allow your characters to grow and change throughout the story. This will add depth to their personalities and help them break free from any archetypal or stereotypical molds.
• Diversity - Aim for a diverse cast of characters, with differing backgrounds, interests, and perspectives. This will not only make your story more engaging but also help you avoid the trap of bad character design rooted in overused stereotypes.

Remember, the key to avoiding bad character design is to create unique, well-developed characters that resonate with your audience. By steering clear of overused archetypes and stereotypes, you'll create characters that are memorable and engaging.

6. Ignoring Character Background and History

Character background and history play a significant role in shaping a character's personality, motivations, and actions. Ignoring these aspects can result in bad character design that feels shallow and unconvincing. To create well-rounded characters, consider the following:

• Create a backstory - Develop a detailed backstory for your characters, including their upbringing, family life, significant events, and experiences. This will help you understand their motivations and make their actions more believable to your audience.
• Use the past to inform the present - Consider how your character's background and history influence their current behavior, decision-making, and relationships with others. This will add depth to their personality and make them more relatable.
• Reveal the backstory gradually - Instead of dumping all the information about a character's past at once, reveal it gradually throughout the story. This will keep your audience intrigued and add an element of mystery to your characters.
• Link characters through shared history - Explore how the backgrounds and histories of different characters intersect, creating connections and conflicts that can drive your story forward.

By paying attention to your characters' backgrounds and histories, you'll create more engaging, dynamic, and believable characters that avoid the pitfalls of bad character design.

7. Unrealistic Costumes and Accessories

Unrealistic costumes and accessories can make a character feel out of place, distract from the story, and contribute to bad character design. To avoid this issue, keep the following in mind:

• Consider the setting and context - Make sure your characters' outfits and accessories make sense within the world you've created, considering factors like culture, climate, and technology.
• Function over fashion - While it's important for characters to look appealing and stylish, their clothing and accessories should be practical for their roles and the situations they find themselves in. For example, a warrior in a heavy suit of armor might look cool, but it wouldn't be practical for them to wear it all the time.
• Avoid over-accessorizing - Too many accessories can clutter a character's design and make it difficult for your audience to focus on what's important. Stick to a few key pieces that enhance the character's personality or serve a purpose in the story.
• Keep it consistent - Ensure that your characters' costumes and accessories remain consistent throughout the story, unless there's a specific reason for a change. This helps maintain continuity and prevents confusion.

By creating realistic and practical costumes and accessories for your characters, you can prevent bad character design and enhance the overall believability of your story.

8. Poorly Developed Character Relationships

Characters don't exist in a vacuum—they interact with others and form relationships that can greatly impact the storyline. Poorly developed character relationships can lead to bad character design and an unconvincing narrative. To create strong, believable relationships for your characters, try these tips:

• Define the relationship dynamics - Understand the nature of the relationships between your characters. Are they friends, rivals, family members, or romantic partners? This will help guide their interactions and develop their connections more effectively.
• Show, don't tell - Instead of simply stating what kind of relationship two characters have, let their actions and dialogue demonstrate it. This makes the relationships feel more organic and believable to your audience.
• Give characters shared experiences - Characters who have a history together or share common experiences can form stronger, more believable bonds. These experiences can be used to create tension, humor, or emotional moments in your story.
• Take time to develop relationships - Relationships, like characters, need time to grow and evolve. Don't rush the development of a relationship; let it unfold naturally over the course of your story.
• Avoid clichés and stereotypes - Steer clear of overused tropes and predictable relationship dynamics that can contribute to bad character design. Create unique and interesting relationships that feel genuine and add depth to your story.

By focusing on the development of character relationships, you can create a more engaging and believable narrative that avoids the pitfalls of bad character design.

9. Not Considering Audience and Genre

Understanding your target audience and the genre of your story is essential for creating well-designed characters. Failing to consider these factors can result in characters that feel out of place or unrelatable, leading to bad character design. Keep these tips in mind to ensure your characters fit your audience and genre:

• Know your target audience - Consider the age, interests, and preferences of your intended audience. This will help you create characters that resonate with them and make your story more engaging.
• Understand the genre conventions - Each genre has its own set of tropes, themes, and expectations. Familiarize yourself with these conventions to create characters that align with your chosen genre while still feeling fresh and unique.
• Balance realism and fantasy - Depending on your genre and audience, your characters may need to be more grounded in reality or have fantastical elements. Find the right balance to ensure your characters are believable within the context of your story.
• Avoid genre clichés - While it's important to be aware of genre conventions, don't rely solely on clichés and stereotypes. Push the boundaries of your genre and create characters that surprise and captivate your audience.
• Adapt characters for different media - If your story is being adapted for a different medium (e.g., book to film or video game), consider how your characters may need to be adjusted to better suit the new format.

By carefully considering your audience and genre, you can create characters that not only avoid bad character design but also stand out and leave a lasting impression on your readers or viewers.

If you enjoyed this blog post and want to dive deeper into the world of character creation, don't miss the workshop 'Creating Characters: The Design Process' by Kit Buss. This workshop will guide you through the design process, helping you bring your characters to life with authenticity and depth. It's the perfect companion to further explore the art of character creation.