(left side extra) https://twitter.com/Kavaeric/status/1256394141312978949
some notes regarding how I design combat outfits: I usually keep things very greyscale, and then pick two colours as accents that complement. They can be analogous, like the Korps design above
A subtle shift from a hot fuchsia to a pastel-like pink keeps visual interest but also helps in denoting different landmarks in the form. Bright fuchsia = equipment, offensive; light pink = clothing and trim
Normally in my Terran/Wintertide design wheelhouse the colours are complementary, so azure = insignia and markings, vermillion = weapons
(note how Jaslyne's feather colours are orange)
(note how Jaslyne's feather colours are orange)
Note that the difference is mostly in hue, not so much value/saturation. The "Terran Blue" used here has roughly the same hue between the hoodie, rifle display, and shawl insignia (again complemented with orange, or then accented with violet)
There's something in visual theory called "visual hierarchy", i.e. what our mind biases towards and sees first. As a start, contrast in hue have higher visual weight than contrast in saturation, which more weight than contrast in value, which has more weight than flat colours
in the above image the two rectangles on the far right probably caught most your attention. You may go back to the left to do it left to right (if you read English, say) but the hue contrast is a powerful tool for creating focal points
If you're doing character design then you generally want to draw the focus to the head - you typically don't want to make the most interesting part of the character the feet for example
As such you can use the various "degrees" of the visual hierarchy to build your form. I use hue and saturation contrast most heavily on the torso, creating the most visual interest
Then when I move down I stick to value contrast. On the legs I usually reduce contrast overall
Then when I move down I stick to value contrast. On the legs I usually reduce contrast overall
It's not a hard and fast rule, but I do like to use it because it allows you to create fairly intricate outfits that don't actually appear visually cluttered and are therefore still easy to read
Of course, it's not a hard and fast rule, and a lot of really successful designs in scifi use a much simpler hierarchy, but you can see the pattern generally get replicated in a lot of work
And of course it's not limited to armour or even scifi genres. Could be helpful when you design fantasy paladins, or your slice-of-life OC, or maybe your sona!