3 cutie mark?

[twi1it3 5parkl3 53]

so i was just watching some MLP when i saw that the mane 6 cutie marks all have 3 objects (exculding twilight). even rainbow has three strikes. does anybody know any thing about it?

 

*brohoof*

[VitalSpark 1,830]

It's not just the mane 6.

 

Cheerilee has 3 flowers. Bon Bon has 3 sweets. Flitter has 3 dragonflies. Apple Fritter has 3 apple fritters. Amethyst Star has 3 gems (which don't look anything like amethyst). Sunshower Raindrops has 3 rain drops. Shining Armor has a shield and 3 stars, and Twilight Velvet has 3 stars. Mr and Mrs Cake each have three cakes. Fleur De Lis has 3 fleurs-de-lis.

 

I think the reason is that if they've designed a pony and it has a fairly boring cutie mark, having multiple of them makes it look more interesting. Too many though looks too busy. Three seems to be the ideal number. (Many of the ponies in earlier generations had cutie marks with sets of 5 objects. G1 Applejack for example had 5 apples.)

[SFyr 1,982]

I think it's really just an aesthetic choice. If you think about it, it makes sense to use three.

 

One, and the image is huge, and draws a lot of attention towards that part of the design, which can actually break the visual impact that the creator is targeting. Imagine if Cheerilee just had a huuuge flower on her flank. Your eye would be drawn more to her butt than her eyes (plus given the meaning of her cutiemark, she needs more than one to convey the theme).

 

Two, and it may imply a duality, or have a compositional duality thing going on. It highlights what is separating the two identical (or nearly so) images. On top of that, you're then stuck in an overall linear use of space, which means either a lot of empty space must exist in the 'area' allotted to the cutiemark, or said cutiemark bleeds out into other parts of the body.

 

Three, and you have a theme of multiples going in a simple, yet clear way. It's not overly grabbing, or busy.

 

Four, and you start drifting into feeling cluttered, or too busy/distracting. However, it depends on the image. For simple bits (like bubbles), you can add more before suffering negative effects, but even in that specific case there's a central focus for the eye to rest on, or a simple path for it to follow.

 

If the shape/image is more complex... sometimes it can't even be taken up to three.

 

 

So, in the end, the more complex the image, the less perfect repetition there should be. And, three is kind of the low balance of simple yet complex, attractively subtle, and telling yet not busy. Three... just makes sense.

Edited January 8, 2015 by SFyr

[sweetolebob18 728]

Almost all the G4 ponies have either 1 symbol (Big Mac, Luna, Celestia, Twilight, Zecora) or the more common 3 little symbols for 1 big pattern.  The only exception I can think of is Derpy, who has 7 bubbles in her pattern.

 

Mildly interesting.  All 4 Alicorns are in the 1 symbol minority.

[RainbowTashie 378]

  On 2015-01-08 at 8:48 PM, Vital Spark said:

It's not just the mane 6.

 

Cheerilee has 3 flowers. Bon Bon has 3 sweets. Flitter has 3 dragonflies. Apple Fritter has 3 apple fritters. Amethyst Star has 3 gems (which don't look anything like amethyst). Sunshower Raindrops has 3 rain drops. Shining Armor has a shield and 3 stars, and Twilight Velvet has 3 stars. Mr and Mrs Cake each have three cakes. Fleur De Lis has 3 fleurs-de-lis.

 

I think the reason is that if they've designed a pony and it has a fairly boring cutie mark, having multiple of them makes it look more interesting. Too many though looks too busy. Three seems to be the ideal number. (Many of the ponies in earlier generations had cutie marks with sets of 5 objects. G1 Applejack for example had 5 apples.)

ponies have a lot of flank to fill :0

[VitalSpark 1,830]

  On 2015-01-08 at 8:57 PM, SFyr said:

Your eye would be drawn more to her butt than her eyes

 

For Cheerilee, I find that happens anyway.

Edited January 16, 2015 by Vital Spark