Charecter

[NyanAttack 30]

It's been difficult for me to make my own character without it looking like its ripped off somepony else, is there any way to make originals anymore? there's just too many oc's out there. i was thinking of making an oc with pale blond mane and white coat?. its hard...i need some advice.

[SFyr 1,982]

I wrote something long for this, then accidentally clicked in a bad place and lost all of it; so I'ma try to rewrite the gist of it, haha.

 

1.) Manestyle and tail style and such. I would honestly recommend, if you're looking for something a bit more unique or uncommon, completely avoiding pony creator and similar programs/bases. Chances are each and every mane/tail style has been used 10+ times at least by now, yet there are plenty of variation still yet to be had. Heck, the new style doesn't even have to be that flashy, but it won't be hard to find something that at least is more unique by virtue of not being in pony creator.

 

2.) Colors. I could recommend looking at a color wheel or reading up at least the basics of color theory for 5-10 minutes, but ultimately it comes down to choosing colors that go good together without clashing or competing for attention. Colors that share a theme, and complement or nicely contrast often produce a pleasing effect that you want to aim for--though, I would take the time to look around and think about the colors you choose, and some pairings of colors are more used that others, such as: red/black, red/white, blue/black/gray, black/yellow, blue/white, green/blue, gray/high saturation colors, etc.

I think blonde/yellow and white isn't a bad choice by any means. I think it's one of slightly more common choices, but that's not anything bad by default; really, so much depends just on how everything comes together in the final character profile/image/overview. 

 

3.) Talent/Cutie mark. There's plenty of "rockstar" talents; basically, when you think of something cool, then make your pony good at it. Musician/DJ, weapon/fighting specialist of some sort, video gamer, use of a unique form of magic (or nearly impossible spell), inventor, something related to being "coldly calculative", or literal rockstar... At some point, talents start to feel forced, like they were thought of first, then their personality or back story was molded around it as justification or support, when the talent should ideally be secondary to who they are and how their life lead up to their personal discovery. The world is full of bakers, low-tier guards, ticket vendors, garden keepers, and dentists, but that doesn't mean they have to boring, they're just less flashy. Heck sometimes talents and careers don't even line up that well.

Basic point is though: not everyone does something amazing for a living, sometimes people ponies make their living amazingly well. There's plenty of jobs or talents that can apply well to the MLP universe, or contributing parts of society, and still be interesting or unique enough to add to a character design.

Edited October 2, 2015 by SFyr