Help in designing uniforms?

[roankun]

I'm in the middle of creating sprites for my large-scale game, but after I made one, I'm now stuck in a problem with uniforms.

Story's set in the present, in a fictional place where I rule (jk ^^) What I mean is, it doesn't really need to conform to any certain country's standard for uniform. It's high school, btw.

Whenever I try to make one, it always ends up looking a lot like the uniform in this game or in that anime. I've already spend a lot of time stalking online cosplay shops. *sigh* How do I design a uniform that looks a little (even just a little) original and isn't too hard to draw? And please, don't mention plaid.

(I'm trying to go for the blazer style, since I don't like my school's sailor uniform. )

[LateWhiteRabbit]

I'm in the middle of creating sprites for my large-scale game, but after I made one, I'm now stuck in a problem with uniforms.

Story's set in the present, in a fictional place where I rule (jk ^^) What I mean is, it doesn't really need to conform to any certain country's standard for uniform. It's high school, btw.

Whenever I try to make one, it always ends up looking a lot like the uniform in this game or in that anime. I've already spend a lot of time stalking online cosplay shops. *sigh* How do I design a uniform that looks a little (even just a little) original and isn't too hard to draw? And please, don't mention plaid.

(I'm trying to go for the blazer style, since I don't like my school's sailor uniform. )

Then look outside anime and cosplay for references. Research real uniforms and find out why they are designed like they are. The 'sailor suit' school uniform of Japan was modeled after military uniforms to try and impose that same level of military order on school children. A lot of British private school uniforms are designed after professional business attire, because those are the positions those schools are trying to groom children for.







J.K. Rowling and the movie production staff designed the school uniforms in Harry Potter by combining the traditional look of a British prep school with cloaks (associated with wizards) in place of the traditional coat, with the school emblem on the same place on the cloak as it would be on the jacket traditionally.

[redeyesblackpanda]

Is there anything special about the school? If it's different/specialized in some way, it might be a good idea to show it through the uniforms. If it's a regular fictional school, there aren't really that many restrictions. Like LateWhiteRabbit said, you can always blend things (that will solve the "it looks like one thing" problem by making "it look like those two things" )

[teacup]

I believe someone here at LSF shared this link before [can't remember who, since I just bookmarked it]
Click the links on the left side of the screen. There's many different styles of uniforms
Some of them are sailor style, but you might be more interest in something like this or this.

[fleet]

You can also go the minimalist route. Some alternative high schools (where the school district sends youth with discipline problems) require that student wear a white t-shirt and black trousers to class.

[Omnificent]

I used to go to a school with uniforms for elementary and middle school. It wasn't anything fancy, just blue or khaki slacks and button-down or polo shirts in yellow, white or blue for the guys and blue jumpers or skirts with yellow, white or blue blouses for the girls.

We didn't have blazers or anything like that, but I'm sure that there are schools even in the US that do that.

[roankun]

I see. lol. I'll stop staring at cosplay for a while and go stalk my neighborhood's high schools. XD The bad thing is most public schools here just go for khaki pants, white polo shirt, pleated skirt, sailor uniform. ALL of them. *sigh* I'll go stalk the private schools. XD

I'll take everything to heart. Thank you very much.

@LateWhiteRabbit. Maybe I should do something special, instead of just a regular school. I'll think about it!

@teacup. Thanks for the link!

@fleet. I don't think I'm gonna take that route. It's too... I-dunno-how-to-say-this, but if I ever do decide on something like that, then I'll just make a high school with no uniform policy.

@Omnificent. That's what's boring. >.< It's the same for me, though, up until now. D: I'll think of something, I guess.

[Pyonkotchi]

it probably depends on how strict the school is,
My little niece goes to Private catholic school, and has to wear collared blue shirts and a blue plaid skirt with white socks and dress shoes,

My own school is extremely lax with uniform. pure black bottoms and a pure white top are the only requirements. so everyone basically wears whatever the hell they want, it just has to be appropriate and the proper colours but the JROTC section is extremely STRICT. they have military style uniforms

i know people who go to a school thats more in between. They only had to wear dress pants, khaki or otherwise, and a polo shirt of various colours. shoes don't matter.

[Omnificent]

You could always have a school with a boring uniform but where everyone important has customized it into oblivion, that's what seems to happen with most Japanese high school stories anyways. Like someone takes the dull button-down shirt and dress pants then unbuttons a few buttons, rolls up the sleeves, adds a leather jacket, bandanna, and sunglasses, then dodges the faculty to go hang out on the roof.

[LateWhiteRabbit]

You could always have a school with a boring uniform but where everyone important has customized it into oblivion, that's what seems to happen with most Japanese high school stories anyways. Like someone takes the dull button-down shirt and dress pants then unbuttons a few buttons, rolls up the sleeves, adds a leather jacket, bandanna, and sunglasses, then dodges the faculty to go hang out on the roof.

No matter how you design a school uniform, deciding how individual characters will wear it is an important part of character design. Because you are right - not everyone will wear a uniform the same way.

Look at the Harry Potter picture I posted in my last post: Hermione is an uptight bookworm who likes to follow the rules, so her collar is fully buttoned, her tie cinched up tight, and her cloak (i.e. jacket) buttoned up. Harry wants to follow the rules, but he is much more relaxed about it - his collar is unbuttoned for comfort, his tie loose, and his cloak open for easy movement. Ron is a bit of a slob, with a devil may care attitude he likely gets from his older brothers. So Ron is doing his best to wear the uniform and not wear it at the same time - he obviously isn't comfortable in it. Collar unbuttoned, tie untied and hanging loose (showing he actually wants to take it off, but doesn't want to get in trouble), and cloak open.

It is a good lesson in consideration - no matter what uniform you design, be sure to think of the different ways it can be worn and modified by your characters. Even the military, which is much more strict on uniforms, has them worn different ways by different personalities. Some tightly roll their sleeves freshly each and every morning. Others (like I did) just rolled them once and took the blouse off and on everyday and wore them that way until they got too loose to be allowed. When chevron pins have the black coating chip and flake off, some military guys immediately swap them out with new ones, others can't be bothered and take a black Sharpie marker to the chips. Some used the elastic blousing straps to tuck their pant legs like was proper, others just stuffed their pants into their boots.

So there are other things to consider in uniform design!

[Nekochi]

There's a dressup game based off of school uniforms that I like because it allows a ton of customization. Of course, you shouldn't use it for your end all, but I think it's a good place to start, just to look at different ideas and get some creative juices flowing. You can find it here: http://hapuriainen.deviantart.com/art/S ... -254916324 Hope this helps.

[ffs_jay]

...Because you are right - not everyone will wear a uniform the same way.

Look at the Harry Potter picture I posted in my last post: Hermione is an uptight bookworm who likes to follow the rules, so her collar is fully buttoned, her tie cinched up tight, and her cloak (i.e. jacket) buttoned up. Harry wants to follow the rules, but he is much more relaxed about it - his collar is unbuttoned for comfort, his tie loose, and his cloak open for easy movement. Ron is a bit of a slob, with a devil may care attitude he likely gets from his older brothers. So Ron is doing his best to wear the uniform and not wear it at the same time - he obviously isn't comfortable in it. Collar unbuttoned, tie untied and hanging loose (showing he actually wants to take it off, but doesn't want to get in trouble), and cloak open...

Excellent advice there, a perfect, concise example of how subtle differences can imply or strengthen character traits without having to tell the audience outright.

I'd also second the idea of studying from actual uniforms as much as possible. A lot of artists use cosplay or manga/anime for reference, and it's usually pretty apparent ('stripperific' or visually busy designs being a couple of key traits). Going back to the source and adapting it to your own style can help your work stand out, I feel. It's very much a matter of taste though, of course.