What's your process for making GUI?

[vinetabris]

i'm an artist but i'm pretty new to making VNs, and right now one of the things i'm really struggling with is making a cohesive and nice looking GUI. it's not something i've really practiced a lot, and tutorials are pretty limited.
anyway, what's your process when you make the GUI for your VN? how do you choose the color scheme? how do you know which shapes or buttons or menus are right? do you make a checklist of the components you need for your vn beforehand or do you make them as you go/when you need them?

[chocoberrie]

I'm starting out working on my first project, and I bookmarked this GUI checklist that I came across here on the forums!

Also check out these posts: One | Two | Three (Auro-Cyanide's comments are particularly helpful!) | Four | Five

And: Cyanide Tea’s Design Basics for GUIs: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Hope this helps!

[Tyrantauranox]

I tend to keep it in placeholder mode until the very late stages of the project. This reduces the chance that I'll make significant changes to the UI after a bunch of art has already been made for it. As far as the visual design goes, I lean towards simple & clean.

[Otoke_Neko]

I imagine it in my head and ask myself how it matches with the theme of the story and then draw it. If I don't like it, I adjust the design a bit.(Not a good way for some people, but good enough for me.)

[potouto]

I just copy pasta the bullet points chocoberrie made from the advice I gave her previously in our conversation. With a few more details because of the lack of context. Hope you find these helpful!!

Theme - What you're designing fitting within a theme, like the theme of the story? A misleading GUI can create false impression and cause the experience to be off for the player.
Colours - It helps to have a palette, but be open to different values and shades of colour. Think about hues, saturation, lighting, contrast. Those things.
Font - Please love me and don't use any of these yes thanks. Remember to know which font combination works! Look at this guide for directions <3
Shapes and Decorative Elements - adds a lot of appeal, make it fit within the general look/feel of the GUI, lighter game tends to go for softer edges, while darker themes tend to have sharp ends. Modern game retains a lot of straight edges feel to make it clean while fantasy games have a lot more.
Space and Readability - don't clutter the screen or distract the player from the menu functions. Usability is important, it's pretty, yes nice but if the player can't use it fast then that's a big flaw.
Balance and Negative space - first impressions are very important! Too much is bad and too little is also bad, try to find something in between, don't overwhelm your player but don't make them feel lacking.
Study - Do research and look at great design! Looking at a lot of designs will help you figure out what looks good vs. what doesn't. Don't be afraid of being critical to your own work.

That's all I have in mind C: Good luck with designing !!