How to Brief a Character Design

The single biggest factor in how smoothly a commission goes is the brief you start with. A vague "draw my OC" forces us to guess; a clear brief lets us get it right on the first sketch. Here's the four things we actually need from you.

1. Composition — How Much of the Character Do You Need?

• Headshot — face and shoulders, good for profile pictures and icons
• Half Body — waist up, room for hand gestures and upper-body detail
• Knee Up — most of the outfit and pose visible
• Full Body — the whole character, head to feet, best for reference sheets

2. Completion Level

Not every project needs a fully rendered illustration — sometimes a clean sketch is exactly what you need, and it costs less.

• Rough Sketch — pose and proportions only
• Base Color — flat colors, no shading
• Full Render — shading, lighting, and effects included
• Finishing Only — you provide the lineart or base colors, we finish it

3. Background

• No Background — transparent, easiest to use anywhere
• Simple Background — a color, gradient, or light texture
• Detailed Background — a full environment or scene

4. Style

• Anime-style — our main strength, bold lines and dynamic poses
• Chibi — small, cute, exaggerated proportions
• Semi-realistic — more grounded proportions and shading

Putting It Together

A complete brief reads something like: "Full body, full render, simple gradient background, anime-style — she's a gothic-fantasy mage character, confident pose, dark purple and silver color scheme." That's four short lines, and it's enough for us to send back a sketch that's already close to what you pictured.

Reference images help too — even one or two, just to align on proportions or a specific color mood. The clearer the brief, the fewer revision rounds we both need.