Aug 26 2009
How to Design Outstanding Superhero Costumes
Many first-time comic book writers mistakenly think that it’s okay to give their character bland costumes and let other factors make up for it. While other aspects contribute to the overall success of a superhero, the costume is critical because it’s the first thing a reader sees. Don’t blow your only chance at a first impression by making your hero look like a bum. Here are some tips to design effective and stylish costumes.
1. Keep it functional. When a costume doesn’t feel practical, it will probably make the character seem less realistic and/or competent. For example, if your hero wears a large cape, it’d be hard to believe that he never gets caught on anything. And if it doesn’t, the character may come off as a Mary Sue.
2. Be bold. Don’t be afraid to let your creativity flow when designing a costume. If you have a idea for something that could be interesting try to work it into the costume without compromising functionality. Personally, I prefer to start with an outrageous costume then take away until I find balance. Play with colors, patterns, styles, layers, and accessories until you find the perfect costume exhibiting style and functionality, but…
3. Keep in mind that an artist has to repeatedly draw the costume. It’s fun to go all out, but don’t overwork your artist. If the costume is too hard to repeat, the artist might try to make up for that extra time by putting less work into the rest of the page. Additionally, if he’s a freelancer, he will probably expect more money. Fortunately, there’s usually a middle ground where you can have what you want without overworking the artist. It usually helps if you keep the accessories to a minimum—focus on the ones that matter. Finally, make sure that you consult with your artist.
4. Make sure your colors and shades contribute to the feel of the costume. Each color has its own feel and different shades can accentuate that feel. Light colors make the hero feel more heroic and bold like Superman or Spiderman. Conversely, darker colors create a darker and edgier feel like Batman or The Punisher. Alternatively, rich colors like deep purples suggest sophistication or regality, while bright colors like fluorescent yellow or orange suggest youth and energy.
5. Make your accessories and extra clothing iconic. If you include accessories in an outfit, make them memorable. Even if you prefer minimalist costumes, the right accessory can take it from bland to stylish. For example, when Batman is portrayed in comics (particularly on covers), artists tend to focus on his cape. It flows and whips, which adds to the dark and creepy feel of the character and his stories. My character, Showtime, sports a vest and white gloves over a futuristic body suit to accent his individualism and showmanship.
Common accessories include capes, shades/goggles, belts/utility belts, gauntlets, sashes, etc. Some experimental accessories include scarves/bandanas, designer shades, jewelry, sections of armor, bracelets/armbands, headphones, things that are popular in fashion, etc. You can also use aspects of layering and asymmetry to set your costume off.
6. Designing superheroine costumes can be tricky. It’s hard to find a balance between puritanically boring and scandalously outrageous. It’s usually good to work realistically when thinking up the costume. Every girl is different and while some don’t like to show much skin, others are more comfortable showing their bodies. When designing female costumes I use influences from modern fashion. I see what’s hot and how it can be modified to look heroic.
7. A superhero’s costume should tell something important about the hero. When designing your costume, please remember that it’s the first statement about who the hero is. When readers look at it, they should feel something. If they don’t, the costume has probably failed. Fortunately, it doesn’t take much to evoke a feeling with a costume– small elements can create an overall tone. For example, adding rips and tears can make a character feel savage and wild. Adding jewelry can make them feel haughty or vain. Make sure you give the costume an edge.
Good luck!
Since there are no costumes in HTSTW, I’ll focus on Darkstar Rising:
Color(s):
Darkstar: Black (Duh)
Hikari: White/Silver
Masochist: Muted red (more crimson than scarlet)
Instinct: Tan/Brown
Synth: Hunter green
Hummingbird: (unknown, perhaps violet or bright green)
Shift: Gold
Alcatraz: Charcoal
Scapegoat: Gray
Pathos: Navy blue
Signature Acecssory?
Darkstar: Cape, torn in places
Hikari: Mask, shaped like crescent moon
Masochist: Bandages, on arms
Instinct: Combat boots, extremely scuffed and battered
Synth: Wooden cuff bracelets, carved roughly
Hummingbird: Helmet, with visor which hides his face
I never was big on costumes since I discovered the brain-scarring Robin one (Short..shorts…why God why..), so most of mine are fairly simplistic. Most of the time they’re adapted civilian clothes.
- Wings
I like how their accessories match their persona. Little characterization pieces like that help contribute to the distinct feel of each character.
Do you like the article?
I liked it. In particular, #3 seems useful to me. I wonder why that hadn’t occurred to me before? I think that #1, #5 and #7 will help a lot of other people as well.
I agree with what you have on superheroine costumes, but I think the topic is broad enough to warrant its own article at some point. (In fact, given how much disagreement there is regarding superheroine costumes, I might have several people each write up ~200 words of advice rather than write 600 myself).
This is less important in a text-based media, like a novel, where the costumes aren’t the first thing the reader sees. However, if you’re going to include costumes in a novel, try to be able to summarize it in one sentence, two at most. Any more starts to give it the Mary-Sue feel.
Overall, I like the article. Great job.
Good article, especially as I was just now thinking of costumes. A superheroine costume article would also be good…Down with Stripperific! Down, I say!
- Wings
Wasn’t her name ‘Stripperella‘?
Yes, but the TV Trope article is titled Stripperific.
And here I am thinking all these responses are raving praise. Haha. Where is everyone?
All the costumes I’m designing still need some accessories. The superheroes in the team all wear a tight t-shirt on top, the women wear knee-length skorts, and the man wears basketball shorts. I need ideas for accessories. Their colors are as follows:
Women:
Terrastrike – yellowish brown, dark brown and a color that I can only describe as “off-gray”
Tumbler – black, dull baby blue and dull, pale purple
Man:
Naga – medium green, off-white and burnt orange
Not sure what should be what color. Please help!
I don’t know about Tumbler and Naga– Pale purple and dull baby blue would probably clash pretty badly with green-and-orange. On the other hand, I think Justice League looked fine even though its main seven members have some color-clashes as well. Maybe it’s not a problem.
I’m not worried as much about the colors as I am the outfits. They sound starkly plain and unappealing. They seem like stay-at-home clothes. I have a few questions as for your team’s style:
What’s the reason behind the simplicity of their clothes?
What type of feel does the team have?
Are they in a bloody setting (as in, a lot of blood will splash on their clothes)?
This is one of my three lead male superheroes, each with a completely different origin story and continuity, and not the one I am focusing on developing right now, but if it isn’t too much trouble, I’d like to get some feedback on the general design and how it meshes with the character.
Rapulis is a genetically modified organism, reptilian in nature but unlike anything currently on Earth and not directly derived from a single species, his primary ability is that his bodily fluids are all highly corrosive acids, but he has no protection against human viruses or bacteria so he constantly has to wear the mask, in addition, at this point in his development, he was intubated via the mask while it collected his saliva to be fired as a projectile, hence the head brace.
http://graystreet.deviantart.com/art/Rapulis-Character-Design-2-106417945
It is from about a year ago, and his costume has changed significantly since I drew this image, his mask doesn’t impede the movement of his neck, the armor has been done away with so it is one piece and purely skin tight, the yellow on the chest has been replaced with the same green as the mask and expanded to encompass the majority of his chest, the yellow has been eliminated entirely, and he is no longer intubated.
The colors are definitely negotiable for Tumbler, as long as it can be kept “sober.”
“What’s the reason behind the simplicity of their clothes?”
Part of it is that I’m writing a novel, and I need something easy to write. The other thing is that in the universe the story takes place in, society is in a pretty bad state. (Suffering from what almost turned into an apocalypse.) The T-shirts could be turned into something else, though, and the basketball shorts could probably be changed to those cotton leggings like you get at somewhere like Walmart. I want to keep the skorts, though.
“What type of feel does the team have?”
Well, Naga and Tumbler are an item and sort of act parentally towards Terrastrike, even though her parents are still alive and well. Terrastrike and Tumbler are in the hero business because they lost someone (a best friend and a brother*, respectively). Naga is in it for Tumbler.
“Are they in a setting where a lot of blood will splash on their clothes?”
Definitely!
* Major, complicated plot point.
I think that the colors for a novel’s team of superheroes don’t actually have to be coordinated. The only time we’ll actually see the colors is (possibly) on the cover. Likewise, I think that you can get away with clothes that might otherwise be boring or unappealing. (Also, there is a good in-story reason that your characters would wear bland clothes– in this society, they don’t have a lot of options).
I guess we could further discuss the visual elements in case you end up getting control over the cover, but first-time novelists rarely do. Maybe the publisher’s artist will consult with you beforehand, but even then your control is extremely limited. In theory, the author is supposed to be able to specify plot-significant details (like the race of the protagonist, particularly if that is really important to the book) but even then the publisher does what it wants.
So I’d like to encourage you to finish your manuscript without worrying too much about costumes. Speaking from experience, visual design takes a lot of work and revision, especially when artists are involved. I wouldn’t recommend delving into that morass any more than you need to.
Yeah NewAgeZombi, I’m going to agree with B. Mac. As your work is a novel, the visual details of your character’s costumes aren’t all that important. I’d definitely focus on things like characterization, development, etc (Especially if you’ve just recently started writing this).
Hola Lighting Man! The newer concept you explained feel a lot like a reptilian Nightwing, which isn’t necessarily bad. Nightwing’s costume is simple, yet memorable, which is always a good way to go. I’d recommend adding at least some armor type accessories just so the suit doesn’t seem plain. Right now it seems like a lot of black. Maybe light gauntlets and shinguards or something of the sort. Alternatively, you could have some simple reptile-like patterns on the suit.
I’m not really sure what “intubated” means. Could you elaborate?
Sorry for the slow response, I hadn’t really thought about the resemblance to Nightwing’s costume, so good point. I think adding more details is a great idea, thanks. He is one of those characters I really like the concept of and enjoy drawing but his nature makes crafting the warm personal kind of stories I like difficult, but he is always hanging out in my head, developing more and more.
I meant intubated as in the medical term for to tracheal intubation or having a wacky tube shoved down your throat to help you breathe, it was an earlier part of the character concept that I got rid of after it occurred to me how implausible it would be for someone in that condition to be taking blows and moving around that much without simply destroying his throat and dying.
I actually think a rougher character would b great for a warm story. It may be harder to do in a superhero story, though. I think it would work if the character is shown as rough (yet likable) in the beginning and as the story progresses his tough exterior chips away revealing a much kinder/warmer/developed person.