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Believe it or not, most people go conservative.
12 years ago
General
"Oh, I LOVE that fursuit, it glows int the dark, I love love love it!""I have never seen that animal made before, that is super original" "Wow, so many colors, that is like 20 different types of fur, i'm impressed" "OMG, I want a suit with a body like that, look the crotch goes almost to the ankles! <3 <3 <3" Said a few hypothetical commenters.
We love big ideas. We love expressive works that boarder on extremes. We love aggressive styling, and originality. We love ornateness. We all want to be individuals, and will allow our ideas to be shaped by others to get as far out as we need. Right?
Well, not from where I am sitting.
You know, I think we like the ideas mentioned above, but our enthusiasm wains when we actually have to commit to making something ours, and find we have to commit to our choices.
We are in love with being in love, in a sense.
Now before you say, "Nuh-uh, Jeff, I stay true to my ideas 100% " I have to admit, this is not indicative of everyone. Yet, it does seem to be the vast majority of the customers I have worked with do tend to go with the sure thing, over a risk.
There are several reasons I assume this could be. I will get to those. First, I want to make a clear point about exactly what I am talking about.
Unique costumes turn the most heads. They attract attention. Simply put, we like them.
Never seen a blue cheetah/rabbit/donkey/salamander hybrid, I am sure someone is making one. Heck, it may become your new favorite character.
I do hate to be a buzzkill... but do we like things only because they are different?
Do we really even like them beyond novelty?
I am not asking these as rhetorical questions. I think they are legitimate questions I would be asking when considering what I actually like. When I am considering things for my own project I often have to keep these things in mind. I like to establish if the ideas are gimmicky, or if they are truly wonderful, or unique.
Things like blinking eyes, following eyes, glowing claws, rare animals, flapping wings, LEDs, moving ears, ornate markings like tattoos, rainbows, piercings, wagging tails, even moving jaws. The list really does go on.
Now, that in no way means that any of the above aspect are inherently gimmicky, or flawed in any way. It just means we should consider that they may not be that important in what we really want, or like, outside of novelty. Is this really making a good character, or is it just adding different ornaments to the same tree? Is this unique for a purpose other than to be unique?
These are the two main elements of design that may make something people think is "flashy" and "unique", shallow, and uninteresting to me. The first being the same exact suit with a few added bells and whistles to make is seem like it's a new character. The second making a costume of something never been done before, just to do it. Yet, people go "ga-ga" over them.
Why, exactly am I rambling on about this topic anyway? It's a very limited scope exclusively talking about fursuits, and it's not exactly that controversial from this perspective.
Why?
Because I want you to think about what you really like in something. Is it material, or substance, or are we simply aggrandizing the greatest new novelty on the same old suit?
"Simpsons" fans understand the concept quite well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_vs._Malibu_Stacy
Season 5 Episode 14 "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy"
Where Lisa had toiled away for weeks to create a new doll aimed to not belittle women. Just to see all of her efforts thwarted by a screaming mob more content with a "new hat" on the old Malibu Stacy doll, than her genuine innovation.
Or, as Smithers put it, "But she's got a new hat"..
(Just watch the damn episode)
Still, the question is subjective. So, you will have to answer it yourself.
I have seen some things as simple as an LED in the right place rejoiced over, and people fawning over how many colors are used on a fursuit. To me, personally, that is nothing noteworthy or special. Yet, these are celebrated, and touted as pure genius.
I have also seen innovative, and creative works that are overlooked because they where the wrong color.
But, she's got a new hat, indeed.
In my personal experience most people I have worked with tend to ease off of the "new hats" when we start talking about what they would want in their own costume. Partially to go with a sure fire thing, partially because the added cost of extra features, and partially to hone their ideas, and be able to have a cohesive character. A character should not be based on gimmick alone.
While we seem to love the bigger, and crazier projects, when it comes time to really get exactly what they want, they start to go conservative. Nothing wrong with that. It's simply a process. When we have to put our money where our mouth is, we start to consider a risk/reward system. With great risk comes great reward, but with little risk comes predictable reward. There are always exceptions to the rule. Some characters need lot's of padding, or big paws, that's great, I support that. Aggressive styling is something I would like to make more of. Again, It is a risk to have your character made in such a way.. you may not like it. Very few fursuit makers have a "no questions asked" return policy..
We seem to like the idea of HUGE features, and LOFTY ideals up front, or when we don't have to commit. It's easy to +fav a picture, but when it comes time for you to get your costume, it's a little different. On an individual level, the majority of people I work with start to favor a doctrine of practicality, and function. As with lofty ideas, come lofty problems.
So, we compromise.
The classic idiom "To have your cake and eat it to" is dead on.
In a group mentality, we may love a good gimmick, big ideas, radical design. Individually, in my personal experience, I think it may start to change. We start to ask, "what really makes MY character", not "how many lights we can shove on to a costume". Because, if you look at this on a level of real staying power, and character design you notice something. Simplicity sells. A well formed, focused idea does not NEED gimmicks to be recognizable. Don't get me wrong, I like gadgets, and cool things like light shows as much as the next guy. I do recognize that the lights cannot make a character alone. I see these things like spices. You would not sit down to a bowl of black pepper, or oregano, but they can compliment a meal wonderfully. The same goes for characters. They have to stand on their own, before you can "spice them up".
In the end there is no wrong answer. You like what you like. Perhaps you do like these things, and you do what them on your suit. It's up to you. I am just some guy that makes costumes. I don't want you to think like me. I really just want you to think. What is your character made of?
-Jeff
I do indeed have some pretty colorful characters, but I have one suit, of my main character TR, who, in my opinion, has quite a lot of personality, but is not overly done with colors and knobs and whistles. But people recognize her, and that's one of the main things :P
(she needs a bit of a revamp though, I tell you what >.<)
I saw a corgi fursuit with a drop down crotch but it also had hidden pockets and the wearer could slip their hand out of they suit's gloves without taking it off. Complex... but functionally a bonus! I probably wont have that on my suit but IDK... it's those items that make me like the suit more then just it's looks. I do go out of the box a lot in my ideas though... I created for personal use a Tailmouth puppet. I just wanted to see if I could make one really. The thought was I could wear the tail and to get the mouth to move on it I slip my hand into a hidden sleeve and manipulate the mouth. It was a hit and I learned I can use the hidden sleeve as a pocket too. XD I love not obvious things that have a use. :3
When it comes down to it, some of the extreme designs you mentioned, it only impresses me from a craftsmanship standpoint, but the character itself tends to make me scratch my head and go "okay, so what was the designer thinking when he hybridized a fox with a deer?" (which actually makes a downright beautiful combination if it's done right). I chose a lemur because for one thing, they can be a bit of an ass pain and still be tons of fun. Trust me, my presence on the Internet is mellowed out compared to how I can be in real life. Another thing is they're small creatures. Me? I'm 5"7 for fuck's sake. I'm only just a tad taller than Tom Cruise. I tend to want to climb over shit when I could just use the stairs (freaks my girlfriend out to no end), an I've even straight up jumped on a friend of mine who happens to be twice my size and knocked the poor bastard over without a thought of whether or not I was putting my self at risk of getting seriously hurt. I've always been like that, and hell, if there's a good tree, I'll climb that thing.
I guess for the most part I don't really go for external design but the driving force behind the character. I mean, yeah, there are some subtle characteristics as far as build and even the blue scarf, but other than that, he's nothing special, just an ordinary entity that can only thrive through the existence and driving force of his creator. Makes you feel kinda like a god in a way.
If he's not flashy in someone else's eyes, that's not my concern; he's not meant to be flashy, he's just Lucious.
I wonder if maybe I should start from scratch and make a different fursona who might better reflect who I am...
-You can have as many characters as you have shirts. You can pick one for every day of the week. You could even have a separate character in a Jekyll and Hyde situation, where each character only represents a certain aspect of you.
Why dose a character have to represent you?
-You have limitless opportunities to be yourself everyday. But how often can you be someone completely different. Perhaps you should look at the qualities you like in others that you don't see in yourself. Or your character could be doing worse than you. If your character is worse off than you are, you always know somebody worse off than you. LOL.. but seriously. Have fun with it.
What is actually limiting you?
-Mickey mouse is just a mouse. nothing remarkable there. Pluto is just a yellow dog, and Donald is just a duck.. Bugs bunny is just a rabbit.. I think you can see where I am going with this. Characters are made up of a few key things. Consistent recognizable shape and silhouette, and consistent personality. Colors and markings are just basically adult coloring books items. If you really want unique, start with shape. Think about how recognizable your character would be in black and white.
Yeh, I think taking a conservative approach to the design makes them better in the long run rather than a collection of gimmicks.
Then again my character is an orange cat with a mowhawk and stripes. Nothing special, but instantly recognisable. I love simplicity. Simplicity is harmonious, simple to draw, easy to make. And not painful on the eyes, like the rainbow vomit sparkledog.
I sincerely hope you never have to make one....
I found a few years ago that I really love making suits, so now when I design my characters with the aspect of maybe making a suit of them in the future.
For my zubat suit, I just really love zubat, despite being the bane of most pokemon fans, and to my knowledge she is only one of two in existence. The pink bow was just a marker to make the character more feminine and to fit her personality. That's all she needed.
The nidorina partial was stylized cause I wanted to try my hand at padding and manipulating shape. I also chose an outfit for her to fit her more aggressive personality.
My latest suit I'm currently in the process of making is a bat/rat hybrid. Already, you don't see many bats. The coloring is based of of actual markings that rats have, and my love of the neapolitan ice-cream color scheme. She'll have the same pink mohawk I do. I originally wanted to install the nekomimi head set for the swivel ears, but I realized early on that I'd A. Have to sacrifice correct placement of her ears and B. The ears would be much to large and heavy for the system to support. I opted out of the follow-me eye effect because I can't keep eye-contact with people I don't know well yet for very long,so why should a suit that is essentially supposed to be me, have that feature? I do prefer moving jaws however, only because I like to talk in suit it it is strange to me to see people talk in suit without the mouth moving.
Especially after seeing you bring Phor to life, Media. So simplistic yet killer design and one of my favourite suits.
True art is knowing when to add in the flavor, not just because you can.
Planning out a simplified character for my next suit.
All these test/experimental fursuits means that all other trained eyes can absorb experience just by looking and seeing what works. "Stealing like an artist" essentially.