Some commentary from the Heavensward Artbook
This isn’t all of the commentary from the book, but a few things of note.
Alphinaud’s new outfit had to be adjusted as to not emphasize his crotch so much (lol).
Aymeric has the look of an “ill-fated but earnest prince”. The artist thinks the lack of arm armor makes him look confident. Ill-fated doesn’t give me hope about his lifespan though. (╯︵╰,)
Y'shtola’s new outfit is more modern-looking cause Sharlayan has their “own sphere of culture”.
YoshiP communicated with the artist on the image in this magazine cover
so that the positioning reflects each characters status, their relationship with the player, and hints about their future.
Haurche’s dad was modeled on Basch from FF12.
The Vanu were made from a suggestion from the developers to make a fat Ixali.
The gnath were modeled after the Urutan-Yensa from FF12, but insectoid and Samurai-like.
The AST esoteric gear was designed with female characters in mind (I think we knew that, lol).
The DRG eso armor is supposed to look/feel more organic, as the artist thought the AF was too designed. The DRG eso weapon is based on something Amano drew.
MNK eso was inspired by Yang from FF4.
WHM eso based on FF3 WHM job look.
The most outlandish of the artists sketches was chosen for the SCH eso.
WHM/BRD eso weapons started as alternate designs for the 2.0 WHM/BRD relics.
The brief for King Thordan’s design called for a sinister shape that embodied a lust for power. The artwork of King Thordan + the Knights of the Round was also colored to look like blood.
The Paissa design called for eyes that never seemed to focus on anything.
Moghome originally was going to have a design suited for the tastes of Good King Mog.
Neverreap is intended to look like a traditional Shinto shrine since it’s supposed to be a place where the Vanu talk with the gods.
They made Phoenix’s flames burn blue to contrast with Bahamut’s red megaflare.
The Valerian armor is from the Ogre Battle series.
They would like to make a second wedding dress someday. The artist notes he went with something traditional for the one we have right now, so I guess a future wedding gown would be less traditional.
The Demon Robe of Healing was intended to borrow from Amano’s earlier art for FF with a mix of Celtic elements.
The artist struggled with finding a balance between Yugiri’s eyebrows and her eyes.
There’s also art labeled “first son” and “second son” accompanying Edmont, and neither of which resemble Artoirel or Emmanellain. (The designs actually remind me of the Tales series - the older one looks with Asch from Abyss, and the younger one looks like Yuri from Vesperia.)