Been doing some studies of Viktor and made some observations about his character design that I really like, especially when compared to Jayce. It's a bit long and rambly (and I'm too tired to check if it's coherent) so it's under a cut.
Viktor's design is very A-symmetrical, a visual signal that he's from Zaun. He literally carries the design of Zaun's Asymmetrical design philosophy in his facial features, making him automatically an outsider from the symmetrical design philosophies of Piltover's attempted perfection.
A huge theme with Piltover is that they strive for perfection, while Jayce, the poster boy for Piltover has mostly symmetrical features, he's not *entirely* symmetrical (the scar on his eyebrow, his lips, his hair) but his imperfections, his looks, are downplayed in the Man of Progress imagery. His mouth is closed to hide his tooth gap, he's in 3/4 view so his eyebrow doesn't show that there's not a scar on the other side, Even his hair is slicked directly back (Jayce gets close to this in S1 A2-3 - S2A1 but in S1A1 and S2A2-3 his hair is much less symmectrical looking. The poster of him doesn't even show the way his hair lays on his head correctly.
Jayce, once he starts going through it in the canyon, stops being as symmectrical. He's scratched up, gets scars, and his hair becomes unkempt completely, even when he cleans up a bit during the final two episodes where he's seemingly had a shower and some kind of sleep, his hair is no longer perfect or symmetrical. His design embraces the asymmetry, a visual mark of Viktor's influence on him.
Jayce, as he's wandered into Viktor's commune, his outfit has become completely asymmetrical. This is where Future!Viktor's influence is strongest.
Similarly, Viktor's hair grows longer and slightly more symmetrical-looking when he becomes the Herald in the commune. While his nose doesn't get unbroken, his lips are slightly thinner, making their asymmetry less noticeable. The mole under his right eye disappears into the hexcore's corruption, losing some of that asymmetry. A result of Jayce's actions.
Then near the finale, Viktor loses almost all his Asymmetry when he becomes the Machine Herald. His puppets still show asymmetry, but they're gilded and porcelain feature are far more reminiscent of Piltover than of Zaun, and his own face splits perfectly down the middle, making him lose one of the most promenantly asymmetrical features on his face, his nose. He's transformed into the opposing design philosophy.
Similarly, Jayce's final costume plays with asymmetry more than almost all of his previous outfits (excluding the one he wears in the commune), with his paldron on one shoulder, a sleeve that's shorter on one side, and his hammer being the most asymmetrical part of his design.
IDK where I'm going with this, mostly just observations that Jayce and Viktor's visual language have influenced the other person. Something Something Zaun and Piltover's influences over the characters and where they came from, and how that influence from the other place shows on the character's designs later in the series. Viktor brings the Elitism/Perfection dichotomy from Piltover, Jayce crawls up to Future!Viktor from Zaun, living Viktor's narrative in a literal sense, which, in turn, remade him in a Zaun way over his Piltover origins.
