That's such a relatable feeling no worries! I get you, I too often times send an ungodly time worrying about my character desgins and worry about if they are the same or similar in appearance! 😭
I can give a few thought processes I have when I tackle character desgin (note I'm not a professional or a master, I stuggle with these things too trust me 😭 but I have a few ideas based on my experience designing characters for fun)
Warning long rambling essay here!!!
1) Ask yourself what is the goal for this character?
What I mean by this is ask yourself how do you want the characters to reflect themselves, their believes, their idea of style and even how you want the audience or other characters to react to them.
For example if a character is more upbeat, it makes sense maybe for them to have flowly outfits, maybe more loose clothing, brighter colors.
Or maybe if you really want to have fun, you can manipulate expections you can set up a characters as appearing to be gloomy, maybe a more boxy shape language, with a tall, lanky stature, proper clothes, darker colors, ect is actually outgoing and this surprises the characters.
Now of course this isn't the standard for every character, but the idea is to know your character. Since in a way, how a characters appears reflects a ton of who they are and how they appear to others. I recommend (and this is silly but I enjoy it) act like you're a fashion expert trying to give them a new outfit to show off.
2) Note that while styles can be similar, you can add variations to them.
Remember how I say how a characters wears their clothes or dose their hair or makeup, ect reflect them? Well you can use that to your advantage when it comes to styles of clothing that may be similar, is how charatcers style those clothing.
For example in your suit issues, there are a lot of ways to modified them such as maybe some suits are tucked in, maybe they have a bulky shape which makes the character appear stronger or stoic, some charatcers could properly button up their suit while others don't at all. Maybe their suits have different colors, features, or even unique shape that make them stand out. It doesn't have to be too drastic but those little details help a ton in making your character stand out from the rest. And you can apply this idea to a bunch of other ideas such as hairs (like maybe play around with different hair textures), or shape language and body types (maybe some charatcers have a more rounder, softer shape to them and some of them have more harsher, sharp triangle shapes).
If you want ideas for how to see how clothing can get modified or change you can look online or even in fashion communities for help. Personally, I enjoy following creators into fashion or even using Pinterest to help me document kinds of designs or fashion I like. I find it helps me a lot when coming up with ideas and it's can be interesting how different people will modified or add onto their outfits.
3) Experiment with your characters
This one is self explanatory, don't be afraid to just draw or doodle your characters in different hairstyles, outfits, makeup or even just slight modifications of their outfits. It doesn't have to be official! You're just messing around and testing the waters! I especially like doing this method in combination with inspiration I find in real life, different media or even online in terms of fashion. It can also be a cool way to try to add more shapes or see how you can modify characters to fit your vision or add more to them!
4) Think of the bigger picture then add in details
You know that tip of how people often say, focus on the bigger shape before you go onto the details? I say it also applies to characters desgin too. Think about it this way, when people look the characters they look at the characters as a whole before the bigger details, particularly the shape and silhouette of them. Silhouette in this case is referring to how when a character is blackout, it reflect how their shape "appears" like. And when your silhouette of a characters stands out from the rest, it helps make them interesting shape wise. Then you can add on the smaller details which people will later notice on apon further examation. Hence why you should look at how the bigger pieces of your character work before you can figure out how many details you want to add (Which I will note since this is a webtoon, it is usually more graceful when it comes to more complex desgins than let say animations, but its about your work flow and how much detail are you willing to put in) If it helps you relax a bit you can always have a more detailed version of a characters in single piece drawings and then more "simpler" desgin for the webtoons (but agian, this is more about you and how you handle your workflow).
Alright I'll stop rambling here since this is just an essay at this point. I want to note to you that while these tip (and wayyyy more topic I barely touch on) are good to keep in mind, don't let the stress of a perfect character drive you. Easier said than done I know. But, all your characters do not need to be perfect, following all the rules of great character desgin, all need to be different and have good shape language to be good characters. They can help no doubt but its just a puzzle piece in a whole picture. And honestly I think you are doing a wonderful job designing and even putting your character out there and people, including me, LOVE them. For example, the curve in Moon's hair which looks like a crescent moon, that's so clever my goodness its so smart. Or how Neptune flowing hair, long beautiful dress, all the ribbons on him and his elegant trident help him appear calm, peaceful and sort of deity like in his appearance which for going off of the astrological repersneation of Neptune is well convey here. The point is don't be too hard on yourself. You're doing a great job already and it great your conscious about doing the best for your characters. It shows the amount of passion and care you have for your characters and that outshine so much with ever desgin you draw! Wishing you luck Wiz!!! You got this and I know what ever you do it will be amazing as always! >:D
Also sorry if my grammar or spelling is werid, I'm up late at night (in my timezone) just rambling here! I can be a bit of a chatter! I hope this wasn't too confusing or boring!!
annaxmalina
discoholicmusic
janainaart
yousharknotpass
kianamaiart
kaledo-art
titsay
theartofmadeline
romaincrisis
germansingergirl
