How to Brief a Character Design

The single biggest factor in how smoothly a commission goes is the brief you start with. A message that only says "draw my OC" forces the artist to guess, and every guess is a potential revision. A clear brief, on the other hand, lets us send back a first sketch that is already close to what you had in mind.

The good news is that a strong brief does not need to be long. It needs to answer four questions: how much of the character you need, how finished it should be, what goes behind the character, and which style you want. This guide explains each one, then shows how to put them together, and what extra information makes the biggest difference.

1. Composition: how much of the character?

Composition decides how the character is framed, and it affects both the price and how the finished piece can be used. Think about where the image will live before you choose.

• Headshot: face and shoulders. Ideal for profile pictures, stream icons, and emotes.
• Half body: from the waist up. Leaves room for hand gestures, props, and upper-body details of the outfit.
• Knee up: most of the outfit and a clearer pose. A good balance between detail and presence.
• Full body: the whole character from head to feet. Best for reference sheets and pieces where the full outfit matters.

If you are unsure, tell us what the image is for. A banner, a book cover, and a profile picture all have different shapes, and we can suggest the framing that fits.

2. Completion level: how finished?

Not every project needs a fully rendered illustration. Sometimes a clean sketch is exactly right, and it costs less and arrives sooner.

• Rough sketch: pose and proportions only. Useful for concepts and early planning.
• Base color: clean lines with flat colors and no shading. Great for reference sheets.
• Full render: shading, lighting, and effects included. The complete, finished look.
• Finishing only: you provide the lineart or base colors and we complete the rest.

3. Background: what is behind the character?

• No background: a transparent file that can be placed anywhere.
• Simple background: a color, a gradient, or a light texture that supports the mood.
• Detailed background: a full environment or scene that tells part of the story.

A detailed background is its own piece of work, so it is worth deciding early. If the character will later be cut out and placed on other designs, a transparent background is usually the most practical choice.

4. Style

• Anime-style: our main strength, with bold lines, expressive faces, and dynamic poses.
• Chibi: small, cute, exaggerated proportions, perfect for stickers and merchandise.
• Semi-realistic: more grounded anatomy and softer shading.

The details that make the biggest difference

Those four choices define the scope. The details below define the character, and they are what separate a correct drawing from the one you pictured.

1. Personality in a few words: confident, shy, mischievous, tired, proud. This shapes the pose and expression more than anything else.
2. The key visual features: hair color and style, eye color, scars, tattoos, accessories that must appear.
3. The outfit, and which parts are essential versus flexible.
4. Any prop or weapon, and how the character should hold it.
5. The mood or setting you imagine, even if there is no background.

References: fewer, clearer, labelled

References help enormously, but more is not always better. Three well-chosen images with a note explaining what each one is for are more useful than twenty unlabelled ones. For example: "this image for the hairstyle, this one for the color of the coat, this one for the pose energy." If you already have a previous drawing of the character, include it and tell us which details must stay the same.

Tell us what each reference is for, and it stops being a guess.

Our brief checklist

Putting it all together

Here is what a complete brief can look like:

"Full body, full render, simple gradient background, anime-style. She is a gothic-fantasy mage: calm, confident, a little intimidating. Long silver hair, violet eyes, a dark purple coat with silver trim, and a crescent-shaped staff held low in her right hand. Reference 1 is her previous design, keep the coat exactly; reference 2 is the pose energy I like. It will be used as a profile banner."

That is only a few lines, and it answers every question we would otherwise have to ask. The first sketch built from a brief like this is usually very close, and the revision rounds that follow are small refinements instead of starting over.

Not sure yet? Start with the consultation

You do not need to have everything decided before you contact us. The free consultation exists precisely for this: share what you have, and we will ask the questions that fill the gaps. By the end of it, you will have a complete brief, a confirmed scope, and a price, before any work begins.