DEFEND THE CITY

So the question on my mind is, who are the citizens of Defend the City? Are they large metal monsters that dominate everything around them? Are they fuzzy and furry?  Have they loved and lost?  Do they raise offspring to follow in their foot steps?   Etc. etc. etc.

Well… I believe the answer is yes!  One of my primary goals for the first DEFEND THE CITY t-shirt designs is to create and explore a rich world that is inhabited by creatures that we all can love or hate or at least relate to a little bit.  If I’m going to spend time creating, I want my suspension of disbelief to completely engage and live in that world for a moment.  That’s when I know I have a good character brewing.

Characters need to have a spirit and life of their own.  This will guide the development of the character and give you the designer, the writer, the story teller the insight to determine the next step that this new little form should take.

The character is not complete upon initial design.  Instead that is the moment when the tip of the pen touches to start the story.  The new creation is now set up the world to become something and participate in our imaginations.  At this point we can then start to tell a life-story for this character.

Which leads me to an important point… it’s nice to allow the viewer to fill in the blanks with their own imagination.  Give them the pleasure of coming up with new ideas and fantasies about what this little guy can do, or has done.  By spinning the tale in just the right way, you give the audience the chance to participate and be captivated by what’s before them.

This can be a delicate balancing act.  Specifics are good… those are the points that make this new creation unique and real, but too many specifics can reduce opportunity for individual exploration by the individual viewer.  This is the essence that makes role playing games so powerful.  You get to become part of a world via a character that serves as a vessel.

My goal now is to incorporate that in my designs as we move forward with DEFEND THE CITY.  Populate the landscape with wonderful citizens that have long lives ahead of them.