Feedback on Future Racketboy Mascot

[tylerbgood]

He reminds me a little of Raz from Psychonauts with the goggle/headphone setup. I'll admit I'm not a fan of the distorted anime-esque art style though. Perhaps Dave could render the character in a few different video game art styles (ie: Day of the Tentacle, pre-VII Final Fantasy) to give our fickle community some choices. But all in all, this is a great first effort, and I definitely dig the mascot idea.

[yomomma1]

The proportions and pose make it look like a crappy Gaia avatar.

Thanks for figuring that out for me, I knew I saw similar characters elsewhere. That's what I don't like.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

The proportions and pose make it look like a crappy Gaia avatar.

Thanks for figuring that out for me, I knew I saw similar characters elsewhere. That's what I don't like.

I third this, it's like one off those drawings of people trying to create western styled Anime.

If you want to make an Asian inspired design go for it, same with creating a western styled one. If you want a mix you can't just cram all the western influences into a completely Asian design and the same goes for an Asian design with Western influences.

Basically, drop the chibi form factor. It does little more than make people cringe and turn away when they see that online first thing. You can make it cutesy or expressive with normal proportions and at that point you'll have room for all the extra stuff in the details.

[Dylan]

I think that depending on the resolution it's reduced to, the anime-ish look will fade out.

It's kinda like Mega Man:



Vs.

[racketboy]

The proportions and pose make it look like a crappy Gaia avatar.

Thanks for figuring that out for me, I knew I saw similar characters elsewhere. That's what I don't like.

I third this, it's like one off those drawings of people trying to create western styled Anime.

If you want to make an Asian inspired design go for it, same with creating a western styled one. If you want a mix you can't just cram all the western influences into a completely Asian design and the same goes for an Asian design with Western influences.

Basically, drop the chibi form factor. It does little more than make people cringe and turn away when they see that online first thing. You can make it cutesy or expressive with normal proportions and at that point you'll have room for all the extra stuff in the details.

Well, I don't necessarily need all the details. I kinda like him being shorter though -- seems more retro sprite-like that way and fits more into the "boy" of "racketboy" too.
Maybe not having as big of eyes would help... but , I know he did that because I mentioned Super Puzzle Fighter.

And yeah, I think some things would tone down once it's pixelized -- like the Megaman example -- although, I'm thinking more 16-bit

[DrCirno]

This looks terrible right now. Pixelated it's going to look just like a Gaia Online avatar, or a Paul Robertson/Scott Pilgrim rip off. Pixel art is cool, but not everything has to be like Paul Robertson.

Completely drop the current design, I believe it will hurt the image of the website in the future if this becomes our mascot. If you want it to be like Beat, then design it with the same proportions in mind.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

But Megaman had actual proportions and features. I don't want everyone to talk about us as the forum that looks like a joke.

As of right now RacketBoy has a sleek black, blue and white (or black blue and yellow if you're on acidtech) design that works great and gives it a contemporary look and makes it feel cool, sleek and modern while also having that retro 90's terminal look. Like it feels as if it's '95 on here, bbut it all works like modern 2010 forums would, mostly. (aka, servers exploding)

If it's gonna be 16-Bit in the end you're only gonna loose like 10-20% of that detail (aka just the detail lines in hair and on clothing) so all the weird uncannyness of it will still come across.

[wootcube]

Just a suggestion...do you think the website really even needs a mascot? The text at the top of every page "racketBOY" is pretty distinctive in itself - I associate that with the site more than your avatar. If you're looking to redo the look of the site, maybe just a new font for the title? (sorry I don't know anything about web design so I'm probably using the wrong termology)

If you're set on the mascot, I don't mind the short but I think it's too cute. I don't think it needs to look more grown up, just not as cute.

[dsheinem]

Just a suggestion...do you think the website really even needs a mascot? The text at the top of every page "racketBOY" is pretty distinctive in itself - I associate that with the site more than your avatar. If you're looking to redo the look of the site, maybe just a new font for the title? (sorry I don't know anything about web design so I'm probably using the wrong termology)

If you're set on the mascot, I don't mind the short but I think it's too cute. I don't think it needs to look more grown up, just not as cute.

I'm not sure we need a mascot either. Maybe a rotating set of classic sprites/character art that is randomly generated each visit?

[racketboy]

Just a suggestion...do you think the website really even needs a mascot? The text at the top of every page "racketBOY" is pretty distinctive in itself - I associate that with the site more than your avatar. If you're looking to redo the look of the site, maybe just a new font for the title? (sorry I don't know anything about web design so I'm probably using the wrong termology)

If you're set on the mascot, I don't mind the short but I think it's too cute. I don't think it needs to look more grown up, just not as cute.

I'm not sure we need a mascot either. Maybe a rotating set of classic sprites/character art that is randomly generated each visit?

Well, I'd really like some pixel-ly goodness without using other company's stuff.
I know it would make more work, but maybe eventually we could have a character that wore different game-inspired outfits... or does that sound kinda dumb?