For this week, we began designing some characters for our worlds. I had been switched around to a different group again, and was now contributing to the Tea/Coffee World, known as Nepresso Noir. I designed some characters, but there was already a lot of characters designed. I saw someone in the Google Doc the group had mention about cops as reoccurring background characters; I started designing them and named them Chamomile and Lapsang.
Chamomile
Chamomile is an age 30 female who works in the police precinct. She has orange eyes and is a ceramic mug with Chamomile and orange tea inside. She dropped out of school to join the force after her father left her mother and her alone. Her father had a sugar addiction and was unable to sustain their family life. Chamomile’s mother was a singer at the local jazz bar which kept a steady income for a while, but in order to support her mother, Chamomile thought it best to obtain a well paying job at the precinct. Originally, she was a record keeper, but was promoted to go out into the field when she was 23. She pays for her mother to live in a nice area of town, close to a bar where she performs. Now, along with Lapsang, she is investigating the dealing of sugar within the city in an attempt to put a stop to it completely.
Chamomile wears formal clothes, even when she’s casual. Her officer uniform shirt is buttoned up completely and she wears a knee length tight skirt with ballet pumps. For casual clothing, she wears yellow clothing, like cardigans and skirts. Chamomiles are flowers that are similar to daisies, which is why I chose that colour theme for her.
Lapsang Souchong
Lapsang Souchong is an aged 29 female police officer and Chamomile’s partner. She’s a ceramic blue cup with Lapsang tea inside and yellow eyes. She’s a smoker – a bad habit she picked up from one of the orphanage workers. Her parents died when she was five years old due to their sugar addiction. She lived in the city orphanage until she was 18, where she applied to work at the precinct. There, during her training, she met her future partner Chamomile. They formed a connection pretty quickly due to their similar pasts and history with sugar. Together, she swore, she hoped they would stop the effects of the sugar trade.
Lapsang is very laid back. Her uniform collar is loose, and she wears skinny jeans. For casual wear, she dons a large trench coat with a light blue shirt and ripped jeans. Lapsang is a very smoky tea, so I wanted her to come across as rough.
Unintentionally, I was mostly inspired by Sailor Moon characters Uranus and Neptune for Chamomile’s and Lapsang’s dynamic. Lapsang would be a bit rough and hot headed, while Chamomile is the calmer and more elegant one. Lapsang isn’t very social and only really talks to Chamomile. They work well together, so the precinct only really keeps them together as partners. They’re only characters that appear in the background often so I didn’t want to think too deeply about their past, but I think it may be beneficial in bringing them to life.
Cappuccino and Puppuccino
Cappuccino is an older woman who trains puppuccinos to be service animals. We weren’t going to have animals be a part of the world, due to all the biscuit-like people who are apart of the world. But I liked the thought of a dog made of cream and coffee. Cappuccino is unmarried and has dedicated her life to training puppuccinos in order to help other residents of the city. She is blind herself and her shop is located in the center of town, away from the undesirable streets. Puppuccinos are happy and energetic, like dogs in reality, but they are mostly rare and are native to this city only. Normally, Cappuccino would look after strays she finds, and if she cannot find a suitable forever home for them, she takes them in herself and trains them. I based her character off the idea of a “crazy cat lady” but with dogs instead. She’s a good source for information, which is why the protagonist frequents her Training and Adoption Centre often. “In order to protect the puppuccinos, you must be aware of everyone in this town,” she would say, and so keeps tabs on everyone she is able to, even the undesirables.
Puppuccinos are based off of corgis and the Puppuccino drinks from Starbucks.
I also looked at facial expressions for characters that didn’t have full body portraits yet. I find posing difficult, while facial expressions are much easier, but if I had an idea for their expressions, I could work on their design afterwards.
Forms showing more square and circular shapes.
