The Space Bounty Hunter is an intimidating, hi-tech low life who is proficient and individually expressive with light body armor that A) protects in outer space, B) can be easily upgraded with additional tech and body armor, and C) is sleek rather than slow.

I began by creating three separate character themes to guide my research:

1) Street Warrior
2) Roughneck Military Contractor
3) Space Ninja

I felt these themes were different enough from each other to provide a diverse set of personalities, textures, and silhouettes to generate distinct concepts, rather than three variations of the same idea. I created moodboards and divided accordingly.

Street Warrior

Using the moodboards I sketched rough character concepts to feel out the personality of the character through pose, outfit, and accessories. I mixed elements from each theme to add visual interest, while trying to retain a themed feel with each character.

Duration ~8 hours

I selected three sketches to move on to color roughs. There were more visual ideas I preferred than were captured in the three selections. So I took another design pass integrating as many of these ideas to add interest to each character. The result was three unique silhouettes with distinct look and feel.

Duration ~8 hours

At this point I had the silhouette and basic structural details that matched each archetype. But I still needed to design a basic shape language to guide in refining the sketch, exploring materials, and defining the overall visual language.

To begin, I looked for common shapes within the initial sketch. The pointed triangle / trapezoid was a recurring shape throughout the entire character. I extracted the shape and built a core set of pointed shapes that would guide the rest of the design, including “brand” marks within the system.

Also included here is a rounded graphic treatment designed to contrast and compliment the pointed angles of the main shapes.*

Duration ~2 hours.

*Rounded graphic treatment is based on a backstory idea of the intergalactic hunter who frequents earth and is enamored with American culture. He has picked up phrases and movie quotes and applies them to his gear without fully understanding the meaning.

I began fleshing out the helmet as it was going to be the foundation for every iteration of the design. I wanted a look that would read well by itself, and still appear iconic within a variety of head coverings.

Duration ~4-6 hours

I translated the initial sketch into a more presentable and anatomically accurate sketch that would be the foundation for all of the final design work. I also reduced it into a simplified icon silhouette to determine whether the design would read at a distance, and was sufficiently interesting to develop.

Duration: ~4 hours

Because I sketched the highlights and shadows on separate layers, I was able to isolate the flat base color and quickly explore color variations.

Duration: ~1 hour

I selected the more colorful option to flesh out in a full render because I wanted the challenge of pulling it off without being cartoony. Solid black outfits typically look good, so I knew if I could get the colorful one right, the black and white concepts would probably work as well. I explored a variety of headdress concepts that could be mixed and matched in countless ways either with the helmet or without.

Duration ~16 hours

I also did some sketches working through the Roughneck concept.

Next Steps

1. Flesh out bodysuit materials and patterns incorporating visual language

2. Design other character angles

3. Refine micro details

4. Get into 3D and view in-engine

The design brief called for a strong composition showcasing the bounty hunter who has traveled to New York City to capture a target. Composition should show the city in detail as well as a prominent view of the bounty hunter character and his “mark.” Environment should match The Division visual language.

I began designing narrative sketches by thinking through various compositions that would frame the hunter in an interesting way while still showing off the environment.

~30 minutes

I then worked through rough photo bashing to quickly develop a mood based on the initial thumbnails. During this process I was careful to match the look and feel of The Division in terms of lighting, contrast, and color palette.

I still felt like the composition needed to be more dynamic and showcase the hunter more clearly. I worked with alternating focal points of hunter and his mark to enhance the composition.

~2 hours