To help with inspiration and reference when putting my characters together, I decided to look at three aspects of animation; Middle Eastern, Eastern European, and East Asian (predominantly anime). I chose to look at traditional clothing, historical aspects, and other potential influences on a character's appearance in relation to their culture. For my six character designs, I planned to draw out three original characters that were true to and resembled their national identities followed by three Westernised versions of them.
For example, I will take my Russian/Czech-style character and use as much reference from animations of those regions in order to create my own design. I will then base the changed version of the European character on styles from that of traditional Disney (elegant character, very idyllic in appearance). For the anime style character, the changed version will be using reference from such companies as Pixar and Dreamworks as films like Big Hero 6 have already taken a Japanese style and Americanised it like I plan to do. For the Middle Eastern character, I will use reference from Hannah Barbera and Warner Bros to create a very cartoony and exaggerated, silly character.
To give a good balance of gender and some more practice in anatomy for myself, I plan to use a female anime character, and two male characters of Middle Eastern and Eastern European origins. I feel that I can express the styles better by using two males from regions where males are seen as (sadly) more privileged. Although it could be argued that males are more privileged in Japan too.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5802/1865/1600/ratibor6.0.jpg
(E.U reference)
http://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire1/07232008/b/8/4/8/b84894b3592f20_full.jpg
(Anime reference)
(Middle Eastern version of Sim City - reference)
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs7/i/2005/261/8/4/Jamshid_and_Khorshid_by_soheildanesh.jpg
('Iranime' - Iranian anime is starting to creep into the Middle East but still retains a distinct style)
Middle East - Warm, deep, purples, red, plums, yellows
Eastern European - Dark greys, browns, reds, blues, golds
East Asian - Bright colours, pinks, purples, greens, blues, pastels
