Month: August 2015

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SarcasticMantisShrimp submitted:

This is Nu Wa from Smite. Look who got a bingo!

I love Smite to death, but their portrayals of females leave MUCH to be desired.

Oh SMITE, you neverending well of snore-inducing generic “sexyness” and casual cultural appropriation.

At this point the only thing worth pointing out about this is that for a figure from Chinese mythology, Nu Wa/Nüwa/Nügua here looks suspiciously white. And, traditionally for SMITE, any claim of this portrayal being “historically accurate” hinges on mass delusion (and probably a certain youtuber’s disproportionate popularity).

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PS: No need to claim precede a valid critique with “I really love this thing to death, but…”

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~Ozzie

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Can we talk about how Shiklah is “Mrs Deadpool” but they’ve chosen to apply none of Deadpool’s visual branding?  Aside from one decoration on her belly chain on one cover?  No? We’re just going to rebrand the character’s title as a derivative of Deadpool and pretend the battle lingerie is critical?

I mean if nothing else, this is a golden opportunity to have her wear something you can sell as Deadpool merchandise!  I mean you got the Deadpool Bobblehead in there – but this seems like the prime time to be trying to sell everything Deadpool! Pants. Jackets. Shirts. Bags. Things you use to hold your socks up… everything!

– wincenworks

Interestingly, they did it before with actual distaff counterpart and barely even tried.
Lady Deadpool is an alternate universe character in Marvel (and also one of “our” Deadpool’s weird love interests). Who comes  with an assorted ponytail and boobsocks, just in case anyone forgot that she’s Deadpool, except a lady!

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And also WTF anatomy, cause Liefeld.

Seems like attaching a male hero’s name to a female character is a seemingly simple task that everyone’s too lazy to put their heart into. Even the new Thor, no matter how well written, somehow HAD to be designed with a boobplate, cause ladyparts, amirite?

~Ozzie

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pixelcut:

WOOO I did a redesign of this hot monstrosity. The screen shots used in this post were provided by doctorsanity, who submitted them to bikiniarmorbattledamage

Look, I’ve been employed as a designer for two years now, and maybe that’s not that long; I’m at least sure I don’t have the same kind of industry experience that the designers in charge of this train wreck probably do, but I do know one thing: 

Design that fails to communicate its intended message is bad design. 

It is, in my opinion, the chore element that separates what we do from Fine Art – fine art is a personal expression. Someone can argue with the conclusions that you came to in fine art but ultimately, it’s your territory, your message, your composition, your voice, your story.

When you’re a hired designer, everything changes. It’s their story, their character, their message, their voice.

Putting aside the obvious pandering and intent to profit off of misogynistic ideals in female video game characters for just an instant, let’s talk about Charlotte.

Charlotte [evidently, from what I’ve admittedly heard through the grapevine; this game is not yet out in my country] uses a masquerade of charm and innocence to seduce men for their wealth. When I heard this, I was shocked, because from the moment I saw her outfit, she never looked like someone I could trust.

If she’s supposed to look demure, make her look demure, goddammit. You shouldn’t need a greenhorn like me to tell you these things. Learn to treat your female characters with more respect.

Awesome redesign accompanied by an awesome writeup, thank you, pixelcut!

One more thing I’d add about the difference between design (hired or not) and fine art, is that design is supposed to serve the same purpose for everyone who sees it. To communicate an intended message, as pixelcut puts it.

The problem with how Charlotte looks basically boils down to the whole issue our blog concerns: that a lot of female character designs, particularly female warrior costumes, do not tell us who we’re dealing with. Lingerie models, maybe, but not warriors, especially not if male characters of the same or similar class establish a completely different aesthetic.

~Ozzie