We’re definitely with you there, friend! That’s why there’s the “art shouldn’t be censored!” rhetoric bingo square: cause “creative freedom” should not be a Get Out of Jail Free card of character design.
As femfreq puts it:
Yup, it’s all about the big picture of our media, not individual examples. Crying “artistic freedom” (or “stylization”, for that matter) to justify questionable design ignores seeking for the reason artist decided to make such choices.
Publishing this ask cause those points need to be iterated more.
~Ozzie
The other important thing that people should remember is that commercial art (such as covers, character designs, 3d models in games, etc) is not intended to be a purely artistic experience – it’s a product for consumption.
Artists will have to follow briefs that tell them kind of mood to give the work, what characters to put in it, what themes to put in – unlikely that an art director adding “Don’t put the female characters in ridiculous and hyper-sexualized costumes” would somehow break a professional artist’s will to create.
– wincenworks
Bringing this back as a reminder that people behind commercial art and design do not create in a vacuum, or due to personal, purely artistic, reasons, but for business.
And they should be held accountable for how their artwork, meant for a broad consumer base, contributes to the culture as a whole. What messages, intentionally or not, are sent along with it.
Especially if it regurgitates horrible attitudes like “sex sells”, double standards, or racial and/or cultural insensitivity.
~Ozzie