JustABarMan - Flood Knight
Inspired by the Chinese Gatcha game, Genshin Impact.
Barman is one of my friends that I commonly play games online with in my free time. We often play Genshin Impact together, and because the art style and character designs in the game are absolutely gorgeous, I decided it would be fun to do a study on various Genshin characters and create a set of my own utilizing the online avatars of some of my closest friends.
When it came to designing the outfits for these characters, the process was more or less trial and error and in the moment decisions. I had a few guidelines I gave for each characters given what I know they like and dislike and the general vibe they give off as individuals. From there I was able to add on pieces and build off their existing personas until I reached something I was happy with. These pieces take by far the least amount of planning ahead of time because how the spontaneity of my process, and my familiarity with my friends.
Barman controls the power of Hydro, or water. His outfit takes inspiration from medieval English knights, with the ability to control water paying homage to his affinity for scuba diving. The knightly visage not only reflects how he commonly portrays himself in his online persona, but additionally it parallels his kind and helpful demeanor, as he often plays a supportive role in our friend group. His outfit, I feel is easily the most muddy, full of neutral, earthy tones brought about by the abundance of metal textures. I tried to combat this with an array of deep blues as well as the rushing water to help bring more light out of the piece. The English knight attire also strikes me as something which would not necessarily be found in a game like Genshin, however I feel as though this look is iconic enough to be able to stand out with the wide roster of the game that it would be able to fit in almost ironically.
For each of these Genshin designs, I placed them into mockups onto hoodies, as I feel the design would look good on clothing. Down either arm I’ve also included their character title as well as the symbol of their element, in this case “Flood Knight” and Hydro.
These mockups help to bring my pieces to life and get an opportunity to see them out in the real world.