well, i think the only actually important thing to remember is to have fun. if you lose sight of this tenet, your character design will not necessarily suck, but it will definitely have less of your soul and ass in it. and what's the point of making any kind of art if you don't share a little piece of yourself along the way? art is communication, baby! do your best to work up the nerve to add your unique voice to the choir of creation, no matter how offkey or shaky. chances are, there's people out there it'll resonate with--if not now, then someday soon.

i can definitely talk a bit about how i personally approach my own designs, though, which is somewhat to the left of this prompt.

i think silhouette is pretty important to consider. it doesn't have to be the #1 focus, but if you have a muddled overall shape, your character might be harder to pick out from afar. granted, this isn't always bad, but as someone who strives to make designs with a strong sense of identity, it's not quite what i want.

as a result, i try to be fairly intentional about shape distribution. i consider a character design as an artistic composition of its own. if any sort of complexity is added, i want there to be simpler regions where the eye can "rest" between details. i also want to consider range of motion--something that might read clearly from the front may become incomprehensible from another angle, or when partially obscured.

i suppose i have a pretty form-based approach, when i think about it that way. i want to carve away at a shape and simplify it to its barest essentials, but maintain what i like about it in the process, and consider how it fits in with the rest of the design. there are many cases where i end up scrapping a component i love on its own, which simply didn't play nice with everything else.

for example, i love plumed helmets a lot. so, when i was designing zepar, i originally set out to give him a plume. however, it ended up looking a bit too regal and noble for what i valued more about his character concept, so it was scrapped. weighing things you like vs. what you want to actually accomplish is crucial--the specifics can change when you're in the middle of designing! listen to what your heart wants. it might be onto something.

in most cases, i also try to keep the color count fairly low, and distribute/re-use colors appealingly throughout the entire design. it doesn't have to be completely equal or totally balanced whatsoever, it just has to feel cohesive and intentional. this is entirely vibes-based, so i can't be very helpful about it... sorry! ^^;;

beyond that... it really just boils down to me thinking about what i would find fun and/or sexy. sometimes i come up with the initial concept for a brand new character by simply being like "oh shit, i don't have a character with this specific boner-inducing thing going on yet". i'm not immune to re-using design elements--lord knows i have a billion guys with giant tits and broad shoulders--but i do try not to make overly repetitive designs. it's a bit of an ongoing process, i suppose.

i really love talking about character design! thanks for giving me an excuse to ramble about it.