The designs for the prominent characters of the Ulon Dosi (AKA goat-alien) tribe were a bit challenging. There are probably three main characters of the bunch, with Clem (the guy in this sequence) being one of them. I figured the males would have different facial hair braids, and additionally, soldiers would have war-beads. As the leader of the armed force, Clem would have the most war-beads. But I needed him to stand out in a more significant way.

I toyed with the idea of an eye-patch, but sometimes that just feels like a cheat, like that’s the go-to way to make someone’s face different from everyone else’s. So I scrapped that. I decided to actually rely more on color than anything else, which is a concept design aesthetic that’s generally not in my vocabulary since I’m so used to working in B&W. But since I am working in color now, I figure I might as well use it to full advantage, so I made Clem’s tunic red, while everyone else wears hides in more natural tones. In going with color, I made sure to include some of that red in his face as well (in the braid bands), since I wanted him to still be recognizable in close-ups where his tunic wasn’t in frame.

To cover my bases, I also gave Clem some notable differences in costume. Unlike everyone else, he has an additional layer of hide patches, which I figure might also serve as light leather armor. And I just thought the patchwork look was pretty cool.