Welcome to my text reference guide!

If you're looking to get a design commission then don't mind this, you're paying me to figure out all of this for you. ;)

If you're not getting a design commission then please read through and make sure your text reference has all the information I'm asking for.

If anything in this guide is confusing or you think could have more clarification feel free to message me about it! I’d love to make it better.

• Potentially useful links to other guides

Be specific

There are infinite ways to go about anything and the main part of the design process involves figuring out which way is the right way.

Saying your character wears a blue shirt could be:

1. A robin egg blue cropped t-shirt with white trim.
2. A dark blue tunic with silver embroidery forming leaves and small flowers.
3. A crisp purple-blue, almost indigo, button-up shirt.

Get reference images

Please make sure you have reference images whenever possible! This is the biggest time saver for me and the best way to avoid confusion or misunderstandings about your design.

There are a few different ways to go about this:

• Pinterest boards or similar collections of images are highly encouraged and very helpful.
• Specific images with descriptions of what exactly you want:
  • "My character wears shoes like this but in a deep blue"
  • "My character has curly hair like this"
• Your own drawings. You don't have to be an artist to convey an idea through art! even if it's just a messy sketch it can help clarify text. :)

While a moodboard of images as inspiration is appriciated, I do NOT accept a reference image of a character that does not belong to you acting as your only reference.

Formatting

As long as you have all the information I'm requesting, the format of your reference doesn't matter too much. Do whatever works best for you! This can be:

• Full paragraphs
• Bullet point lists
• Turning the checklist below into a form