Paper Doll Process Work
I started off with a rough sketch of what I wanted the dolls to look like, then refined it by lining them. I originally drew everything in procreate, then moved it to illustrator to vectorize and render them fully. I ended up erasing the straps on their tops, because I drew a bustier style top as a piece of clothing.
This is the first batch of clothes sketched out. Due to having two different body types, I drew a smaller and large size.
I drew a second batch of clothes as well, just so I could have more options and style variations to play with! Again, I drew two different sizes.
I then brought the dolls into illustrator, and I used image trace to automatically vectorize my line work. I coloured them in using the fill tool, and added blushes using the ellipses shape tool and a shadow under their chins.
This is the first batch of clothes rendered. As with the dolls, I used image trace to vectorize them, then coloured each piece. I added in the little paper tags with the rectangle shape tool. I also ended up replacing all the drawn buttons with ones created using the ellipses tool for a cleaner look.
I used the exact same process mentioned above for the second batch of clothes.
My first iteration looks like this. I originally thought this was going to be my final design. I only used clothes from the first batch of clothing I drew. I think it's very cute, but I do think the cream background washes out the bustier top.
This second batch, I replaced the original dress and bloomers with the apron and pink bloomers. I didn't think these options would make for the most versatile wardrobe, so I didn't use this as my final design. I changed the text to a darker blue, and I really like it! I ended up using the font colour in my final design.
For the third batch, I tried a neutral background to make the clothes and dolls pop out some more. I like it, but I also think it makes it look a lot more empty. I also replaced the dress and one of the blouses with a coat and another blouse. Again, I didn't feel like it was the most versatile it could be. As you can see, the blue text carried over to this version as well.
Next, I tried a purple background. I don't think it works well at all. I also replaced the dress and blouse with a new dress and blouse. My layout for this one also felt all over the place. The upper right corner feels very empty.
This is my fifth iteration, and final design. Even though there are the same number of pieces in this design, I feel like it looks a lot fuller. I moved the clothes closer to the dolls, to give a little more breathing room near the border. I also ended up changing Jesse's name to Marissa, because I felt like Jesse left too much empty space. Finally, I moved the text down a bit to fill up more space.
