#you also see the general silhouette/shape of them when they're behind his back like that? say yes.

[vaggieslefteye]

Alastor + "Wings"

[bitchapalooza]

Here we go, my love letter to North Italy's and Germany's contrasting designs and how good they are!

Disclaimer: I only know the basics of character design. I am self taught and still learning so in no way is this a professional character designer review.

First of all, shape language

Circles, triangles, and rectangles/squares are fairly common shapes used in design. They are simple and appealing to not only children but everyone who loves consuming media! You can either have a main shape to your character or you can mix them all together and get a fun character soup!

A good example of a round character would be Vanellope von schweetz(Wreck It Ralph)—

She is a very energetic and happy character and this translates well into how her character was built. Without her fun clothes and color palette, you can easily tell Vanellope is an overall fun, childish character. 100% designed to be a marketable character might I add. Round shapes are also key to making cute characters btw!

A good pointy character would be Sideshow Bob(The Simpsons)—

Without seeing the knife behind his back, you can clearly tell Sideshow Bob has malicious intent. The pointy nose. Erratically styled hair. He also has a very long body made up of mostly rectangular tubes, which translates well into his calculated and logical personality.

A good boxy character I say would be Mr. Gar(Ok Ko: Let's Be Heroes)—

His purpose in the show was to be the property manager of Lakewood Plaza Turbo, and that means he has to display some amount of authority. In order to do that, he was designed with mostly rectangles and squares in mind. He does have a very intimidating exterior but he's also a huge dork.

Lastly, a pretty decent design that mixes basic shapes together is Fear(Inside Out)—

The emotion fear in general is a very mixed up thing to begin with. It's scary. Anxiety plays a messy part in it. Depression too. It makes sense for Fear to be all over the place visually. I suggest looking more into Inside Out's production process. They do a pretty good job with the final emotions' designs and their concept art is also very interesting to look at! I honestly kept it in mind while developing one of my own art styles and it helped me use shapes to my advantage.

As for silhouettes, give your character defining traits. North Italy's hair diddly-doo is good trait. Just something to make the character stick out when they are blocked out in black.

Color language.

Color is also a very important thing for design. However, as Hetalia is based purely on stereotypes, this really isn't applied here on a deep level as it is in normal character design. Let's compare two characters with a similar vibe, shall we?

In the past and in fandom, Russia is typically associated with malicious energy. However, he is most associated, in canon, with many neutral tones—

I see this as intentional on Himaruya's and the colorists/color stylists part. One, it fits his character very well. Two, it deviates away from Russia's disturbing attitude and intimidating appearance. It makes him look softer compared to the things he says. Makes him someone you would willingly want to hug on the streets of all places.

But Maleficent—

Was deliberately designed with purples, greens, reds, and blacks in order to sell that she was evil. If she were to dress any other way, say a hipster with mostly black or red, she would be more like Mother Gothel, basically a villain in plain sight much like how Russia is portrayed in at least the old fandom. Back to Maleficent, her pallet is all villain. She is the BEST example of what an obvious villain is and its thanks to Marc Davis(even if Sleeping Beauty (1959) was a flop). She's probably my favorite villain because her design works so well for her role.

Now onto the main event...

As you can see here, these are Germany and Italy's basic shapes. They translate very well into what their personalities are. I have to say, my favorite part of Germany would have to be his tightly slicked back hair. It really tells the viewer he's a serious guy. Whereas Italy's is loose and bouncy, which also translates pretty well into his character but not as obvious. Again, we can't say much about their color language as yellow means positivity and energy(think Spongebob Squarepants) and that isn't exactly Germany whatsoever.

Their contrasting designs work really well when both characters are put side by side—

You can clearly tell their personalities apart just from one glance. Germany is very neat and straightforward. North Italy has this sort of spontaneous air to him. It also works pretty well with the mixed history real life Germany and Italy have— at least it does to me anyway.

I still don't hold North Italy's design to high praise, neither Germany's, but at least to this extent they're my favorite designs. They're pretty much the embodiment of unlikely friendship and opposites attract and I love it so much!