User blog comment:Patchworks Inc/character design contest!! (adelaide medison)/@comment-11163511-20180814053425



Hey Patch! I know I’ve told you that I came up with three designs but only two of them actually made the cut. I must admit there isn’t much in terms of cultural or historical references as much as I normally like to include them in my designs but there’s still some reasoning behind each, some of which loosely connect with elements from her story. To be frank, I may have focused more on creating something different and “fantasy-ish” rather than accuracy (or practicality). I didn’t know if other colors were allowed so I still stuck to shades of red and white for the design.

First, the one on the left, which I’ll nickname “Super Nurse” is obviously based on vintage nurse uniforms. It features a maroon cape shirt and a red pinstripe pinafore shorts. Capes were part of the uniform of travel nurses in the early 20th century. There’s not much to explain why I chose to include it in the design other than not seeing capes being used much in designs for nurse in the media. The underside of the cape features a lighter red with a pattern of brain wrinkles printed on it (is that too visceral? It’s subtle but ignore it if it is). I thought it would be a subtle nod to the fact she’s interested in psychology. The pinafore is self-explanatory. Most nurse designs have it but leaving it blank would have looked very bland and unfitting for an EAH doll so I used red pinstripes and some measuring lines for decoration. You did mention syringes in the blog so that was how I wanted to incorporate them into the design, sort of. Red pinstripes are usually worn by hospital volunteers called “candy stripers” because of how the pattern looked like striped candy like candy canes or peppermint.

The sneakers she wears is the interesting part, even though you might not be able to see it well considering how small they are. If you look closely, the shoes winged with the laces tied in the Twistie style to mimic coiling snakes. The flap on the front of the shoes features two tiny snake heads. The sneakers represent the staff of Hermes, which is considered a medical symbol. Considering the nurse serves the Light Princess who literally flies, I think it’s fitting she’s got winged shoes. And the staff is part of the Star of Life, a symbol used on ambulances and featured on the uniforms of Medics. In the story, she helped the Princess save her love interest from drowning, which would be a medical emergency if you ask me.

The second design features scrubs. It was originally my least favorite of my concepts because I thought scrubs were boring with one solid color only. That was until I discovered fashion scrubs. They’re more fitted than regular surgical scrubs and usually feature fun patterns. I searched some up from some medical catalogues and created the design. Around her empire waist is a ribbon with Hermes’ staff attached to it, mimicking the star of life. She has two pockets with the Red Cross sewn onto them and ruffles around the bottom of her shirt. Yeah, there are real fashion scrubs with frills. The pants are of a solid maroon as with all scrubs. She wears Crocs in this design with little accessories plugged into some of the ventilation holes. A Red Cross and a Star Of Life charm is featured on each shoe.

Both of the designs feature a red rubber nurse watch pinned to the shirt. Yes, it is purposely upside down because that way she would be able to tell the time by lifting it up. Each design has a different nurse hat. The second is maroon to match the pants.

Additionally I gave her a band-aid tin with a chain to use as a purse. It probably looks better with the first design than the second one. That’s as much as I can explain these designs. I hope you like them.