Hero High Design Journal #7

Be True to Your School (Uniform)

Hero High artist Darren Calvert gives us some insight into his work designing the official student uniforms for the Claremont Academy:

“I started out looking at a lot of athletic wear. These are basically the uniforms of the schools’ “sports team” so they had to look light and comfortable.

“I kept the arms bare so that if a student had an "unusual" physique (cybernetic limbs, fur, etc.) it would be obvious that it affected more than just their face.

“One of the early versions (shown here) had gloves, but I felt they took away from the youthful look of the short sleeves and felt sort of... antiseptic. Heroes shouldn't be afraid to get their hands dirty!”

Darren provided initial sketches for the uniforms, including an optional skirted version. “The skirt design came from the fact that these were school uniforms which traditionally means a skirt for girls. Skirts also seem to work well enough for sports like field hockey so I figured it could handle the abuse of kicking supervillain butt.”

“The final version of the uniform incorporated my favorite elements from the first two designs. I dropped the belt buckle in the front in favor of the school crest emblem on the chest. The belt (for communication, GPS tracking, and biological monitoring of the students) became a sort of wrap-around design.”

“The idea with the varsity jacket was for it to be something to set apart the senior students. Your varsity jacket should be something you have to earn, something for your character to aspire to. I modified the original jacket to make it look more like a traditional varsity jacket with the sleeves a different color from the body and the striped cuffs and collar.”