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Even though I'll be making the game using pixel sprites, I still think that it's important for me to look at how shape theory works. I might not be able to give things round edges using limited pixels, and I might not be able to make anything that's especially into shape theory, but I'll certainly try to use what I learn from this research as much as possible in order to have the project sprites be as good as possible with the same reactions from players as I want them to have.
My look into shape theory will influence not just how the environment and item sprites are made, but also the design of characters, for example I can make the main characters shape align more with who he is and what he's like.
Rectangles
Solid, Sturdy, Strong
Supportive
Reliable
Inflexible
Squares make people believe things are heavy, hard to move or just overall strong. A character that can take a lot of damage is more likely to be large and more rectangular in order to make the user instantly recognise these qualities without needing to be told them. With buildings being sturdy and also rectangular in the modern age, it's likely that people associate the shape with the quality, meaning that anything rectangular can look heavy or sturdy despite not even being so. This can be avoided with further shape theory but there's more to consider.
For example, don't make things blocks, just make them seem blocky. This will get the same effect without turning work into minecraft 2.0
(Image sourced from the website linked at the bottom of the page and in the bibliography)
Triangles
Sharp, Directional
Dynamic
Dangerous
Unpredictable
Triangles are sharp looking and most people unconsciously associate sharpness with danger, think knives, swords, axes. By exaggerating these shapes, you can make the character drawn with this in mind look more volatile and aggressive, perhaps even dangerous without any story or dialogue being needed. The main thing with triangular drawing is keeping the character or object grounded in reality. For example, there's a certain point where a sword can have just too many spikes to even be scary or believable anymore. You don't need too many triangular shapes to have the shape theory shine through your work so it's better to not over do it.
Circles
Soft, Squishy
Harmless
Approachable
Changeable
Circles are often used for faces of friendly characters in order to make it blatantly obvious that they aren't threats and are instead, as stated above, totally harmless. These organic seeming shapes are great at giving off an air of warmth and normalcy which invites the viewer to feel safe.
What's important when designing a circular character is to not go overboard, the idea of circles is smooth edges rather than their 360 degrees. If you're drawing flesh then you can likely just smoothen the transitions between parts of the characters anatomy to achieve the results you would want from circular shape theory.
(Image sourced from the website linked at the bottom of the page and in the bibliography)
Conclusion
In conclusion, despite using a pixel art style for my game project, I'll be making efforts to include the amount of visual story telling via shape theory I'm able to use in my work. The main idea is that I get shape theory into my work without it looking forced at all, possible ways to do this include making my character more circular and blocky in order to make him look stable and like a normal, unthreatening person, as well as having the monster be sharpely or jaggedly drawn to appeal to the triangular part of shape theory where the players would be scared just by looking at the outline of the monster. The colours and details for each character would definitely be enough to give the player an idea of what they are like, but using shape theory would take this sort of subliminal messaging to the next level.
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