Chapter 1 – Before / After States

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Before / After States (Injury, Weathering, Upgrades) for Costume Concept Artists

1. Why Before / After States Matter in Narrative Costuming

Most costume sheets stop at a single “final” look. But in an actual story, outfits change over time. They tear, stain, patch, burn, freeze, get upgraded, sanctified, vandalized, repaired, and passed on. Those changes are visual proof of what the character has lived through.

For narrative-heavy games and franchises, before / after states do three important jobs:

  1. Track time and journey – You can tell where in the story we are just by looking at the clothes.
  2. Express culture and worldview – Different cultures repair, decorate, and display damage in different ways.
  3. Reveal character “voice” without dialogue – How someone maintains or neglects their outfit says volumes about personality, values, and emotional state.

As a costume concept artist on the concepting side, you’re often the first person to imagine these transformations. As a production-side artist, you translate that narrative into clear, buildable variants and damage states that work for modeling, texturing, VFX, UI, and marketing.

This article will walk through how to design rich before / after states around injury, weathering, and upgrades with an emphasis on time layers, culture, and voice.

2. Thinking in Time Layers: Costumes as Timelines

Instead of seeing a costume as a single snapshot, think of it as a timeline: a base state plus a sequence of changes.

You can sketch that timeline as simple stages:

  • Day 0 – Pristine / ritual / standard issue
  • Stage 1 – First scuffs / light weathering
  • Stage 2 – Visible damage / field repairs
  • Stage 3 – Major injury / narrative event scars
  • Stage 4 – Upgrades / replacements / symbolic modifications

Each stage answers:

  • What just happened to the character?
  • How did they or their culture respond to that event?
  • What is the visible evidence on the costume?

Designing with time layers means you plan for change from the beginning:

  • You choose fabrics and materials that will age in interesting ways.
  • You place seams and panels where future patches make sense.
  • You pre-visualize where upgrades might attach or replace older parts.

This approach creates costumes that feel alive across the story, not just in a single key art image.

3. Types of Before / After States

3.1 Injury and Trauma States

Injury-driven changes to costumes can include:

  • Tears and punctures where weapons or projectiles struck.
  • Bloodstains, burns, acid etching, or chemical discoloration.
  • Hastily applied bandages over or under clothing.

Before / after contrast:

  • Before: Clean, symmetrical, polished silhouette.
  • After: Asymmetry from torn sleeves, missing armor plates, slings or crutches, stained fabric.

Injury states should respect anatomy and physics:

  • Damage aligns with attack direction and weapon type.
  • Tears follow fabric grain and seam lines.
  • Heavier materials break differently than light ones (plate dents vs cloth rips).

3.2 Environmental Weathering States

Weathering comes from exposure to the world:

  • Climate: sun fading, frostbite whitening, water stains, mud, dust.
  • Terrain: rock scrapes, jungle foliage tears, sand abrasion.
  • Occupation: oil and soot for mechanics, ocean salts for sailors, ink and chalk for scribes.

Before / after contrast:

  • Before: Uniform color, crisp edges.
  • After: Gradations and stains at hems, knees, elbows, cuffs; discoloration at sun-exposed zones; polished areas where items are handled constantly.

Weathering is often gradual and can act as a subtle time ticker between big story beats.

3.3 Upgrade and Progression States

Upgrades are changes driven by growth and reward instead of damage:

  • New armor pieces or reinforced sections added over worn areas.
  • Higher-status materials (cloth → leather → mail → plate; bronze → steel → magical).
  • Additional iconography for rank, faction, or achievements.

Before / after contrast:

  • Before: Simpler silhouette, fewer layers, maybe more improvised gear.
  • After: Larger or more complex silhouette, richer materials, extra motifs.

Upgrades should clearly communicate progression logic:

  • The same base design “levels up” rather than being replaced by a completely unrelated outfit.
  • New features feel like in-world responses to prior challenges (“She added leather bracers after getting cut on her forearms”).

4. Culture and “Voice”: How Worlds React to Change

The exact same damage or upgrade will look very different across cultures. This is where worldbuilding and visual anthropology meet costume.

4.1 Cultural Attitudes Toward Damage and Repair

Ask for each faction or culture:

  • Do they hide damage or display it?
  • Do they repair items to extend life, or replace them quickly?
  • Is visible mending considered shameful, neutral, or honorable?

Examples:

  • A warrior culture might leave sword cuts visible as badges of honor, only reinforcing them with metal frames.
  • A monastic order might invisibly mend robes to keep an appearance of eternal constancy.
  • A scavenger society might use mismatched patchwork, showcasing every scrap as proof of resourcefulness.

4.2 Cultural Repair Techniques and Materials

Let each culture’s repair style be distinctive:

  • Materials: gold joinery, leather lacing, bright thread, plant fibers, riveted plates.
  • Patterns: geometric patch shapes, organic stitched motifs, sacred symbols.
  • Tools and tech level: invisible machine hem vs rough hand-stitch vs magical fusion.

So a before / after pair might show:

  • Before: Plain wool cloak.
  • After: Cloak with carefully placed patches forming subtle symbolic patterns unique to that culture.

4.3 Symbolic Upgrades and Rituals

Upgrades can be ritualistic, not just functional:

  • A soldier receives a new shoulder pauldron only after a rite of passage.
  • An exiled character has insignia stripped or defaced, while keeping the same base garments.
  • A healer adds beads or charms with each life saved.

Designing before / after states with these rituals in mind amplifies cultural voice.

5. Character “Voice” Through Maintenance Habits

Beyond culture, individual characters have personal attitudes to their clothes.

5.1 The Meticulous Maintainer

This character:

  • Cleans and repairs damage quickly.
  • Keeps edges sharp, polish high, and stains minimal.

Before / after logic:

  • Damage appears mostly as traces—subtle scuffs that never escalate.
  • Repairs are tidy and maybe even decorative (color-coordinated patches, aligned stitches).

5.2 The Pragmatic Survivor

This character:

  • Repairs only what’s essential for function.
  • Ignores cosmetic flaws.

Before / after logic:

  • Expect taped-up straps, mismatched buttons, crude stitching.
  • Quick fixes like rope belts, clamps, or knotted fabric.

5.3 The Careless or Destructive Type

This character:

  • Lets damage accumulate.
  • Might intentionally rip or modify clothing.

Before / after logic:

  • Larger rips and stains remain, new ones stack on top.
  • Edges fray; logos or insignia may be scratched out or vandalized.

5.4 The Sentimental Keeper

This character:

  • Holds onto specific damaged items as emotional artifacts.
  • May preserve bloodstains, burns, or tears as memorials.

Before / after logic:

  • One piece (a scarf, badge, jacket) travels through many states, becoming visually iconic.
  • Repairs might be done by someone else (e.g., a loved one), adding unique stitching or accessories.

When designing, ask: If this character had time and resources after an event, what would they choose to do or not do to their outfit—and why?

6. Visual Logic for Injury States

6.1 Aligning Costume Damage with Story Events

Each injury state should have a clear story origin:

  • Where was the character hit?
  • What type of weapon or hazard was involved?
  • What protective layers did the damage pass through?

Design guidelines:

  • Show damage progression through layers: outer coat torn, inner shirt stained, skin bandaged.
  • Avoid random, scattershot rips that don’t match narrative events.

6.2 Functional vs Visual Injury

Games and cinematics may need different intensities:

  • In gameplay, injury states might be more stylized (cracks, glowing fissures, red tints) to stay readable and safe for ratings.
  • In cinematics, you can push more realistic tears, burns, and grime.

As a concept artist, you can create:

  • Gameplay-friendly injury variants: clear but less graphic.
  • Cinematic variants: deeper damage, more subtle detail.

6.3 Accessibility and Sensitivity

Injury states can be powerful, but also sensitive.

  • Avoid gratuitous gore that doesn’t serve the story.
  • Work with narrative and art direction to ensure injuries respect themes and ratings.

As a production-side artist, annotate your sheets with any content considerations so downstream teams know where lines are drawn.

7. Weathering as a Time-Lapse

Weathering is often the most reusable form of before / after state; it can accumulate slowly across many beats.

7.1 Logical Wear Zones

Clothing doesn’t wear evenly. Identify stress points:

  • Knees, elbows, cuffs, hems.
  • Strap contact points on shoulders and hips.
  • Edges of pockets, holsters, and scabbards.

Apply:

  • Light wear early (soft discoloration, shiny spots from friction).
  • Medium wear later (fraying threads, small holes, more intense dirt).
  • Heavy wear for late-game (patches, layered grime, deeper fading).

7.2 Environmental Palettes

Tie weathering to environment color and material:

  • Swamp = green-brown stains and moisture marks.
  • Desert = sand scuffs, sun-bleached fabric, dust film.
  • Snow = wet edges, frost rim, subtle blue-grey stains.

Design before / after palettes that show where the character has been, not just how long they’ve been on the road.

7.3 Weathering and Identity

Weathering can strengthen identity instead of erasing it:

  • A royal cloak may be faded but still clearly royal through shape and emblem.
  • A soldier’s uniform may be torn and patched but the unit insignia remains intact.

Highlight what remains constant through weathering—that’s part of the costume’s narrative voice.

8. Upgrade States: Growth, Rank, and Transformation

8.1 Visual Progression Rules

For upgrades, establish simple rules so progression feels intentional:

  • Material ladder: cotton → leather → mail → plate → enchanted.
  • Emblem ladder: small badge → full chest crest → cloak pattern.
  • Silhouette ladder: close-fitting → layered → extended shapes (capes, pauldrons, collars).

Each upgrade should:

  • Maintain recognizability of the character.
  • Reflect story milestones (promotions, alliances, achievements).

8.2 Integrating Upgrades into Existing Costumes

Plan in your base design where upgrades can attach:

  • Empty buckles or loops that can eventually hold medals or charms.
  • Simple shoulder that can accept a future pauldron.
  • Bare glove that can accept armored knuckles.

This makes before / after transitions look earned, not arbitrary.

8.3 Cultural and Personal Upgrade Styles

Combine culture and voice:

  • A minimalist culture may keep silhouette changes subtle, focusing on quality of material rather than more stuff.
  • A flamboyant character may add bright accessories, not necessarily more protection.

Use upgrades to show values: does this character invest in defense, status, flexibility, or self-expression?

9. Concept-Side Workflow: Designing Time-Layered Costumes

As a concept-side artist, you are free to explore the “movie” of the costume over time.

9.1 Timeline Thumbnails

Instead of one costume sheet, sketch:

  • A 3–5 frame strip: before → mid → after.
  • Each frame shows clear changes in injury, weathering, or upgrades.

Keep silhouettes consistent enough that the character is always recognizable, but varied enough that time progression is obvious.

9.2 Culture + Voice Matrices

Make a simple matrix:

  • Columns: Base, Injury, Weathering, Upgrade.
  • Rows: Culture A, Culture B, Culture C.

Drop in small sketches or notes on how each culture responds visually to the same event. This becomes a reusable reference.

9.3 Narrative Collaboration

Talk with narrative and design teams:

  • Identify key moments where costume changes should be visible.
  • Ask which changes must be functional (cutscene-only vs gameplay state) and which are purely narrative.

Integrate that into your time-layered designs so they can be implemented logically.

10. Production-Side Workflow: Packaging Before / After for the Pipeline

As a production-side costume artist, your task is to turn these ideas into hardened variants and documentation.

10.1 Variant Sheets and States

For each important costume, produce:

  • State A – Clean / base.
  • State B – Moderate wear / first upgrades.
  • State C – Heavy damage and/or high-tier upgrades.

Include:

  • Front, side, back for each state.
  • Clear notes on what changed: “Added leather knee patches,” “Removed left pauldron after injury,” “Emblem scratched out.”

10.2 Implementation-Friendly Notes

Annotate for downstream teams (3D, tech art, VFX, UI):

  • Which changes are texture only (stains, scuffs)?
  • Which changes are mesh changes (missing sleeve, new armor piece)?
  • Which changes involve FX hooks (glowing cracks, magical upgrades)?

This helps teams budget time and choose whether to implement states as separate models, blendshapes, material swaps, or decals.

10.3 Marketing and Merch Consistency

Before / after states also affect:

  • Key art and cover images (which state is “default” for the box?).
  • Figurines (which state becomes the collectible?).
  • Trailers (do we show state progression or only one stage?).

Coordinate with marketing to ensure the chosen hero state matches your documentation and in-game representation.

11. Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

11.1 Random, Unmotivated Damage

Problem: Rips and stains appear arbitrarily without story justification.

Fix: Attach every major change to a specific event and record it in notes.

11.2 Over-Weathering to Muddy Chaos

Problem: Heavy weathering makes costume reads blurry and indistinct.

Fix: Preserve clear value and color blocking even in late states; let weathering support shape, not erase it.

11.3 Upgrades That Break Identity

Problem: Final upgrade looks like a different character altogether.

Fix: Carry forward key anchors (silhouette shapes, emblem motifs, color ratios) into each upgrade stage.

11.4 Ignoring Culture and Voice

Problem: Every character’s damage and repair look the same regardless of background.

Fix: Define a few cultural repair styles and personal habits, and apply them consistently across states.

12. Quick Mental Checklists for Before / After Design

12.1 Time Layer Checklist

  • Can I clearly describe what happened between the “before” and “after” states?
  • Does the costume show that change in a logical, material-specific way?
  • Are there at least 2–3 stages that tell a story, not just a start and end?

12.2 Culture & Voice Checklist

  • Does this damage/upgrade reflect the culture’s attitude toward repair and status?
  • Does it reflect the character’s personal habits and values?
  • Would a different character from the same culture handle the same damage differently?

12.3 Pipeline Checklist

  • Have I separated texture vs mesh vs FX changes clearly?
  • Are states numbered and named in a way that production can track (e.g., C01_Base, C02_Worn, C03_Injured)?
  • Do marketing and narrative know which state is the canonical hero look?

13. Bringing It All Together

Before / after states turn costumes into living records of story, culture, and personality. Injuries, weathering, and upgrades aren’t just surface noise—they’re the visual diary of what the character has endured and how their world responds to change.

As a concept-side costume artist, you can design time-layered looks that encode narrative beats, cultural repair logics, and individual maintenance habits. As a production-side artist, you solidify those ideas into usable variants, state sheets, and implementation notes that let 3D, VFX, UI, and marketing honor that story across the entire pipeline.

Whenever you design a costume, ask: “What will this look like after three major events? After ten? What stays, what breaks, what gets replaced—and what does that say about who they are?” If you can answer those questions visually, you’re doing advanced narrative costuming: giving the costume its own evolving voice in time.