Chapter 1: Design Logic & References Per Genre

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Design Logic & References per Genre — Genre Toolkits for Weapon Concept Artists

How to use this toolkit

Genres are not costume racks; they are constraint systems. Each one encodes assumptions about materials, manufacturing, energy sources, ethics, and the social spaces where weapons are carried and maintained. If you anchor your design logic to those constraints first, silhouette and surface language emerge naturally, and downstream teams can implement without fighting your intent. For concept artists, this means gathering references that explain why shapes exist, not just how they look. For production artists, it means translating genre rules into consistent edge hierarchies, value scaffolds, palettes, and decal voices that survive LODs, lighting, and platform budgets.

Military (modern and near‑future)

Military logic begins with doctrine and logistics. The silhouette should read as purpose built, modular, and maintainable by trained users under stress. Materials skew toward forged or machined metals for structural parts and glass‑fiber or reinforced polymers for furniture, with coatings and finishes tuned for corrosion resistance and IR management. Edge discipline is conservative and manufacturable: radiused structural edges for durability, crisp precision edges at interfaces, and minimal decorative breaks. Values compress into mid‑dark bodies that avoid flash, with lighter accents reserved for sight planes, controls, and legal markings. Palette rules favor subdued neutrals with limited faction identifiers, and decals communicate inventory control, inspection, and safety rather than bravado. Audible character is restrained and authoritative, and VFX favors efficient flashes and dust‑truthful impacts. A strong reference set includes field manuals, armorer benches, depot photos, service bulletins, and maintenance tags; steer away from airsoft replicas and movie props when establishing your baseline.

Sci‑Fi — Hard (engineering‑forward plausibility)

Hard science fiction asks the weapon to argue for its physics. Shapes expose plausible field routing for power, coolant, and data, with panelization that follows service seams rather than ornamental greeble. Materials lean to ceramics, advanced alloys, composites, and engineered glass, each with measured roughness and tint to separate functions. Edge logic is precise and understated so highlight fields remain calm under bright, clinical lighting. Values build from a neutral chassis with clear windows of interest around emitters, optics, and heat sinks. Palettes are compressed and cool‑biased, with saturated color reserved for hazard, calibration, and IFF. VFX and audio should reinforce energy management rather than pyrotechnic spectacle: controlled glow, lens‑safe emissives, and capacitor or coil voices that breathe with charge cycles. References include aerospace hardware, semiconductor fabs, vacuum equipment, and scientific instruments; pull actual wiring harness standards, quick‑disconnect fittings, and cryogenic plumbing to inform callouts without leaking real‑world assembly instructions.

Sci‑Fi — Soft (mythic tech and expressive fiction)

Soft science fiction lets symbolism lead as long as internal rules stay legible. Massing can be monolithic or totemic, with negative space used as a spiritual or aesthetic rhythm rather than pure service clearance. Materials can gloss into lacquered composites or iridescent alloys, but they still need a consistent edge and value hierarchy so reads survive stylized lighting. Values can widen into graphic steps that stage focal areas for emissive motifs, while palettes may push into factional color stories that tie weapons to culture and belief. Audio and VFX become character actors, expressing personality through melodic charge cues, ritual chimes, or aura‑like muzzle language. References include costume craft, ceremonial objects, art deco and art nouveau hardware, and architectural lighting; compile swatches of finish craft like urushi, cloisonné, or anodized gradients alongside your emitter logic so fantasy and function don’t contradict each other.

Fantasy (pre‑industrial craft and magic systems)

Fantasy weapons speak through craft lineages and mythic materials. Silhouettes are governed by smithing constraints, joinery, and leverage, even when enchanted. Blades, hafts, locks, and bows should show believable mass and fulcrums; magic augments should fasten to structural points rather than floating decoratively. Materials include wrought iron, steel, wood, horn, leather, and stone, each with hand‑made irregularity that implies a craftsperson. Edge hierarchy separates cutting edges, protective guards, and grip surfaces with visible transitions in polish and radius. Values usually emphasize a darker, worn body with bright edge catches on polished steel, and accent metals or gem inlays become focal punctuation rather than coating the form. Palettes derive from earth tones, patina, and dyed fibers, with magical colors used sparingly to imply energy channels and blessings. References should center historical armorers’ treatises, ethnographic collections, museum conservation photos, period carpentry and leatherwork, and archery/bowyer documentation; avoid purely decorative replicas that lack structural sense.

Post‑Apocalyptic (salvage, scarcity, and improvisation)

Post‑apocalyptic logic is a ledger of scarcity. Shapes prioritize repairability, over‑built braces, and scavenged compatibility. Materials are mismatched but purposeful: cut plate, schedule pipe, hardware‑store fasteners, and patchwork textiles, all selected for availability rather than elegance. Edge language is pragmatic; many edges are hand‑ground or torch‑cut, and guards or covers are improvised from found objects. Values skew toward mid‑light bodies dusted by the environment, with darker repairs and soot mapping to heat paths; avoid full‑range zebra striping that becomes unreadable. Palettes come from oxidized metals, sun‑faded paints, and taped identifiers, while decals are hand‑made: grease‑pencil warnings, stencils, and color‑coded strapping. Audio and VFX should reflect uneven tuning, with rattles, gas burps, and inconsistent flash. References include agricultural equipment yards, scrapyards, HVAC and plumbing catalogs, roadside repairs, and real field improvisations; stay clear of cosplay gloss that erases the discomfort and grit that the genre relies on.

Cyberpunk (dense urban tech, corporate manufacture, body‑interface)

Cyberpunk blends industrial product design with black‑market modification. Silhouettes are compact and carryable in tight urban spaces, with clear affordances for concealment, quick deploy, and interfacing with implants or wearables. Materials are injection‑molded polymers, glass‑reinforced composites, machined alloys, and soft‑touch elastomers, with texture breaks that align to grip zones and sensor windows. Edge discipline is product‑grade: deliberate chamfers, tight fit lines, and robust snap‑fits that still look serviceable. Values favor a clean mid chassis with high‑value interface planes and low‑value voids that shape negative space for hand placement. Palettes split between corporate antiseptic neutrals and street‑level customization in vinyl, neon, and wearable accents; keep the palette windows consistent so custom skins don’t break family identity. VFX and audio include UI‑like feedback, haptic cues, and privacy features; muzzle and impact reads should be controllable to avoid drawing law‑enforcement attention. References should include industrial design compendiums, medical devices, biometric sensors, urban carry gear, and transit system design; collect signage systems for a believable decal voice that can scale to AR overlays without chaos.

Space‑Western (frontier utility meets mythic silhouette)

Space‑Western design marries frontier pragmatism with theatrical readability. Massing is iconic and clean, with big gestures that survive dusty lighting and long lenses. Materials blend patinated metals, oiled woods or composites with visible grain, and leather or canvas soft goods, balanced with spare high‑tech inserts that feel bolted onto a working tool rather than grown from a lab. Edge language celebrates wear at touch points and holster edges, with crisp metal lines where precision matters and soft burnish elsewhere. Values favor a strong mid body with bright catches on hardware and darker fabric wraps; keep the scaffold stable so sunset scenes do not wash detail away. Palettes draw from earth and sky—saddlebrown, sage, bone, brass—with restrained energy hues for optics or power cells. Audio and VFX tell a story of dust, heat, and distance: slower echoes, dry clacks, and powdersmoke‑like puffs even for energy devices. References range from historical firearms and ranch hardware to desert infrastructure, saddlery, and frontier engineering; pull cinematography stills to tune composition and color grade along with material choices.

Steampunk (Victorian mechanics, pressure, and spectacle)

Steampunk is theater powered by pressure and clockwork. Shapes expose mechanism and maintenance: linkages, cams, reservoirs, and gauges arranged in legible service loops. Materials are brass, copper, steel, cast iron, lacquered wood, vulcanized rubber, and early plastics like Bakelite, finished with polish and patina that highlight craft. Edge hierarchy is ornate but readable, with turned fillets on pressure vessels, crisp knurling on controls, and chamfered brass frames around glass. Values step from dark woods and black iron to mid‑bright brass accents and small bright catches on lenses and enamel. Palettes luxuriate in warm metals and jewel tones, but they must be controlled so the frame does not dissolve into glare under period lighting. Audio and VFX should steam and tick, with controlled vents, safety whistles, and soot rather than modern crack. References include 19th‑century engineering catalogs, horology, locomotive components, laboratory glassware, and early electrical equipment; avoid costume‑only mood boards that ignore pressure logic and safety affordances.

Translating genre rules for production

Once you’ve set logic and references, encode them as plates and parameter ranges so the look endures across teams. For shape, capture class‑specific mass ratios, negative space rhythms, and attachment metrics. For edges, define bevel and fillet tiers that align to manufacturability within the genre, showing specular‑only turntables. For value, author greyshade paintovers that lock the 60/30/10 scaffold under the target lighting profiles. For palette, ship triads or ramps with examples of legal and illegal uses, and tie tracer, flash, and hazard markings into the same color system so audiovisual cues match. These plates should be short, graphic, and repeatable so outsourcing partners and juniors can self‑check before review.

Keeping references ethical and useful

Source references that teach process and culture without turning into real‑world assembly instructions. Museum and archive photographs, industrial design patents, exploded diagrams abstracted for fiction, and conservation notes give you structure without enabling fabrication. Avoid sharing dimensioned drawings or detailed teardown content with vendors; instead, translate necessary logic into simplified callouts and symbolic schematics that convey flow and function. When references touch living cultures or charged history, include a provenance note and a “do‑not‑use” list to prevent harmful echo.

Cross‑discipline alignment and cadence

Genre is audible and visible. Military asks for restrained, efficient envelopes; hard sci‑fi wants controlled charge‑release cycles; soft sci‑fi sings; fantasy breathes with ritual pauses; post‑apoc stutters and coughs; cyberpunk beeps and haptics; space‑western echoes; steampunk hisses. Ensure your muzzle flash style, tracer frequency, impact tails, and foley layer choices obey the same genre rules as your shapes and materials. Write a one‑sentence cadence description per class per genre and attach it to your concept plates so audio and VFX can land the same beats.

A practical workflow that scales

Begin with a half‑page genre brief that states energy sources, manufacturing culture, lawful context, and maintenance logic. Build a 16‑image reference board that privileges process and service imagery over beauty shots. Produce a proportion study, an edge glossary, a value‑only paintover, and a palette strip tuned to the genre. Author a single hero prop to stress test the rules, then derive two variants to prove range. Hand off with a cadence clip that uses placeholder audio and VFX to demonstrate envelope and readability. When downstream teams can identify the genre and class from a desaturated thumbnail with temp effects, your toolkit is ready to scale.