Update: My showcase entry has a character that looks like a friend, and I didn't get their okay. Is this a problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

My friend got really quiet when she saw I'd used her tattoo design in a story without telling her. It's not just about looks, it feels like you took a piece of their identity for your project. That trust hit is way harder to fix than any creative disagreement. Would your friend feel used if they saw it?

drew_patel2d ago

Did you base the character on specific features or just a general vibe? In my experience, yeah, that can become a real problem. I used a friend's hairstyle and outfit for a comic character once without asking, and it took a lot of smoothing over. Your mileage may vary, but take this with a grain of salt, it's better to check with them.

jade_brown1d ago

Yeah the outfit thing reminds me of when I borrowed my cousin's favorite leather jacket for a concert and got a huge coffee stain on the sleeve. It was a whole thing, way bigger than just the cost to clean it, because it had this history I didn't know about. Sometimes you don't realize what a thing means to someone until you've already messed with it.