Glorious Purpose Part 1: Cosplay Creative Process

Question: “What’s your creative process?”

Answer: “It’s a process…. And it grows and changes, so that it can keep working for me.”

I’ve had some questions about this recently. How do you tackle attack a huge project like Sylvie’s Cosplay from the Marvel Loki series?

For me, my creative process comes down to purpose and problem solving. Why do I want to make this costume? What are the challenges to achieving my crafting ideas?

First it starts with choosing a character: That’s a complicated decision for me. It’s natural for me to consider characters that resonate. But from there, I like to explore the reasons why I connect to the character and their story. What are the traits or circumstances that I like, and why are they important to me?

That’s a good starting point for creative inspiration. By understanding some of the reasons I connect to a character, I can start making my own spin on the cosplay costume.

Next thing is partially understanding my own preferences. For example, I don’t enjoy trying to replicate characters exactly. I’m already a perfectionist and I can cut myself some slack and say no to that tendency sometimes. When I want to, I can enjoy the freedom to break the rules and do what I want. Afterall, I’m the one spending the resources on this project, and I’m usually the one who’s going to wear the cosplay costume. I can do what I want to, especially when I think it’s going to look awesome!