How to Design Your Own Persona

Want to reimagine yourself as a sona? There’s lots of different kinds of sonas to design – whether you decide to base it on a favorite franchise or mythological creature. If you’re looking to design a fursona specifically, we also have an article that includes everything you need to get started.

A sona is a useful way to represent yourself, whether it be as a way to draw interactions of yourself, or maybe just to use as a profile picture. To learn more, check out our beginner's guide to sonas. Otherwise, let's get started!

Start With What Makes You, You

First, you'll want to think about aspects of yourself to keep in the persona’s design. If there are any details that make you recognizable, that might be what to add to the sona. For ideas to consider, you might think about using:

• Eye shape
• Nose shape
• Details like freckles or scars
• Favorite accessories
• Trademark hairstyle
• Taste in clothing

Choose Your Sona’s Form

Now, let’s get to designing the appearance of the sona. Start by deciding which creature you want to be. For a more simple look, you might opt to stick with a human sona – and that’s perfectly fine! A sona doesn’t have to be crazy complex, especially if you plan on drawing them often. If you need some ideas for creatures to use for a persona, here’s a few to consider:

• A bioluminescent mermaid
• A bookish elf scholar
• A battle-scarred vampire knight

Pick a creature that reminds you of yourself one way or another. If you love nature or have a whimsical personality, the perfect sona might be a fairy or elf. If you love the night and the macabre, maybe go for a vampire or ghost.

Give Them a Signature Look

Now that you have a sense of your persona's appearance, it's time to work on their outfit.

When choosing an aesthetic, start with what feels true to you. If you already dress in a specific style, then that's a natural fit for your sona. However, if there's an aesthetic you love but can't pull off in real life, that works too. Your sona can wear what you can't! Need help narrowing it down? Check out this guide an aesthetic for on picking an aesthetic for your original characters.

If you need a spark, here are a few starting points:

• A cottagecore fairy in a flowing linen dress with floral embroidery
• A cyberpunk hybrid in a cropped jacket with glowing circuit patterns
• A dark academia vampire in a tailored blazer with a pocket watch

Accessories are another great way to make a sona instantly recognizable. Pull from pieces you already wear and love, or add them based on your character's lore or world. They can be very valuable and useful storytelling tools. An accessory can hint at your sona's backstory or foreshadow something yet to come. A few ideas:

• A cracked pocket mirror hinting towards a mysterious past
• A cluster of star charms representing loved ones
• Leather gloves worn to hide clawed hands

Bring Your Sona to Life on Unvale

There are lots of ways to approach sona design. By using your own features, adding unique details, and creating a signature look, you can design a persona that feels personal to you. A sona should be a fun way to represent yourself, so go and create one that you like!

If you’d like to share your newly designed persona with the community here on Unvale, feel free to make a post about the sona in the Unvale-Blog community. We’d love to see!