Exosuits

Exosuits are robot suits worn directly over the human form. They do anything people can do—but better. In addition to being an effective defensive shell, they enhance the wearer’s strength, increase endurance and house high-tech weapons.

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL

Styles of exosuits can vary as widely as styles of clothes do. You can adjust size as well as appearance (the way you did for the body armor in chapter 3), but make sure to leave room for padding, wires and circuitry. Higher levels of technology mean less space is needed on the interior, so that affects the look of the suits.

BREAK IT DOWN

If designing an exosuit all at once is daunting, start simple with one body part at a time. We’ll use a foot as an example, but you can apply these techniques to any individual portion of the suit.

First, reduce the body part to basic shapes. For the foot, add a circle in red to represent the ankle.

KEEP IT UNCOMPLICATED

One option is to go simple and sleek, following the shape of the foot. On an exosuit like this, the sole is similar to something you’d see on a running shoe.

A LITTLE FANCIER

You can also play off of the angular shapes of the foot and add decorative elements. The circular portion near the ankle is common to both examples, but the designs look completely different.

INSPIRATION FROM LIFE

Try taking inspiration from existing clothing and shoes. For example, a common style of running shoe with a Velcro strap could easily be converted to something high-tech.

Try playing up the angles. Instead of curves, use straight lines. Exaggerate the proportions of the shoe’s collar and the part that replaces the Velcro strap to make it look heavier.

ALL AT ONCE

Another way to design your exosuit is to tackle everything at once. To use this method, start by sketching the wearer’s body in simple shapes and lines. Draw the joints in red. When you add the suit on top, these will show you the places where you need to add a break in the metal to allow the exosuit to bend.

SLEEK AND GLOSSY

Keep the lines smooth and follow the shape of the body, but break the rigid part of the armor into separate pieces. This allows your character to move at the shoulders, the elbows and behind the knees. The upper chest is a solid piece, but there are individual plates on the stomach so she can bend forward.

BULKY AND ANGULAR

If you want your suit design to be more bulky, try sketching the body with linear angles and use that as a base to create your exosuit. Sizing up the plates to encase the body can provide a good starting point.

IT’S UP TO YOU

Exosuits can look however you want them to look. They can be puffy like astronaut suits or personally customized or anything else you can dream up. Just keep an eye out for functionality, and the sky’s the limit.

SIZE MATTERS

When placing your suit, make sure it’s large enough to go over the wearer’s form. This sample has the fingers mimicking the wearer’s hand movement, but it’s your sci-fi world—feel free to get creative with the construction and technology and to play around with how the exosuit functions.

PILOTS VS. WEARERS

With bigger suits, the wearer becomes more of a pilot. Instead of having their limbs encased in the limbs of the suit, they sit in a cockpit and access the controls.

A QUESTION OF SCALE

You can increase the size of your mechanized suits as much as the setting allows. Try drawing them beside a human of normal height to get a feel for the scale.