Category Archives: Character Design Challenges

Some great entries this week!

The win this week goes to PurpleTax.

It actually kinda looks like me, albeit a younger, thinner, more ripped me.

Well done all!

Hey folks! I'm back. Thanks so much for your  kind thoughts and messages. It was quite the experience! Here is a picture of me wearing the $60,000 frame that limits one's head movement during surgery.

When I saw it, I asked to be referred to as Bane rather than Mr. Juby. Even the surgical team played along. For something that was literally screwed into your skull it was shockingly comfortable.

So your CDC challenge this week is to use the frame design as an inspiration, or jumping off point, to create a hero or villain that harnesses the power of their own brains, or limits the brain powers of their enemies.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, DeviantArt, or whatever - Please do not use Photobucket);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). *

This contest will close on Sunday, October 8th at 9:00am Eastern.

Ok guys, for this weeks contest I'm bringing back an old favourite theme of mine. The idea is that you create a piece of art using heromachine that is inspired by a piece of music of your choosing. It can be any piece of music and any style of art but you must post both a link to your entry (as per CDC rules) and a link to the song that inspired it on either youtube or soundcloud so I can judge how well the image fits the music you have chosen. This theme has given us some of the best CDC entries in the past, so I have high hopes of you guys.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, DeviantArt, or whatever - Please do not use Photobucket);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). *

This contest will close on Sunday, October 1^st at 9:00am Eastern.

Ok guys, for this weeks challenge I want you to create a picture of a person undergoing some kind of transformation. I don't mean a normal looking person changing into a superhero outfit, I want a person changing form. So that can be changing into an animal/ monster, height/ weight/ muscle gain, changing genders etc. the change must be physical and noticable. You can do either a before and after image, a mid-transformation picture or, if you're feeling brave enough, a sequence. (EDIT: Should have made this clearer, you're submissions should just be in one picture).

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, DeviantArt, or whatever - Please do not use Photobucket);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). *

This contest will close on Sunday, September 24^th at 9:00am Eastern.

Ok guys, this week I want you to create the best character you possibly can. They must have a face, clothes and recognisable hands and feet, although hair and facial hair are optional. The catch? You must create your character using ONLY items found in Insignias- Standard, Insignias- Shapes and Background- Shapes. You cannot use items from any other item slot, no body parts, no tops, no pants, no hands, no feet and no hair, just shapes. Your characters can be anything you want; superhero, fantasy, sci-fi etc. so long as they are entirely made up of shapes.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, DeviantArt, or whatever - Please do not use Photobucket);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). *

This contest will close on Sunday, September 17^th at 9:00am Eastern.

Ok guys, this week I want you to create the best aquatic scene you can. The only required elements are a background with a water effect (it does not matter how you achieve this, so long as it is in heromachine) and some sort of foreground aquatic item (e.g. coral, shipwreck, fish etc.). You can include a character/ characters or it can just be a landscape, so long as you include the two required elements.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, DeviantArt, or whatever - Please do not use Photobucket);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). *

This contest will close on Sunday, September 10^th at 9:00am Eastern.

Ok guys, your mission this week (should you choose to accept it) is to create a master of espionage and at least 3 top secret gadgets that they would use. You must include all 3 gadgets in the same picture as your spy and, if possible, show them in use.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, DeviantArt, or whatever - Please do not use Photobucket);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). *

This contest will close on Sunday, September 3^rd at 9:00am Eastern.

Hey guys, JR here. I'm filling i for djuby for a bit on the CDC's whilst he's in hospital (you can find more info on that here if need be).

Anyway, your challenge for this week is to create your own disposable personal army of faceless grunts, goons and/ or other non-specified subordinates that any prospective super-villain could use as cannon fodder the next thime a superhero shows up to foil their evil scheme for world domination. Your minions can be human, alien or robotic (though preferably not small, yellow or tic-tac shaped for obvious reasons).

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, DeviantArt, or whatever - Please do not use Photobucket);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). *

This contest will close on Sunday, August 27^th at 9:00am Eastern.

Not a huge turn out this week, but some great entries nonetheless.

Honourable mention goes out to  kjr1998.

Runner Up status goes out to Lady Amaranth. Beautiful job.

And this week's win goes out to...

Continue reading →

Your CDC this week is to create an original character using the three items pictured above.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, DeviantArt, or whatever - Please do not use Photobucket);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). *

This contest will close on Sunday, August 20^th at 9:00am Eastern.