I had acne—sometimes a lot!—as a teenager and as an adult. I have acne scars on my temples and near-constant dryness from my benzoyl peroxide cleanser. Acne isn’t portrayed very often in entertainment, especially in a positive or even neutral lithe. Acne is a normal part of many teenagers’ lives, and yet it’s so rarely shown as such. Scientists have found that people with acne are often stigmatizedboth socially and professionally. In the media it is used as a dramatic plot element — gigantic pimple before prom — or label a character as unattractive or nerdy. And that’s if they’re even there; even in acne-pill commercials, actors tend to have mostly perfect skin. That kind of thing doesn’t facilitate combat that stigma.
That’s why we see a pretty, seemingly confident character who just happens to have acne.Lost records has a more realistic style,” Juliette Devillers, lead character artist for Don’t Nod, told Polygon. “We can even see the pores in the skin, which is different than the last project we worked on, Life Is Strange. It came quite naturally when we were working on the textures, especially since we’re working on teenagers. Most of them have pimples and skin blemishes, but Nora has it more visible, the acne.”
It’s become so normal that Devillers says the team doesn’t really think about acne anymore. Don’t Nod studio director Michel Koch told Polygon that Nora is a character who likes to be in the spotlight, who wants to take up space. Unlike in other media, acne isn’t something that defines her experience. It’s just there. Devillers said she was inspired by a high school friend — a guy who was popular and charismatic and had acne. It was vital for Devillers, Koch, and the team not to make a gigantic deal out of it. “I think we never talk about Nora’s acne in the game,” Devillers said. “We don’t make a big deal out of it. She just has acne.”
Koch added that the team also thought about symmetry—and asymmetry—in the characters’ faces. “You’ll almost never find someone whose eyes are perfectly aligned,” Koch said. “Almost everyone has an eye that’s a little higher than the other or a little bigger than the other. That’s something we try to do with the characters to make sure they’re not perfectly symmetrical, because, again, that gives it a natural feel.”
“We tried to do something real, something genuine,” Devillers said. “We’re not trying to push anything. We’re just trying to create characters that feel real and that you can relate to because of that.”
