Disclaimer, this is a guide for *commissioning* a character design, not coming up with the actual idea. If you're looking for artists to commission, you probably already have an idea in your head.

Here's part 1 of my "How to Commission a Character Design" series: Ideas!

I've found that there are two kinds of people: ones who have too much information and ones who have too little.
Both types just need to focus on the basic visual information for the character. I once had someone send me a 200+ page story and told me to get the descriptions from that. I've also had people struggle to come up with anything more than a word or two. Either one is fine! Everyone is different!

The problem is when you are actively attempting to get a commission. Artists need specific things to work from. Break down your desired character into parts and choose what you want to see. Please take the time to think about it. Most artists have a cap on edits they allow - if you are still making choices about what you want as the artist is drawing, you're going to run out of edits and end up with something you may not actually want.

Also consider the art style. A lot of people surprisingly overlook this. I've had commissions in the past where people seem surprised how the art looks in terms of proportion or style and then try to change it. There's been a few pictures that I hated how they turned out because they no longer looked like my art. If an artist only seems to draw feral animals, don't ask them to draw humans.

Finally, please please read your artist's Terms of Service! They usually aren't long since we hate writing them, but they serve to save you time and will give you information you need such as the edit and refund policy. Don't skip it and then be surprised when an artist can only give you a partial refund after a certain stage.

Part 2: References! https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41839122/