The Visual Design Psychology of Dr. Fate

How does Dr. Fate's design evoke such ethereal and magical feelings, even though he wears a regular superhero bodysuit?

The color scheme is one way. Because the base color of the costume is blue, and it has big yellow/golden regions, he has the same color balance as a blue sky with a heavy yellow or gold sun, which provides Fate with a heavenly and superior quality. He even has a little sun on his chest with his yellow, disc-shaped amulet. Fitting, since Fate comes from Egypt, and in Egyptian mythology, the sun god Ra is prevalent.

This sense of aboveness and superiority is increased because of how many design elements are pointing downward. The bottom of the helmet points down, the collar points down on either side, and the lines of the necklace point down, as if Dr. Fate is dominating us from above.

But there are also the round yellow pieces around his armpits which are pointing upward. These make his shoulder-frame seem larger than it is, so he seems even more grand and powerful. They also tie together a few parts of the design: they arc upwards to match the ridge on the top of his helmet, they're rounded to match the circular amulet, and they keep the yellow distributed evenly across his body so his arms aren't completely blue.

The helmet is the next striking component. It would've been easy at any point in the character's history to give him a typical logo, like a big ankh on his chest -- but instead, the helmet provides his signature, and gives him a recognizable silhouette. Plus the ridge on top gives him a bit more height to increase his stature.

There aren't many characters who wear full helmets, and his entire face being obscured makes Dr. Fate seem distant and impenetrable emotionally. This is bolstered by the fact that, unlike other characters who wear masks, his eyes are often not expressive at all in the artwork, so he's even less human and emotional.

You could also argue that the entire costume design is reminiscent of an ankh. If you trace just the yellow components of his costume, there's a large round shape at the top that curves inward to his collar and amulet, lateral elements going across the shoulders, and then the trunks going down, with the boots at the end being spaced a bit wider.

A final point: like almost all superhero costumes, Dr. Fate's is symmetrical. In the 2022 Black Adam movie, they changed this, so his helmet was different on each side, which to me doesn't suit the idea of a "Lord of Order" very well. When I think "Order" I think symmetry.