The classic designs of the Final Fantasy franchise's jobs and classes are iconic. White Mage, Black Mage, Dragoon, and so on are recognizable terms for gamers. More than that, just their names conjure visuals of each class's design. The White Mage is in a white robe with red sleeves and trim, the Black Mage has a face hidden by darkness and a tall spiked cap, and the Dragoon's long ornate spear and thin armor with a dragon's head helmet will forever stand out. The story behind those Final Fantasy sprites is very interesting.
Koichi Ishii is responsible for the designs of Final Fantasy 3's various jobs, from their sprites to their animation. Ina recent interview done by Square Enix, Ishii explained the thought behind one specific job's design. It's perhaps Final Fantasy's most iconic job, the White Mage. Ishii may not have made the design originally, but he provided a depth, a story to the design that hadn't been considered before.
With the White Mage's white robes and red trim in mind, Ishii explains the design simply. "The image I had is that the red part of the white mage's robe is embroidered from red threads imbued with magic when spun together, increasing the wearer's magical power," is how Ishii explains the design in-universe. He goes on, describing that, "The reasoning for the red threads being on the sleeves is that magic leaves the body through the hands and wrists, so that area is most effective."
Fans will recall that Final Fantasy 3 was when the Final Fantasy franchise started giving its characters unique identities. Ishii took this opportunity to heart, and saw the jobs as an opportunity to provide an extension of those characters. "When I was really in the zone, I would be constantly comparing each job to all the others and striving to implement clear differences between them, imagining how the job characters' adventures were going as I continued inputting sprites." Ishii goes on to say that he tried to put as much story into every sprite as he was able to.
Of course, that kind of effort does take its toll. Ishii admits that while designing Final Fantasy 3's sprites was "a moving experience to finish each of them," it was also, "the point that I decided I wouldn't ever design job characters again." He'd go on to refuse to do the same job for Final Fantasy 5.
Ishii wouldn't just do an incredible job with Final Fantasy 3's jobs, however, though he certainly helped elevate the series in doing so. He also created other iconic Final Fantasy ideas like Moogles and Chocobos. There are many individuals who have been key to bringing the Final Fantasy franchise to the height it sees today and Ishii is one of them.
Source: Square Enix (via Kotaku)